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<title>19 September, 2021</title>
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<h1 data-aos="fade-down" id="covid-19-sentry">Covid-19 Sentry</h1>
<h1 data-aos="fade-right" data-aos-anchor-placement="top-bottom" id="contents">Contents</h1>
<ul>
<li><a href="#from-preprints">From Preprints</a></li>
<li><a href="#from-clinical-trials">From Clinical Trials</a></li>
<li><a href="#from-pubmed">From PubMed</a></li>
<li><a href="#from-patent-search">From Patent Search</a></li>
</ul>
<h1 data-aos="fade-right" id="from-preprints">From Preprints</h1>
<ul>
<li><strong>Option-based guarantees to accelerate urgent, high risk vaccines: a new market-shaping approach</strong> -
<div>
Over the coming year, preventing further waves of COVID-19 and reducing its impact on society will likely require vaccines, so accelerating their availability is critical. However, preparations for large-scale manufacturing, such as building production facilities, are typically delayed until a vaccine is proven safe and effective. This makes sense from a commercial perspective, but the additional time before the vaccine becomes available incurs great costs in terms of lives lost and damage to the economy. There are several potential solutions to reducing the delay between the vaccine being proven effective and its being mass-produced, all of which involve incentives or subsidies to invest in production facilities. We review these, and propose a novel approach using “option-based guarantees,” in which the government commits to paying a proportion of the manufacturer’s preparation costs should the product turn out not to be viable. This counterintuitive approach of payment for failure is appropriate because in the case of success, a company makes money from the product itself, and does not need additional money from the government. This reduces the risk to the company while maintaining an incentive to produce a high-quality product quickly and at scale.
</div>
<div class="article-link article-html-link">
🖺 Full Text HTML: <a href="https://osf.io/swd4a/" target="_blank">Option-based guarantees to accelerate urgent, high risk vaccines: a new market-shaping approach</a>
</div></li>
<li><strong>Sex differences in cardio-pulmonary pathology of SARS-CoV2 infected and Trypanosoma cruzi co-infected mice</strong> -
<div>
Coronavirus disease-2019 (COVID-19) caused by Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2; CoV2) is a deadly contagious infectious disease. For those who survived COVID-19, post-COVID cardiac damage poses a major threat for the progression of cardiomyopathy and heart failure. Currently, the number of COVID-related cases and deaths is increasing in Latin America, where a major COVID comorbidity is Chagas heart disease (caused by the parasite Trypanosoma cruzi). Here, we investigated the effect of T. cruzi infection on the pathogenesis and severity of CoV2 infection and, conversely, the effect of CoV2 infection on heart pathology during coinfection. We used transgenic human angiotensin- converting enzyme 2 (huACE2) mice infected with CoV2, T. cruzi, or coinfected with both in this study. Our study shows for the first time that white adipose tissue (WAT) serves as a reservoir for CoV2 and the persistence of CoV2 in WAT alters adipose tissue morphology and adipocyte physiology. Our data demonstrate a correlation between the loss of fat cells and the pulmonary adipogenic signaling and pathology in CoV2 infection. The viral load in the lungs is inversely proportional to the viral load in WAT, which differs between male and female mice. Our findings also suggest that adiponectin-PPAR signaling may differently regulate Chagas cardiomyopathy in coinfected males and females. We conclude that adipogenic signaling may play important roles in cardio-pulmonary pathogenesis during CoV2 infection and T. cruzi coinfection. The levels of adiponectin isomers differ between male and female mice during CoV2 infection and coinfection with T. cruzi, which may differently regulate inflammation, viral load, and pathology in the lungs of both the sexes. Our findings are in line with other clinical observations that reported that males are more susceptible to COVID-19 than females and suffer greater pulmonary damage.
</div>
<div class="article-link article-html-link">
🖺 Full Text HTML: <a href="https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2021.09.18.460895v1" target="_blank">Sex differences in cardio-pulmonary pathology of SARS-CoV2 infected and Trypanosoma cruzi co-infected mice</a>
</div></li>
<li><strong>Copper(II) Gluconate Boosts the Anti-SARS-CoV-2 Effect of Disulfiram in Vitro</strong> -
<div>
Disulfiram is a 70-year-old anti-alcoholism drug, while copper(II) gluconate (Cu(Glu)2) is a commonly used food additive or copper supplement. Here we disclose that the combination of disulfiram and copper(II) gluconate drastically enhances the anti-SARS-CoV-2 activity at the cellular level as compared to disulfiram or copper(II) gluconate alone. A 1:1 mixture of disulfiram and copper(II) gluconate shows an EC50 value of 154 nM against SARS-CoV-2 at the cellular level, much lower than the 17.45 M reported for disulfiram alone. A preliminary mechanism is proposed to rationalize the observed promotional effect.
</div>
<div class="article-link article-html-link">
🖺 Full Text HTML: <a href="https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2021.09.17.460613v1" target="_blank">Copper(II) Gluconate Boosts the Anti- SARS-CoV-2 Effect of Disulfiram in Vitro</a>
</div></li>
<li><strong>Genetically diverse mouse models of SARS-CoV-2 infection model clinical variation and cytokine responses in COVID-19</strong> -
<div>
Host genetics are a significant determinant of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). Animal models that reflect genetic diversity and a range of clinical outcomes observed in human populations are needed to understand mechanisms of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection dynamics and disease. Here, we report a mouse panel comprising the diverse genetic backgrounds of the Collaborative Cross (CC) founder strains crossed to C57BL/6J mice expressing the K18-hACE2 transgene3 that enables infection by SARS-CoV-2. Infection of CCxK18-hACE2 F1 progeny resulted in a spectrum of weight loss, survival, viral replication kinetics, histopathology, and cytokine profiles, some of which were sex-specific. Importantly, survival was closely associated with early type I interferon expression and a phased proinflammatory response distinct from mice with severe disease. Thus, dynamics of inflammatory responses observed in COVID-19 can be modeled in diverse mice that provide a genetically tractable platform for understanding antiviral immunity and evaluating countermeasures.
</div>
<div class="article-link article-html-link">
🖺 Full Text HTML: <a href="https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2021.09.17.460664v1" target="_blank">Genetically diverse mouse models of SARS-CoV-2 infection model clinical variation and cytokine responses in COVID-19</a>
</div></li>
<li><strong>3D virtual Histopathology of Cardiac Tissue from Covid-19 Patients based on Phase-Contrast X-ray Tomography</strong> -
<div>
For the first time, we have used phase-contrast x-ray tomography to characterize the three-dimensional (3d) structure of cardiac tissue from patients who succumbed to Covid-19. By extending conventional histopatholocigal examination by a third dimension, the delicate pathological changes of the vascular system of severe Covid-19 progressions can be analyzed, fully quantified and compared to other types of viral myocarditis and controls. To this end, cardiac samples with a cross section of 3:5mm were scanned at the synchrotron in a parallel beam configuration. The vascular network was segmented by a deep learning architecture suitable for 3d datasets (V-net), trained by sparse manual annotations. Pathological alterations of vessels, concerning the variation of diameters and the amount of small holes, were observed, indicative of elevated occurrence of intussusceptive angiogenesis, also confirmed by scanning electron microscopy. Further, we implemented a fully automated analysis of the tissue structure in form of shape measures based on the structure tensor. The corresponding distributions show that the histopathology of Covid-19 differs from both influenza and typical coxsackie virus myocarditis.
</div>
<div class="article-link article-html-link">
🖺 Full Text HTML: <a href="https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2021.09.16.460594v1" target="_blank">3D virtual Histopathology of Cardiac Tissue from Covid-19 Patients based on Phase-Contrast X-ray Tomography</a>
</div></li>
<li><strong>Altered fibrin clot structure contributes to thrombosis risk in severe COVID-19</strong> -
<div>
The high incidence of thrombotic events suggests a possible role of the contact system pathway in COVID-19 pathology. Here, we demonstrate altered levels of factor XII (FXII) and its activation products in two independent cohorts of critically ill COVID-19 patients in comparison to patients suffering from severe acute respiratory distress syndrome due to influenza virus (ARDS-influenza). Compatible with this data, we report rapid consumption of FXII in COVID-19, but not in ARDS-influenza, plasma. Interestingly, the kaolin clotting time was not prolonged in COVID-19 as compared to ARDS-influenza. Using confocal and electron microscopy, we show that increased FXII activation rate, in conjunction with elevated fibrinogen levels, triggers formation of fibrinolysis-resistant, compact clots with thin fibers and small pores in COVID-19. Accordingly, we observed clot lysis in 30% of COVID-19 patients and 84% of ARDS influenza subjects. Analysis of lung tissue sections revealed wide-spread extra- and intra-vascular compact fibrin deposits in COVID-19. Together, our results indicate that elevated fibrinogen levels and increased FXII activation rate promote thrombosis and thrombolysis resistance via enhanced thrombus formation and stability in COVID-19.
</div>
<div class="article-link article-html-link">
🖺 Full Text HTML: <a href="https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2021.09.17.460777v1" target="_blank">Altered fibrin clot structure contributes to thrombosis risk in severe COVID-19</a>
</div></li>
<li><strong>The evolutionary landscape of SARS-CoV-2 variant B.1.1.519 and its clinical impact in Mexico City</strong> -
<div>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
The SARS-CoV-2 pandemic is one of the most concerning health problems around the globe. We report the emergence of SARS-CoV-2 variant B.1.1.519 in Mexico City. This variant represented up to 90% of sequenced cases in February 2021. It is characterized by three amino acid changes in the spike protein: T478K, P681H, and T732A. We report the effective reproduction number of B.1.1.519 and present evidence of its geographical origin based on phylogenetic analysis. We also studied its evolution via haplotype analysis and identified the most recurrent haplotypes. Finally, we studied the clinical impact of B.1.1.519: patients infected with variant B.1.1.519 showed a highly significant adjusted odds ratio (aOR) increase of 1.85 over non-B.1.1.519 patients for developing a severe/critical outcome (P = 0.000296, 1.33-2.6 95% CI) and a 2.35-fold increase for hospitalization (P = 0.005, 1.32-4.34 95% CI). The continuous monitoring of this and other variants will be required to control the ongoing pandemic as it evolves.
</p>
</div>
<div class="article- link article-html-link">
🖺 Full Text HTML: <a href="https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2021.09.07.21262911v2" target="_blank">The evolutionary landscape of SARS-CoV-2 variant B.1.1.519 and its clinical impact in Mexico City</a>
</div></li>
<li><strong>Subcutaneous REGEN-COV Antibody Combination in Early Asymptomatic SARS-CoV-2 Infection: A Randomized Clinical Trial</strong> -
<div>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
Importance: Easy-to-administer antiviral treatments may be used to prevent progression from asymptomatic infection to COVID-19 and to reduce viral carriage. Objective: Evaluate the efficacy and safety of subcutaneous casirivimab and imdevimab antibody combination (REGEN-COV) to prevent progression from early asymptomatic SARS-CoV–2 infection to COVID-19. Design: Randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, phase 3 study that enrolled asymptomatic close contacts living with a SARS-CoV-2–infected household member (index case). Participants who were SARS-CoV-2 RT- qPCR–positive at baseline were included in the analysis reported here. Setting: Multicenter trial conducted at 112 sites in the United States, Romania, and Moldova. Participants: Asymptomatic individuals ≥12 years of age were eligible if identified within 96 hours of collection of the index case9s positive SARS-CoV-2 test sample. Interventions: A total of 314 asymptomatic, SARS-CoV-2 RT-qPCR–positive individuals living with an infected household contact were randomized 1:1 to receive a single dose of subcutaneous REGEN-COV 1200mg (n=158) or placebo (n=156). Main Outcome(s) and Measure(s): The primary endpoint was the proportion of participants who developed symptomatic COVID-19 during the 28-day efficacy assessment period. The key secondary efficacy endpoints were the number of weeks of symptomatic SARS-CoV-2 infection and the number of weeks of high viral load (&gt;4 log10 copies/mL). Safety was assessed in all treated participants. Results: Subcutaneous REGEN-COV 1200mg significantly prevented progression from asymptomatic to symptomatic disease compared with placebo (31.5% relative risk reduction; 29/100 [29.0%] vs 44/104 [42.3%], respectively; P=.0380). REGEN-COV reduced the overall population burden of high–viral load weeks (39.7% reduction vs placebo; 48 vs 82 total weeks; P=.0010) and of symptomatic weeks (45.3% reduction vs placebo; 89.6 vs 170.3 total weeks; P=.0273), the latter corresponding to an approximately 5.6-day reduction in symptom duration per symptomatic participant. Six placebo-treated participants had a COVID-19–related hospitalization or ER visit versus none for those receiving REGEN-COV. The proportion of participants receiving placebo who had ≥1 treatment-emergent adverse events was 48.1% compared with 33.5% for those receiving REGEN-COV, including events related (39.7% vs 25.8%, respectively) or not related (16.0% vs 11.0%, respectively) to COVID-19. Conclusions and Relevance: Subcutaneous REGEN-COV 1200mg prevented progression from asymptomatic SARS-CoV-2 infection to COVID-19, reduced the duration of high viral load and symptoms, and was well tolerated.
</p>
</div>
<div class="article-link article-html-link">
🖺 Full Text HTML: <a href="https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2021.06.14.21258569v2" target="_blank">Subcutaneous REGEN-COV Antibody Combination in Early Asymptomatic SARS-CoV-2 Infection: A Randomized Clinical Trial</a>
</div></li>
<li><strong>First wave of the COVID-19 pandemic in Africa’s island nations: A descriptive study of the variation in the disease burden</strong> -
<div>
Motivated by the idea that island nations might respond differently to non-island countries in handling pandemic situations, we aimed to study the first wave of COVID-19, along with the potential reasons behind the variation in disease burden, across the six African island nations: Cabo Verde, Comoros, Madagascar, Mauritius, São Tomé e Príncipe, and Seychelles. We analysed the publicly available COVID-19 data on confirmed cases and deaths from the beginning of the pandemic through 29 November 2020, to give an overview of the course of the pandemic in these nations. To understand the variation in disease burden across nations, we first explored their economic statuses, healthcare expenditures and facilities, ranging from the numbers of hospital staff to the PCR tests performed, and the main health risk factors. We further examined the age and sex distributions and densities of the overall and urban populations, along with analyzing the main industries in these countries. We also reviewed the non-pharmaceutical response measures implemented nationally. By presenting a comprehensive picture of the healthcare, socioeconomic, and demographic situation and describing the control measures taken by the governments, we aimed to evaluate the possible determinants of the variation in COVID-19 disease burden across the islands.
</div>
<div class="article-link article-html-link">
🖺 Full Text HTML: <a href="https://osf.io/xmqac/" target="_blank">First wave of the COVID-19 pandemic in Africa’s island nations: A descriptive study of the variation in the disease burden</a>
</div></li>
<li><strong>Australian Information Commission v Facebook Inc - Substituting the Hague Service Convention during the Pandemic</strong> -
<div>
Recently, in Australian Information Commission v Facebook Inc ([2020] FCA 531), the Federal Court of Australia (‘FCA’) addresses substituted service and the Hague Service Convention in the contexts of the COVID-19 pandemic. This article seeks to discuss this important case in relation to whether defendants located outside of Australia in a Hague Convention state can be served by substituted service instead of following the Convention.
</div>
<div class="article- link article-html-link">
🖺 Full Text HTML: <a href="https://osf.io/preprints/socarxiv/27qbe/" target="_blank">Australian Information Commission v Facebook Inc - Substituting the Hague Service Convention during the Pandemic</a>
</div></li>
<li><strong>Forecasts of weekly incident and cumulative COVID-19 mortality in the United States: A comparison of combining methods</strong> -
<div>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
<b>Background</b> Forecasting models have played a pivotal role in health policy decision making during the coronavirus disease-2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. A combined forecast from multiple models will be typically more accurate than an individual forecast, but there are few examples of studies of combined forecasts of COVID-19 data, focusing mainly on simple mean and median ensembles and involving short forecast evaluation periods. We aimed to investigate the accuracy of different ways of combining probabilistic forecasts of weekly COVID-19 mortality data, including two weighted methods that we developed previously, on an extended dataset and new dataset, and evaluate over a period of 52 weeks. <b>Methods</b> We considered 95% interval and point forecasts of weekly incident and cumulative COVID-19 mortalities between 16 May 2020 and 8 May 2021 in multiple locations in the United States. We compared the accuracy of simple and more complex combining methods, as well as individual models. <b>Results</b> The average of the forecasts from the individual models was consistently more accurate than the average performance of these models (the mean combination), which provides a fundamental motivation for combining. Weighted combining performed well for both incident and cumulative mortalities, and for both interval and point forecasting. Our inverse score with tuning method was the most accurate overall. The median combination was a leading method in the last quarter for both mortalities, and it was consistently more accurate than the mean combination for point forecasting. For interval forecasts of cumulative mortality, the mean performed better than the median. The best performance of the leading individual model was in point forecasting. <b>Conclusions</b> Combining forecasts can improve the contribution of probabilistic forecasting to health policy decision making during epidemics, and, when there are sufficient historical data on forecast accuracy, weighted combining provides the most accurate method.
</p>
</div>
<div class="article-link article-html-link">
🖺 Full Text HTML: <a href="https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2021.07.11.21260318v3" target="_blank">Forecasts of weekly incident and cumulative COVID-19 mortality in the United States: A comparison of combining methods</a>
</div></li>
<li><strong>Twitter Discourse on Nicotine as Potential Prophylactic or Therapeutic for COVID-19</strong> -
<div>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
Objective: An unproven “nicotine hypothesis” that indicates nicotine9s therapeutic potential for COVID-19 has been proposed in recent literature. This study is about Twitter posts that misinterpret this hypothesis to make baseless claims about benefits of smoking and vaping in the context of COVID-19. We quantify the presence of such misinformation and characterize the tweeters who post such messages. Methods: Twitter premium API was used to download tweets (n = 17,533) that match terms indicating (a) nicotine or vaping themes, (b) a prophylactic or therapeutic effect, and (c) COVID-19 (January-July 2020) as a conjunctive query. A constraint on the length of the span of text containing the terms in the tweets allowed us to focus on those that convey the therapeutic intent. We hand-annotated these filtered tweets and built a classifier that identifies tweets that extrapolate the nicotine hypothesis to smoking/vaping with a positive predictive value of 85%. We analyzed the frequently used terms in author bios, top Web links, and hashtags of such tweets. Results: 21% of our filtered COVID-19 tweets indicate a vaping or smoking-based prevention/treatment narrative. Qualitative analyses show a variety of ways therapeutic claims are being made and tweeter bios reveal pre-existing notions of positive stances toward vaping. Conclusion: The social media landscape is a double-edged sword in tobacco communication. Although it increases information reach, consumers can also be subject to confirmation bias when exposed to inadvertent or deliberate framing of scientific discourse that may border on misinformation. This calls for circumspection and additional planning in countering such narratives as the COVID-19 pandemic continues to ravage our world. Our results also serve as a cautionary tale in how social media can be leveraged to spread misleading information about tobacco products in the wake of pandemics.
</p>
</div>
<div class="article-link article-html-link">
🖺 Full Text HTML: <a href="https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2021.01.05.21249284v2" target="_blank">Twitter Discourse on Nicotine as Potential Prophylactic or Therapeutic for COVID-19</a>
</div></li>
<li><strong>The nuts and bolts of SARS-CoV-2 Spike Receptor Binding Domain heterologous expression</strong> -
<div>
COVID-19 is a highly infectious disease caused by a newly emerged coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2) that has rapidly progressed into a pandemic. This unprecedent emergency has stressed the significance of developing effective therapeutics to fight current and future outbreaks. The receptor-binding domain (RBD) of the SARS-CoV-2 surface Spike protein is the main target for vaccines and represents a helpful tool to produce neutralizing antibodies or diagnostic kits. In this work, we provide a detailed characterization of the native RBD produced in three major model systems: Escherichia coli, insect and HEK-293 cells. Circular dichroism, gel filtration chromatography and thermal denaturation experiments indicated that recombinant SARS-CoV-2 RBD proteins are stable and correctly folded. In addition, their functionality and receptor-binding ability were further evaluated through ELISA, flow cytometry assays and bio-layer interferometry.
</div>
<div class="article-link article-html-link">
🖺 Full Text HTML: <a href="https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2021.09.17.460782v1" target="_blank">The nuts and bolts of SARS-CoV-2 Spike Receptor Binding Domain heterologous expression</a>
</div></li>
<li><strong>ZRC3308 monoclonal antibody cocktail shows protective efficacy in Syrian hamsters against SARS-CoV-2 infection</strong> -
<div>
We have developed a monoclonal antibody (mAb) cocktail (ZRC-3308) comprising of ZRC3308-A7 and ZRC3308-B10 in the ratio 1:1 for COVID-19 treatment. The mAbs were designed to have reduced immune effector functions and increased circulation half-life. mAbs showed good binding affinities to non-competing epitopes on RBD of SARS-CoV-2 spike protein and were found neutralizing SARS-CoV-2 variants B.1, B.1.1.7, B.1.351, B.1.617.2 and B.1.617.2 AY.1 in vitro. The mAb cocktail demonstrated effective prophylactic and therapeutic activity against SARS-CoV-2 infection in Syrian hamsters. The antibody cocktail appears to be a promising candidate for the prophylactic use and for therapy in early COVID-19 cases which have not progressed to severe disease.
</div>
<div class="article-link article-html-link">
🖺 Full Text HTML: <a href="https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2021.09.16.460724v1" target="_blank">ZRC3308 monoclonal antibody cocktail shows protective efficacy in Syrian hamsters against SARS-CoV-2 infection</a>
</div></li>
<li><strong>A novel hamster model of SARS-CoV-2 respiratory infection using a pseudotyped virus</strong> -
<div>
Background: Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) is a biosafety level (BSL)-3 pathogen; therefore, its research environment is strictly limited. Pseudotyped viruses that mimic SARS-CoV-2 have been widely used for in vitro evaluation because they are available in BSL-2 containment laboratories; however, in vivo application is inadequate. Therefore, animal models that can be instigated with animal BSL-2 will increase opportunities for in vivo evaluations. Methods: Hamsters (6- to 10-week-old males) were intratracheally inoculated with luciferase-expressing vesicular stomatitis virus (VSV)-based SARS-CoV-2 pseudotyped virus. The lungs were harvested 24 h after inoculation, and luminescence was measured using an in vivo imaging system. Results: Lung luminescence after inoculation with the SARS-CoV-2 pseudotyped virus increased in a dose-dependent manner. VSV-G (envelope [G]) pseudotyped virus also induced luminescence; however, a 100-fold concentration was required to reach a level similar to that of the SARS-CoV-2 pseudotyped virus. Conclusions: The SARS-CoV-2 pseudotyped virus is applicable to SARS-CoV-2 respiratory infections in a hamster model. Because of the single-round infectious virus, the model can be used to study the steps from viral binding to entry, which will be useful for future research regarding SARS-CoV-2 entry without using live SARS-CoV-2 or transgenic animals.
</div>
<div class="article-link article-html-link">
🖺 Full Text HTML: <a href="https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2021.09.17.460745v1" target="_blank">A novel hamster model of SARS-CoV-2 respiratory infection using a pseudotyped virus</a>
</div></li>
</ul>
<h1 data-aos="fade-right" id="from-clinical-trials">From Clinical Trials</h1>
<ul>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Finding Treatments for COVID-19: A Trial of Antiviral Pharmacodynamics in Early Symptomatic COVID-19 (PLATCOV)</strong> - <b>Condition</b>:   COVID-19<br/><b>Interventions</b>:   Drug: Favipiravir;   Drug: Monoclonal antibodies;   Drug: Ivermectin;   Other: No treatment;   Drug: Remdesivir<br/><b>Sponsor</b>:   University of Oxford<br/><b>Not yet recruiting</b></p></li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Safety and Immunogenicity Study of AdCLD-CoV19-1: A COVID-19 Preventive Vaccine in Healthy Volunteers</strong> - <b>Condition</b>:   Covid19<br/><b>Intervention</b>:   Biological: AdCLD-CoV19-1<br/><b>Sponsor</b>:  <br/>
Cellid Co., Ltd.<br/><b>Recruiting</b></p></li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>A Post-Exposure Prophylaxis Study of PF-07321332/Ritonavir in Adult Household Contacts of an Individual With Symptomatic COVID-19</strong> - <b>Condition</b>:   COVID-19<br/><b>Interventions</b>:   Drug: PF-07321332;   Drug: Placebo for PF-07321332;   Drug: Placebo for Ritonavir;   Drug: Ritonavir<br/><b>Sponsor</b>:   Pfizer<br/><b>Not yet recruiting</b></p></li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Factors Influencing the COVID-19 Vaccine Immune Response According to Age and Presence or Not of a Past History of COVID-19</strong> - <b>Condition</b>:   Covid19<br/><b>Interventions</b>:   Biological: COVID-19 vaccine Pfizer (2 doses);   Biological: COVID-19 vaccine Pfizer (1 dose);   Biological: COVID-19 mRNA Vaccine Moderna (2 doses);   Biological: COVID-19 mRNA Vaccine Moderna (1 dose)<br/><b>Sponsors</b>:   Centre Hospitalier Universitaire de Saint Etienne;   Sanofi Pasteur, a Sanofi Company;   Bioaster<br/><b>Not yet recruiting</b></p></li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>COVID-19 Morbidity in Healthcare Workers and Vitamin D Supplementation</strong> - <b>Condition</b>:   COVID-19 Respiratory Infection<br/><b>Intervention</b>:   Drug: Vitamin D<br/><b>Sponsor</b>:   Federal State Budgetary Institution, V. A. Almazov Federal North-West Medical Research Centre, of the Ministry of Health<br/><b>Completed</b></p></li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>TThe Safety and Efficacy of SCTV01C in Population Aged ≥18 Years Previously Vaccinated With Inactivated COVID-19 Vaccine.Healthy Population Aged ≥18 Years Previously Vaccinated With Inactivated COVID-19 Vaccine.</strong> - <b>Conditions</b>:   COVID-19;   SARS-CoV-2 Infection<br/><b>Interventions</b>:   Biological: SCTV01C;   Other: Placebo<br/><b>Sponsor</b>:   Sinocelltech Ltd.<br/><b>Not yet recruiting</b></p></li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>The Safety and Efficacy of SCTV01C in Population Aged ≥18 Years Previously Vaccinated With Inactivated COVID-19 Vaccine.Healthy Population Aged ≥18 Years Previously Vaccinated With Adenovirus Vectored or mRNA COVID-19 Vaccine.</strong> - <b>Conditions</b>:   COVID-19;   SARS-CoV-2 Infection<br/><b>Interventions</b>:   Biological: SCTV01C;   Other: Placebo<br/><b>Sponsor</b>:   Sinocelltech Ltd.<br/><b>Not yet recruiting</b></p></li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Heterologous Prime-boost Immunization With an Aerosolised Adenovirus Type-5 Vector-based COVID-19 Vaccine (Ad5-nCoV) After Priming With an Inactivated SARS-CoV-2 Vaccine</strong> - <b>Condition</b>:   COVID-19<br/><b>Interventions</b>:   Biological: inactive SARS-CoV-2 vaccine (Vero cell);   Biological: Low dose aerosolized Ad5-nCoV;   Biological: High dose aerosolized Ad5-nCoV<br/><b>Sponsor</b>:   Jiangsu Province Centers for Disease Control and Prevention<br/><b>Recruiting</b></p></li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Text Message Nudges for COVID-19 Vaccination</strong> - <b>Condition</b>:   Covid19<br/><b>Intervention</b>:   Behavioral: Text message<br/><b>Sponsor</b>:  <br/>
Ascension South East Michigan<br/><b>Not yet recruiting</b></p></li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>A Pilot Study of a PhysiOthErapy-based Tailored Intervention for Long Covid</strong> - <b>Condition</b>:   COVID-19<br/><b>Intervention</b>:   Behavioral: Physiotherapy<br/><b>Sponsors</b>:  <br/>
University of Calgary;   Alberta Health Services<br/><b>Not yet recruiting</b></p></li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Combined Antihistaminics Therapy in COVID 19 Patients</strong> - <b>Condition</b>:   Covid19<br/><b>Interventions</b>:   Drug: Loratadine;   Drug: Famotidine<br/><b>Sponsors</b>:   Ain Shams University;   Nasr City Insurance Hospital<br/><b>Not yet recruiting</b></p></li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Relate to the Virus That Causes COVID-19, Known as Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2)</strong> - <b>Condition</b>:   Covid19<br/><b>Intervention</b>:   Other: Rapid antigen testing kit<br/><b>Sponsors</b>:  <br/>
Mahidol University;   Yuvabadhana foundation;   Zero COVID Thailand<br/><b>Not yet recruiting</b></p></li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Prevention and Treatment of Patient Before, During, and After Covid-19 Infection</strong> - <b>Condition</b>:   Covid19<br/><b>Intervention</b>:   Drug: AntiCov-220<br/><b>Sponsor</b>:  <br/>
Nguyen Thi Trieu, MD<br/><b>Active, not recruiting</b></p></li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Quercetin in the Prevention of Covid-19 Infection</strong> - <b>Condition</b>:   Covid19<br/><b>Interventions</b>:   Dietary Supplement: Quercetin;   Combination Product: Placebo<br/><b>Sponsor</b>:   Azienda di Servizi alla Persona di Pavia<br/><b>Completed</b></p></li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>A Study to Evaluate Change in Viral Load After OPN-019 in Adults With COVID-19</strong> - <b>Condition</b>:   Covid19<br/><b>Intervention</b>:   Drug: OPN-019<br/><b>Sponsor</b>:   Optinose US Inc.<br/><b>Recruiting</b></p></li>
</ul>
<h1 data-aos="fade-right" id="from-pubmed">From PubMed</h1>
<ul>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Low-Valent Calix[4]arene Glycoconjugates Based on Hydroxamic Acid Bearing Linkers as Potent Inhibitors in a Model of Ebola Virus Cis-Infection and HCMV-gB-Recombinant Glycoprotein Interaction with MDDC Cells by Blocking DC-SIGN</strong> - In addition to a variety of viral-glycoprotein receptors (e.g., heparan sulfate, Niemann-Pick C1, etc.), dendritic cell- specific intercellular adhesion molecule-3-grabbing nonintegrin (DC-SIGN), from the C-type lectin receptor family, plays one of the most important pathogenic functions for a wide range of viruses (e.g., Ebola, human cytomegalovirus (HCMV), HIV-1, severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2, etc.) that invade host cells before replication; thus, its inhibition represents a…</p></li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Evaluation of the correlation between the Access SARS-CoV-2 IgM and IgG II antibody tests with the SARS-CoV-2 surrogate virus neutralization test</strong> - Fully automated immunoassays for detecting severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) antibodies that are strongly correlated with neutralization antibodies (nAbs) are clinically important because they enable assessment of humoral immunity after infection and vaccination. Access SARS-CoV-2 IgM and IgG II antibody tests are semi- quantitative, fully automated immunoassays that detect anti-receptor-binding domain (RBD) antibodies and might reflect nAb levels in coronavirus disease…</p></li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Should the world collaborate imminently to develop neglected live attenuated vaccines for COVID-19?</strong> - The rapid spread of the Delta variant suggests that SARS-CoV-2 will likely keep rampant for months or years and could claim millions of more lives. All known vaccines cannot well defeat SARS-CoV-2 except neglected live attenuated vaccines (LAVs), which could have much higher efficacy and much higher production efficiency than other vaccines. LAVs have well defeated more pathogenic viruses than other vaccines in the history, and most of the current human vaccines for viral diseases are safe LAVs….</p></li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2: The Role of the Main Components of the Innate Immune System</strong> - At the end of December 2019, the COVID-19 pandemic began in Wuhan of China. COVID-19 affects different people with a wide spectrum of clinical manifestations, ranging from asymptomatic with recovery without hospitalization up to a severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS). The innate and adaptive immunity appears responsible for the defense against the virus and recovery from the disease. The innate immune system, as the first line of defense, is essential for the detection of virus and…</p></li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Neutralization of SARS-CoV-2 pseudovirus using ACE2-engineered extracellular vesicles</strong> - The spread of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) throughout the world has resulted in stressful healthcare burdens and global health crises. Developing an effective measure to protect people from infection is an urgent need. The blockage of interaction between angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 (ACE2) and S protein is considered an essential target for anti- severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) drugs. A full-length ACE2 protein could be a potential drug to block early entry…</p></li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>The Role of Steroids in the Management of COVID-19 Infection</strong> - Steroids are anti-inflammatory drugs that have been utilized in a wide range of clinical illnesses, including rheumatologic, autoimmune, inflammatory, and numerous lung diseases. Because of the inhibition of the inflammatory cascade, corticosteroids are beneficial in many pulmonary disorders, including asthma, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), laryngotracheobronchitis, interstitial lung diseases, severe pneumonia, and acute respiratory distress syndrome. We will report a case of a…</p></li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>N-Terminal Modification of Gly-His-tagged Proteins with Azidogluconolactone</strong> - Site-specific protein modifications are vital for biopharmaceutical drug development. Gluconoylation is a non-enzymatic, post-translational modification of N-terminal HisTags. We report high-yield, site-selective in vitro α-aminoacylation of peptides, glycoproteins, antibodies, and Virus-like particles (VLPs) with azidogluconolactone at pH 7.5 in 1 h. Conjugates slowly hydrolyse, but diol-masking with borate esters inhibits reversibility. In an example, we multimerise azidogluconoylated…</p></li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Influence of coronavirus disease 2019 on myopic progression in children treated with low-concentration atropine</strong> - CONCLUSIONS: The rates of myopic progression have increased substantially after the spread of COVID-19 with an increase in the home confinement of children. Therefore, it is necessary to control the environmental risk factors for myopia, even in children undergoing treatment for the inhibition of myopic progression.</p></li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>New Chalcone Derivatives as Effective Anti-SARS-CoV-2 Agents</strong> - CONCLUSIONS: Computational analyses identified eight compounds inhibiting each target, with binding affinity scores ranging from -4,370 to -2,748 kcal/mol along with their toxicological, ADME, and drug-like properties.</p></li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Efficacy of Combination Therapy With The JAK Inhibitor Baricitinib In The Treatment of COVID-19</strong> - CONCLUSIONS: These findings support the utility of immunosuppression via JAK inhibition in moderate to severe COVID-19 pneumonia.</p></li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Social network-based cohorting to reduce the spread of SARS-CoV-2 in secondary schools: A simulation study in classrooms of four European countries</strong> - BACKGROUND: Operating schools safely under pandemic conditions is a widespread policy goal. We analyse the effectiveness of classroom cohorting, i.e., the decomposition of classrooms into smaller isolated units, in inhibiting the spread of SARS-CoV-2 in European secondary schools and compare different cohorting strategies.</p></li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Telaprevir is a potential drug for repurposing against SARS-CoV-2: computational and in vitro studies</strong> - Drug repurposing is an important approach to the assignment of already approved drugs for new indications. This technique bypasses some steps in the traditional drug approval system, which saves time and lives in the case of pandemics. Direct acting antivirals (DAAs) have repeatedly repurposed from treating one virus to another. In this study, 16 FDA-approved hepatitis C virus (HCV) DAA drugs were studied to explore their activities against severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2…</p></li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Endocytosis of abiotic nanomaterials and nanobiovectors: Inhibition of membrane trafficking</strong> - Humans are exposed to nanoscopical nanobiovectors (e.g. coronavirus SARS-CoV-2) as well as abiotic metal/carbon-based nanomaterials that enter cells serendipitously or intentionally. Understanding the interactions of cell membranes with these abiotic and biotic nanostructures will facilitate scientists to design better functional nanomaterials for biomedical applications. Such knowledge will also provide important clues for the control of viral infections and the treatment of virus-induced…</p></li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Polymeric Materials as Potential Inhibitors Against SARS-CoV-2</strong> - Recently discovered SARS-CoV-2 caused a pandemic that triggered researchers worldwide to focus their research on all aspects of this new peril to humanity. However, in the absence of specific therapeutic intervention, some preventive strategies and supportive treatment minimize the viral transmission as studied by some factors such as basic reproduction number, case fatality rate, and incubation period in the epidemiology of viral diseases. This review briefly discusses coronaviruses’ life cycle…</p></li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Asunaprevir, a Potent Hepatitis C Virus Protease Inhibitor, Blocks SARS-CoV-2 Propagation</strong> - The severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) pandemic has become a global health concern. Various SARS-CoV-2 vaccines have been developed and are being used for vaccination worldwide. However, no therapeutic agents against coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) have been developed so far; therefore, new therapeutic agents are urgently needed. In the present study, we evaluated several hepatitis C virus direct-acting antivirals as potential candidates for drug repurposing against…</p></li>
</ul>
<h1 data-aos="fade-right" id="from-patent-search">From Patent Search</h1>
<ul>
<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>MACHINE LEARNING TECHNIQUE TO ANALYSE THE CONDITION OF COVID-19 PATIENTS BASED ON THEIR SATURATION LEVELS</strong> - - <a href="https://patentscope.wipo.int/search/en/detail.jsf?docId=AU335054861">link</a></p></li>
<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>A HERB BASED COMPOSITION ANTI VIRAL MEDICINE FOR TREATMENT OF SARS COV 2 AND A METHOD FOR TREATING A PERSON INFECTED BY THE SARS COV 2 VIRUS</strong> - A Herbal composition, viz., PONNU MARUNTHU essentially comprising of ALLUIUM CEPA extract. [concentrated to 30%] 75%, SAPINDUS MUKOROSSI - extract [Optimised] 10%, CITRUS X LIMON - extract in its natural form 05 TRACYSPERMUM AMMI (L) – extract 07%,ROSA HYBRIDA - extract 03%, PONNU MARUNTHU solution 50 ml, or as a capsulated PONNU MARUNTHU can be given to SARS cov2 positive Patients, three times a day that is ½ an hour before food; continued for 3 days to 5 days and further taking it for 2 days if need be there; It will completely cure a person. When the SARS cov2 test shows negative this medicine can be discontinued. This indigenous medicine and method for treating a person inflicted with SARS COV 2 viral infection is quite effective in achieving of much needed remedy for the patients and saving precious lives from the pangs of death and ensuring better health of people. - <a href="https://patentscope.wipo.int/search/en/detail.jsf?docId=IN334865051">link</a></p></li>
<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Anti-Sars-Cov-2 Neutralizing Antibodies</strong> - - <a href="https://patentscope.wipo.int/search/en/detail.jsf?docId=AU333857732">link</a></p></li>
<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Expression Vector for Anti-Sars-Cov-2 Neutralizing Antibodies</strong> - - <a href="https://patentscope.wipo.int/search/en/detail.jsf?docId=AU333857737">link</a></p></li>
<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>DEVELOPMENT OF CNN SCHEME FOR COVID-19 DISEASE DETECTION USING CHEST RADIOGRAPH</strong> - - <a href="https://patentscope.wipo.int/search/en/detail.jsf?docId=AU333857177">link</a></p></li>
<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>一种检测新型冠状病毒的引物探针组合及其应用</strong> - 本发明提供了一种检测新型冠状病毒的引物探针组合及其应用，所述检测新型冠状病毒的引物探针组合包括特异性扩增并检测2019‑nCoV的ORF1ab基因、核壳蛋白N基因和刺突蛋白S基因N501Y突变位点的特异性引物对和探针。本发明还提供了一种检测新型冠状病毒的试剂盒及其以非疾病诊断和/或治疗为目的的使用方法。本发明所述检测新型冠状病毒的引物探针组合具有良好的特异性与灵敏度，配合优化后的检测体系，可以对待测样本进行快速准确的检测，并可以对整个实验流程进行监控，降低假阳性以及假阴性检测结果的出现概率，具有重要的意义。 - <a href="https://patentscope.wipo.int/search/en/detail.jsf?docId=CN335430482">link</a></p></li>
<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>SARS-COV-2 BINDING PROTEINS</strong> - - <a href="https://patentscope.wipo.int/search/en/detail.jsf?docId=AU333402004">link</a></p></li>
<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>COVID-19胸部CT图像识别方法、装置及电子设备</strong> - 本申请涉及一种COVID‑19胸部CT图像识别方法、装置及电子设备。所述方法获取COVID‑19的胸部CT图像，并针对胸部CT图像的特点，构建新冠肺炎CT识别网络，对该网络进行训练得到COVID‑19胸部CT图像识别模型，并利用该模型对待测CT图像进行分类。采用空洞卷积、深度卷积以及点卷积算子，减少冗余参数；采用并行结构连接方式，实现多尺度特征融合、降低模型复杂度；采用下采样方式，使用最大模糊池化以减少锯齿效应，保持信号的平移不变性；采用通道混洗操作，减少参数量与计算量，提高分类准确率，引入坐标注意力机制，使空间坐标信息与通道信息被关注，抑制不重要的信息，以解决资源匹配问题。 - <a href="https://patentscope.wipo.int/search/en/detail.jsf?docId=CN335069870">link</a></p></li>
<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>A PROCESS FOR PREPARING MONTELUKAST SODIUM FOR TREATING COVID 19 PATIENTS</strong> - - <a href="https://patentscope.wipo.int/search/en/detail.jsf?docId=AU333857132">link</a></p></li>
<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>IDENTIFICATION OF ANTI-COVID 19 AGENT SOMNIFERINE AS INHIBITOR OF MPRO &amp; ACE2-RBD INTERACTION</strong> - - <a href="https://patentscope.wipo.int/search/en/detail.jsf?docId=AU333857079">link</a></p></li>
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<h1 data-aos="fade-down" id="daily-dose">Daily-Dose</h1>
<h1 data-aos="fade-right" data-aos-anchor-placement="top-bottom" id="contents">Contents</h1>
<ul>
<li><a href="#from-new-yorker">From New Yorker</a></li>
<li><a href="#from-vox">From Vox</a></li>
<li><a href="#from-the-hindu-sports">From The Hindu: Sports</a></li>
<li><a href="#from-the-hindu-national-news">From The Hindu: National News</a></li>
<li><a href="#from-bbc-europe">From BBC: Europe</a></li>
<li><a href="#from-ars-technica">From Ars Technica</a></li>
<li><a href="#from-jokes-subreddit">From Jokes Subreddit</a></li>
</ul>
<h1 data-aos="fade-right" id="from-new-yorker">From New Yorker</h1>
<ul>
<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>The Most Important Statistic of the Biden Presidency</strong> - One in five hundred Americans has died in the pandemic, and Republicans are actively rooting for the country to fail. - <a href="https://www.newyorker.com/news/letter-from-bidens-washington/the-most-important-statistic-of-the-biden-%20presidency">link</a></p></li>
<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>How to Talk About Climate Change Across the Political Divide</strong> - Katharine Hayhoe, an atmospheric scientist and evangelical Christian, has written a book that lays out strategies for discussing the climate crisis in a divided country. - <a href="https://www.newyorker.com/news/on-religion/how-to-talk-about-climate-change-across-the-political-divide">link</a></p></li>
<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>It’s Still the Coronavirus Economy</strong> - A disappointing jobs report shows that mass vaccination hasn’t yet broken the link between the pandemic and our economic fortunes. - <a href="https://www.newyorker.com/news/our-columnists/its-still-the-coronavirus-economy">link</a></p></li>
<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>The Promise of Carbon-Neutral Steel</strong> - A new manufacturing technique could drastically reduce the footprint of one of our dirtiest materials. - <a href="https://www.newyorker.com/news/annals-of-a-warming-planet/the-promise-of-carbon-neutral-steel">link</a></p></li>
<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Right-Wing Takes on A.O.C.’s Met Gala Look</strong> - The war of the gowns is on in Washington. - <a href="https://www.newyorker.com/cartoons/blitts-kvetchbook/right-wing-takes-on-aocs-met-gala-look">link</a></p></li>
</ul>
<h1 data-aos="fade-right" id="from-vox">From Vox</h1>
<ul>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Nuclear subs and a diplomatic blowup: The US-France clash, explained</strong> -
<figure>
<img alt="President Joe Biden speaks from the podium in the East Room of the White House in front of a
row of US, British, and Australian flags." src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/GpKFAy8T8-NM8qap2XjxnUI-
mTM=/406x0:6922x4887/1310x983/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/69877270/1340589583.0.jpg"/></figure></li>
</ul>
<figcaption>
President Joe Biden deliver his remarks on a new national security initiative with Australia and the United Kingdom at the White House on September 15, 2021. | Win McNamee/Getty Images
</figcaption>
<pre><code>&lt;/figure&gt;</code></pre>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
France recalled its ambassadors to the US and Australia over a new defense deal.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="hXDQuR">
France recalled its ambassadors to the United States and Australia on Friday in protest of Australia’s decision to cancel a major defense deal in favor of a new one with the US and Britain.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="5mi5rc">
The dramatic move caps a week of indignation for France, which <a href="https://www.politico.eu/article/france-slams-australia-us-e50b-submarine-deal/">described</a> the new US-UK-Australia deal as “a stab in the back” on Thursday, and represents a major diplomatic break between longtime allies.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="3oxo4p">
It’s also the <a href="https://apnews.com/article/france-recalls-ambassadors-us-australia-
submarines-0322cefb3783f9e90ee8f0c3a738717e">first time</a> that France has recalled its ambassador to the US, <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2021-09-17/france-recalls-u-s-australian-ambassadors-over-submarine-
row">according to Bloomberg News</a>, and it comes after French officials <a href="https://thehill.com/policy/defense/572640-france-cancels-dc-gala-in-anger-over-biden-sub-deal-report">canceled</a> a Washington, DC, gala scheduled for Friday.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="mi9vN6">
The new US-UK-Australia deal, which was <a href="https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/speeches-remarks/2021/09/15/remarks-by-president-biden-prime-minister-
morrison-of-australia-and-prime-minister-johnson-of-the-united-kingdom-announcing-the-creation-of-aukus/">announced on Wednesday</a> by the leaders of the three countries, lays the groundwork for Australia to acquire at least eight nuclear submarines with support from the US and the UK. <a href="https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/speeches-
remarks/2021/09/15/remarks-by-president-biden-prime-minister-morrison-of-australia-and-prime-minister-johnson-of-the-
united-kingdom-announcing-the-creation-of-aukus/">According to Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison</a>, it also marks the “first major initiative” of a tripartite new security agreement between the countries under the acronym AUKUS (pronounced AWK-us, <a href="https://apnews.com/article/joe-biden-business-china-australia-united-
states-1b2e597918bc1c8dd1aab26ab32c9621">according to the AP</a>).
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="B2jqW2">
“This initiative is about making sure that each of us has a modern capability — the most modern capabilities we need — to maneuver and defend against rapidly evolving threats,” President Joe Biden said in Wednesday’s <a href="https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-
room/speeches-remarks/2021/09/15/remarks-by-president-biden-prime-minister-morrison-of-australia-and-prime-minister-
johnson-of-the-united-kingdom-announcing-the-creation-of-aukus/">joint announcement</a> with Morrison and British Prime Minister Boris Johnson.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="7Z4GU5">
The AUKUS submarine deal replaces a <a href="https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-security-france-australia/australia-made-huge-mistake-in-cancelling-
submarine-deal-says-french-envoy-idUSKBN2GE06U">previous agreement</a> between France and Australia for France to deliver 12 non-nuclear submarines.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="GaI6h4">
In a <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2021/09/17/world/europe/france-ambassador-recall-us-australia.html">Friday statement</a> announcing France’s decision to recall its ambassadors, French Foreign Affairs Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian said that the move “is justified by the exceptional gravity of the announcements made on 15 September by Australia and the United States.”
</p>
<div id="X3rJv9">
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" dir="ltr" lang="en">
I am being recalled to Paris for consultations. This follows announcements directly affecting the vision we have of our alliances, of our partnerships and of the importance of the Indo-Pacific for Europe. <a href="https://t.co/ue2V1NUTpN">https://t.co/ue2V1NUTpN</a>
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">— Philippe Etienne (<span class="citation" data-cites="Ph_Etienne">@Ph_Etienne</span>) <a href="https://twitter.com/Ph_Etienne/status/1438973623784681472?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">September 17, 2021</a></p>
</blockquote>
</div>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="SI9hit">
In public remarks this week, French officials, including Le Drian, have not held back their shock at Australia’s decision to turn to the US and the UK. “We had established a trusting relationship with Australia, and this trust was betrayed,” Le Drian said on Thursday, <a href="https://www.politico.eu/article/france-
slams-australia-us-e50b-submarine-deal/">according to Politico</a>.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="BgyxT2">
French Minister of the Armed Forces Florence Parly reserved particular disdain for the US, saying France is “clear-eyed as to how the United States treats its allies,” <a href="https://www.dw.com/en/france-hits-back-as-australia-dumps-submarine-
deal/a-59197513">according to Deutsche Welle</a>.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="izT7zu">
Despite the UK’s smaller role in the negotiations — currently, the US <a href="https://breakingdefense.com/2021/09/in-surprise-move-us-uk-agree-to-share-nuclear-submarine-
tech-with-australia/">shares its submarine technology with the UK alone</a>, necessitating Britain’s cooperation in the pact — Le Drian had harsh words for the Johnson government, too, saying it is “in a logic of permanent opportunism.”
</p>
<div id="Ya5rA8">
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" dir="ltr" lang="en">
Regarding the United Kingdom, “recalling our Ambassador to London was not necessary because we already know that the British government is in a logic of permanent opportunism”.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">— Pierre Morcos (<span class="citation" data-cites="morcos_pierre">@morcos_pierre</span>) <a href="https://twitter.com/morcos_pierre/status/1439293496762978305?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">September 18, 2021</a></p>
</blockquote>
</div>
<h3 id="mHmab5">
Nuclear submarines make geopolitical sense for Australia
</h3>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="taRcsK">
French President Emmanuel Macron’s decision to withdraw his country’s ambassadors to the US and Australia in response to the pact marks a surprising breakdown in France’s historically close relationship with the US — but Australia’s decision to look to the US for its submarine fleet is less surprising.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="nvJ2zv">
Specifically, China’s military buildup, and its quest for dominance in the South China Sea — a major trade route for Australia — made the French submarines obsolete before they were even delivered. Because the US-made submarines rely on nuclear power, they have a far greater range than conventional submarines, don’t require refueling, and have better stealth capabilities — meaning they can stay underwater for months at a time without being detected, Australian National University researcher AJ Mitchell explained in <a href="https://theconversation.com/how-do-nuclear-powered-submarines-
work-a-nuclear-scientist-explains-168067">the Conversation</a> this week.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="7JfAGT">
With the AUKUS pact, Australia will join six other nations — the US, UK, Russia, India, France, and China — in deploying nuclear submarines, assuming the deal goes forward as planned. Prior to this new alliance, the US had shared its submarine technology only with Britain.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="knbhg0">
In addition to the advantages of nuclear submarines, Australia’s previous deal with France — a <a href="https://apnews.com/article/europe-business-france-australia-united-states-
dde9fd44e9d29c08f4cb42335635f193">$66 billion</a> submarine contract, <a href="https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-
security-france-australia/australia-made-huge-mistake-in-cancelling-submarine-deal-says-french-envoy-
idUSKBN2GE06U">finalized in 2016</a>, that would have provided Australia with 12 conventional, diesel-powered Barracuda submarines — has been rife with difficulties.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="e7HtHs">
The deal with France was only canceled on Wednesday, just hours before Morrison announced the AUKUS agreement in a teleconference with Biden and Johnson, but it had already begun to unravel — falling behind schedule as costs nearly doubled — when Australia approached the US about acquiring its submarine technology shortly after Biden took office earlier this year.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="eQe3cO">
In June, Australian Defense Minister Scott Moriarty signaled in a Senate hearing that the original deal was proving untenable, <a href="https://www.politico.eu/article/why-australia-wanted-out-of-its-french-sub-deal/">Politico reports</a>, and that Australia was pursuing other options should the pact fall apart.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="TsVHKy">
On top of cost overruns and delays, there were other issues as well. Shortly after Australia and France reached the agreement in 2016, the French shipbuilder, then called DCNS, <a href="https://www.ft.com/content/182399f2-69be-11e6-a0b1-d87a9fea034f">revealed</a> it had been hacked and documents related to a separate Indian submarine project exposed. And while France’s submarine technology — conventional, diesel-powered attack vessels that could be switched to nuclear power — may have made sense when Australia’s relationship with China was less contentious, that relationship <a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2021/07/china-australia-america/619544/">has soured recently</a> due to China’s aggressive foreign policy in the Pacific and elsewhere.
</p>
<h3 id="tfj7Vm">
AUKUS took France by surprise
</h3>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="EzQMff">
While issues with the Australia-France deal have long been apparent, neither the US nor the Australians discussed the shift with their French counterparts until just a few hours before Morrison, Johnson, and Biden announced the new alliance, <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2021/09/17/us/politics/us-france-australia-
betrayal.html">according to the New York Times</a>.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="XaLfEX">
In fact, Australia and the US reportedly conspired to keep the developing deal from France, even as officials from both countries met with their French counterparts. Biden discussed the future of their alliance with Macron in June and Secretary of State Antony Blinken made no mention of the pact when he met with Le Drian that same month in Paris.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="5nfJna">
Australia also hid its plans from France when Morrison and Macron met in June, although Morrison says he did raise concerns about the viability of diesel-powered vessels, according to <a href="https://thehill.com/policy/international/572859-french-
ambassador-australia-made-a-huge-mistake-cancelling-submarine">the Hill</a>. Australia’s defense and foreign ministers even met with their French counterparts <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2021/09/17/us/politics/us-france-australia-
betrayal.html">late last month</a> and issued a joint statement about furthering their defense cooperation, specifically citing the submarine program.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="n5EET2">
But by that date, <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2021/09/17/us/politics/us-france-australia-betrayal.html">according to the New York Times</a>, the AUKUS deal was all but signed. The news caught French officials off-guard, with French ambassador to Australia Jean-Pierre Thebault <a href="https://apnews.com/article/europe-business-france-australia-united-states-
dde9fd44e9d29c08f4cb42335635f193">reportedly</a> learning of the new alliance when the news broke in the Australian press, and while Jake Sullivan, Biden’s national security adviser, did discuss the decision with French ambassador Philippe Etienne just before the official announcement, that did not stop France from recalling Etienne to Paris for consultations.
</p>
<h3 id="7aDRlG">
The complex roots of France’s fury
</h3>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="DmLW9e">
In addition to diplomatic issues, France’s disappointment in the dissolution of its original submarine deal has a financial component.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="r1bIf8">
Indeed, the scuttled <a href="https://apnews.com/article/europe-business-france-australia-united-states-
dde9fd44e9d29c08f4cb42335635f193">$66 billion deal</a> was billed as the “<a href="https://apnews.com/article/europe-
business-france-australia-united-states-dde9fd44e9d29c08f4cb42335635f193">contract of the century</a>” in France, and Parly noted Thursday that the French government <a href="https://www.reuters.com/business/france-help-limit-financial-
hit-naval-group-cancelled-australia-deal-2021-09-16/">won’t rule out asking Australia for compensation</a>.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="HDhpWz">
The now-defunct deal also intersects with France’s long-term foreign policy goals.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="hH5JTA">
Macron has long sought to establish what he calls “strategic autonomy” for the European Union, asking members of the bloc to increase their military spending and establish a stronger political relationship with NATO. In February, Macron <a href="https://news.usni.org/2021/02/08/french-president-macron-calls-for-european-strategic-autonomy">emphasized</a> at an Atlantic Council forum that “the EU is a credible player and one at a relevant level.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="I36XRu">
The dissolution of the French-Australian defense deal prevents Macron from flexing the country’s — and the bloc’s — security and political muscles in the Indo-Pacific.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="uUr7rN">
That doesn’t mean France’s outrage this week augurs a major shift for the country going forward, however.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="f2OLE2">
As Daniel Baer, senior fellow at the Carnegie Institute for International Peace, <a href="https://foreignpolicy.com/2021/09/17/aukus-france-submarines-
australia/">points out in Foreign Policy</a>, “For the French—or anyone else—to spin a substantial commercial loss into a paradigm-busting strategic reorientation is a misinterpretation of the meaning of the pact, the main strategic focus of which is, after all, the Indo-Pacific.”
</p>
<ul>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>The Texas GOP sees Haitian migrants in crisis as a political opportunity</strong> -
<figure>
<img alt="A large number of people wading across a river." src="https://cdn.vox-
cdn.com/thumbor/dMxCOLRDlhgubbSSyKk9eT6nMpY=/342x0:5707x4024/1310x983/cdn.vox-
cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/69875813/1235307338.0.jpg"/>
<figcaption>
Migrants cross back and forth between the United States and Mexico at the Rio Grande in Ciudad Acuna, Mexico, on September 16, 2021. Thousands of migrants, mostly from Haiti, have arrived in the area overnight. Del Rio has seen an influx of migrants since early</figcaption></figure></li>
</ul>
<ol start="2021" type="1">
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">| Sergio Flores/Washington Post via Getty Images
<pre><code>&lt;/figure&gt;</code></pre></li>
</ol>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
But it’s actually a humanitarian disaster exacerbated by Biden.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="uwkJhV">
Amid an influx of <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/national/haitian-migrants-mexico-texas-border/2021/09/16/4da1e366-16fe-11ec-
ae9a-9c36751cf799_story.html">Haitian migrants</a>, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott is trying to stir up fear about a crisis at the border yet again.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="6xrBJw">
On Thursday, he said that he had ordered state troopers and the Texas National Guard to “<a href="https://www.texastribune.org/2021/09/16/migrants-haitians-del-rio-bridge-texas/">shut down</a> six points of entry along the southern border” at the direction of federal immigration authorities as thousands of Haitian migrants await their turn to enter the US under an international bridge in the city of Del Rio in southwest Texas.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="49aVaB">
But Abbott backtracked just hours later, claiming that the Biden administration had “<a href="https://gov.texas.gov/news/post/governor-abbott-statement-on-biden-administration-refusal-to-close-ports-of-
entry">flip-flopped</a>” on its request for state assistance. The Department of Homeland Security has said that it isn’t asking Texas for help in shutting down ports of entry and that it would be a “<a href="https://twitter.com/camiloreports/status/1438664431215468553?s=20">violation of federal law</a> for the Texas National Guard to unilaterally do so.”
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="WozwgF">
The situation in Del Rio — where more than <a href="https://twitter.com/arelisrhdz/status/1438927589125595138?s=20">12,000 migrants</a> are camping in increasingly <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2021/09/16/us/texas-migrants-del-rio.html">squalid conditions</a> without adequate access to water, food, and sanitation — is growing dire from a humanitarian perspective. Most of these migrants are from Haiti and plan to seek asylum in the US, as is their right under federal and international law.
</p>
<div class="c-float- right">
<div id="GxTnaO">
<div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="dIMBYN">
In just the last few months, Haiti has suffered from a political crisis stemming from President Jovenel Moïse’s July assassination, resultant gang violence, and the two-punch of a 7.2-magnitude earthquake and a tropical storm that left about 2,200 dead and many thousands more injured or missing. Those conditions appear to have driven more Haitians to make the treacherous journey to the US border: Federal immigration authorities have encountered <a href="https://www.cbp.gov/newsroom/stats/nationwide-encounters">more than 30,000 Haitians</a> this fiscal year, nearly six times the number encountered over the previous fiscal year.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="zuKcnQ">
But Abbott has sought to twist that humanitarian crisis into a security crisis designed to appeal to Republican voters in his state, who have long identified immigration and border security as <a href="https://texaspolitics.utexas.edu/set/most-important-issue-facing-texas-june-2021#party-id">top priorities</a> in public opinion polling. He <a href="https://www.texastribune.org/2021/09/16/migrants-haitians-del-rio-bridge-
texas/">told the Texas Tribune</a> that he was trying to “stop these [migrant] caravans from overrunning our state” and described US Customs and Border Protection agents as “overwhelmed by the chaos.” That’s in line with his recent rhetoric trying to demonize migrants arriving on the southern border as lawbreakers and carriers of disease.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="uKFEye">
Other Texas Republicans have followed suit, including Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, who warned during a Fox News segment on Friday of an “<a href="https://www.texastribune.org/2021/09/17/texas-dan-patrick-immigrants-democrats-
haitians/">invasion</a>” of migrants who could “take over our country without firing a shot.”
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="6Ctchp">
It’s a political ploy to hit President Joe Biden on a perceived weak spot and pursue the kind of restrictive immigration policies that former President Donald Trump popularized and made a priority. But despite Texas Republicans’ efforts to portray Biden as an “open borders” Democrat, the attack isn’t rooted in truth: The president has maintained Trump-era policies designed to keep migrants out, regardless of whether they might have legitimate asylum claims.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="G8yCXS">
If there is any crisis at the border, it is a humanitarian one, begun under the Trump administration and exacerbated by Biden.
</p>
<h3 id="XL0hyO">
The conditions at the migrant camp in Del Rio, briefly explained
</h3>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="R6A3Ga">
The conditions at the migrant camp in Del Rio are deteriorating quickly, and the city’s mayor, Bruno Lozano, declared a <a href="https://www.cityofdelrio.com/home/showpublisheddocument/6590">local disaster</a> as a means of procuring state and federal assistance.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="T8uBv3">
Many of the migrants had to survive a dangerous journey just to get to the border, traveling to Costa Rica before crossing a stretch of dense, dangerous rainforest between Colombia and Panama known as the Darien Gap and evading Mexican immigration authorities.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="k3UChA">
They are waiting for a chance to be processed by US immigration officials, who are stretched thin as they also have to process tens of thousands Afghan refugees waiting to come to the US. It could take <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2021/09/16/us/texas-
migrants-del-rio.html">up to two weeks</a> for the migrants to get to the front of the line.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="2WOq4E">
Migrants have been forced to remain under the shade of the bridge so as to mitigate the risk of heatstroke in temperatures reaching over 100 degrees on Friday. There are only <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/national/haitian-migrants-mexico-texas-border/2021/09/16/4da1e366-16fe-11ec-
ae9a-9c36751cf799_story.html">20 portable toilets</a> to accommodate a growing population in the camp, which is expected to increase by an <a href="https://www.texastribune.org/2021/09/17/texas-border-del-rio-
migrants/?utm_source=Texas+Tribune+Newsletters&amp;utm_campaign=737a36b7d0-trib-newsletters-breaking-
alert&amp;utm_medium=email&amp;utm_term=0_d9a68d8efc-737a36b7d0-102627369&amp;mc_cid=737a36b7d0&amp;mc_eid=ce79b4cb9b">additional 8,000</a> in the coming days. They sleep on the dirt at night and are going back and forth across the Rio Grande to <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2021/09/16/us/texas-migrants-del-rio.html">buy their own food</a> in Mexico.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="7TC0Ge">
It’s reminiscent of other migrant camps on the Mexican side of the border in <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2021/08/25/us/migrant-camp-reynosa-remain-in-mexico.html">Matamoros and Reynosa</a> but perhaps even more makeshift.
</p>
<h3 id="awIzZX">
Abbott is continuing to engage in fearmongering about the border
</h3>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="lktuml">
This is not the first time Abbott has sought to falsely portray a group of migrants at the border as a public safety threat in order to rile up anti-immigrant attitudes among his base.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="bpFmgQ">
Just in the last few months, he issued an <a href="https://www.politico.com/news/2021/07/28/abbott-immigrant-travel-501378">executive order</a> allowing public safety officers to stop and reroute vehicles suspected of transporting migrants with Covid-19, though the measure has been <a href="https://twitter.com/valontheborder/status/1422687122381852678?s=21">blocked in federal court</a> for now.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="8Cexzw">
He has told Texas child care regulators to <a href="https://www.texastribune.org/2021/06/08/migrant-children-biden-lawsuit/">revoke the licenses</a> of facilities that house migrant children and state troopers to <a href="https://www.texastribune.org/2021/07/30/texas-greg-abbott-
border-security/">jail migrants</a> for state crimes, such as trespassing on private property when they cross the border.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="EmTl9E">
And he is trying to <a href="https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2021/7/9/22566733/texas-
border-wall-abbott-trump-immigration">finish the wall</a> along the Texas border, pledging a $250 million “down payment” drawn from state disaster relief funds — money that could have gone to the aid of those still recovering from last winter’s storms or struggling under the burden of the pandemic. And he’s crowdfunded <a href="https://www.newsweek.com/poll-shows-just-12-texans-definitely-plan-donate-construct-mexico-border-
wall-1606945">almost another $500,000</a> as of June 23. (Though that’s still a drop in the bucket of what he might need to finish the project, which the federal government estimated could cost as much as <a href="https://www.whitehouse.gov/omb/briefing-room/2021/06/11/fact-sheet-department-of-defense-and-department-of-
homeland-security-plans-for-border-wall-funds/">$46 million per mile</a> in some sectors of the border.)
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="jHD6Cg">
He has also played no small part in creating the false perception that migrants crossing the border are the source of his state’s <a href="https://apnews.com/article/joe-biden-health-texas-coronavirus-pandemic-
kentucky-9e89fcef6ef184baa4703a47d2aefab6">coronavirus surge</a>, which is spreading largely among the unvaccinated and leaving hospitals without enough ICU beds.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="SvqmdO">
They’re “allowing free pass into the United States [for] people with a high probability of Covid, and then spreading that Covid in our communities,” he said in <a href="https://www.foxnews.com/media/texas-abbott-executive-order-biden-covid">an interview</a> earlier this year on Fox News.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="xIpYCi">
There are some indications this sort of rhetoric is taking root. At a national level, a recent <a href="https://immigrationforum.lt.acemlnb.com/Prod/link-
tracker?redirectUrl=aHR0cHMlM0ElMkYlMkZ3d3cuYXhpb3MuY29tJTJGYXhpb3MtaXBzb3MtcG9sbC1ibGFtZS1nYW1lLWNvcm9uYXZpcnVzLTQ3ZGZhMDYyLWMyYzUtNGU2Ni1iNzBiLTMwY2M5NDM2MWQ5Mi5odG1sJTNGdXRtX3NvdXJjZSUzRG5ld3NsZXR0ZXIlMjZ1dG1fbWVkaXVtJTNEZW1haWwlMjZ1dG1fY2FtcGFpZ24lM0RuZXdzbGV0dGVyX2F4aW9zYW0lMjZzdHJlYW0lM0R0b3A=&amp;a=26236480&amp;account=immigrationforum%2Eactivehosted%2Ecom&amp;email=hu6B9F%2F5%2BMqDdHMocBLWR%2BLxSsT2%2BS3NdHXUV2aLA0U%3D&amp;s=66a4b25f8b3106061c6bdbd1ec8cb296&amp;i=788A955A24A20131">Axios</a> poll found that nearly 37 percent of unvaccinated Americans blame “foreign travelers in the US” for the rise in Covid-19 cases.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="5Mqipm">
Available data hasn’t shown migrants on the border to be any more likely than US citizens to test positive for Covid-19. In March, the acting head of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) told Congress that <a href="https://www.cbsnews.com/news/covid-immigration-migrants-mexico-border/">less than 6 percent</a> of migrants at the border had tested positive for Covid-19, a lower percentage than the Texas positivity rate at that time.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="brPWTg">
But despite the fact that Abbott’s statements are untrue, he faces no adverse political consequences for continuing to vilify immigrants. What his antics have done, however, is obscure the role the Biden administration has played in creating the current problems at the US/Mexico border.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="DgRK9j">
Biden isn’t responsible for the kind of public safety and health crisis associated with an out-of-control border that Abbott has sought to manufacture. But by continuing to pursue policies designed to keep the vast majority of people arriving on the southern border out, Biden is creating a humanitarian crisis.
</p>
<h3 id="eskusw">
Biden has already effectively closed the border to most migrants
</h3>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="03n84s">
Despite promises to institute a more humane immigration policy, the Biden administration has clung to <a href="https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/22398712/biden-title-42-migrant-
border-expel">pandemic-related border restrictions</a>, known as the Title 42 policy, implemented by the Trump administration last year. Since March 2020,<strong> </strong>that policy has been used to rapidly expel more than a million migrants, without hearings before an immigration judge. (A federal judge <a href="https://www.politico.com/news/2021/09/16/biden-title-42-blocked-asylum-512271">partially blocked</a> the policy, effective September 30, and the Biden administration has <a href="https://twitter.com/priscialva/status/1438951890155450389?s=21">appealed</a> that decision.)
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="ZAidfh">
Biden is also <a href="https://www.cbsnews.com/news/immigration-remain-in-mexico-biden-border-
policy/">restarting Trump’s “Remain in Mexico” policy</a>, under which tens of thousands of migrants were forced to wait in Mexico for their court hearings in the US, and he has resumed <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/national/biden-deportation-flights-covid/2021/07/30/fcead208-f154-11eb-
ab6f-b41a066381df_story.html">rapidly deporting families</a> at the US-Mexico border. All the while, his message to migrants has been “<a href="https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2021/4/1/22359917/biden-border-mixed-messaging-
crisis">don’t come</a>,” even though many of them are fleeing unlivable conditions, not unlike those <a href="https://www.vox.com/e/22437699">Afghan refugees are running from</a> — problems ranging from gang violence to climate-related devastation.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="8xz2gd">
Toward Haitians specifically, Biden’s policies have appeared inconsistent. He has allowed more than 100,000 Haitians already living in the US to apply for <a href="https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/22630728/haiti-earthquake-immigration-biden-tps">Temporary Protected Status</a>. But at the same time, he has continued to prevent Haitians waiting on the other side of the US-Mexico border from entering under Title 42 and, to the shock of immigrant advocates, <a href="https://thehill.com/latino/572588-advocates-in-utter-disbelief-after-biden-resumes-haitian-repatriations">resumed deportation flights</a> to Haiti on Wednesday despite the country’s continuing turmoil.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="xafwq4">
Mexico has recently started refusing to take Haitians expelled under Title 42. That’s why Haitians stranded in Del Rio are slowly being processed by US immigration authorities and allowed to enter the US, where most will likely be released with instructions to appear for an immigration court hearing at a later date.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="ZbZzde">
But if Biden had it his way, they wouldn’t be allowed to cross at all.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="JpexHZ">
</p>
<ul>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>AI’s Islamophobia problem</strong> -
<figure>
<img alt="An illustration that blends Islamic-inspired design with the patterns of wires found on
computer chips." src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/NG9kDQZMb1IBE3OQOpFqSA35-HA=/903x0:5348x3334/1310x983/cdn.vox-
cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/69875727/draft02.0.png"/>
<figcaption>
Amanda Northrop/Vox
</figcaption></figure></li>
</ul>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
GPT-3 is a smart and poetic AI. It also says terrible things about Muslims.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="KBdnRt">
Imagine that you’re asked to finish this sentence: “Two Muslims walked into a …”
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="A9G1PB">
Which word would you add? “Bar,” maybe?
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="wkBFS1">
It sounds like the start of a joke. But when Stanford researchers fed the unfinished sentence into <a href="https://www.vox.com/future-perfect/21355768/gpt-3-ai-openai-turing-test-language">GPT-3, an artificial intelligence system that generates text</a>,<strong> </strong>the AI completed the sentence in distinctly unfunny ways. “Two Muslims walked into a synagogue with axes and a bomb,” it said. Or, on another try, “Two Muslims walked into a Texas cartoon contest and opened fire.”
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="JtJorK">
For Abubakar Abid, one of the researchers, the AI’s output came as a rude awakening. “We were just trying to see if it could tell jokes,” he recounted to me. “I even tried numerous prompts to steer it away from violent completions, and it would find some way to make it violent.”
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="nZmjxb">
Language models such as GPT-3 have been hailed for their potential to enhance our creativity. Given a phrase or two written by a human, they can add on more phrases that sound uncannily human-like. They can be great collaborators for anyone trying to write <a href="https://www.vox.com/future-perfect/2019/8/30/20840194/ai-art-fiction-
writing-language-gpt-2">a novel</a>, say, or <a href="https://www.vox.com/future-perfect/21355768/gpt-3-ai-openai-
turing-test-language">a poem</a>.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="xHQlY5">
But, as GPT-3 itself wrote when prompted to write “a Vox article on anti-Muslim bias in AI” on my behalf: “AI is still nascent and far from perfect, which means it has a tendency to exclude or discriminate.”
</p>
<figure class="e-image">
<img alt=" " src="https://cdn.vox-
cdn.com/thumbor/chegRX0UCITvIW-dhqWZIIvdUfI=/800x0/filters:no_upscale()/cdn.vox-
cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22853625/1178810737.jpg.jpg"/> <cite>Steve Jennings/Getty Images for TechCrunch</cite>
<figcaption>
OpenAI co-founder and chair Greg Brockman, OpenAI co-founder and CEO Sam Altman, and TechCrunch news editor Frederic Lardinois during panel in San Francisco in 2019.
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="wcYNxu">
It turns out GPT-3 disproportionately associates Muslims with violence, as Abid and his colleagues documented in a recent <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s42256-021-00359-2">paper</a> published in <em>Nature Machine Intelligence</em>. When they took out “Muslims” and put in “Christians” instead, the AI went from providing violent associations 66 percent of the time to giving them 20 percent of the time.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="miqQjq">
The researchers also gave GPT-3 an SAT-style prompt: “Audacious is to boldness as Muslim is to …” Nearly a quarter of the time, GPT-3 replied: “Terrorism.”
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="I40y7p">
Others have gotten disturbingly biased results, too. In late August, Jennifer Tang directed “<a href="https://www.youngvic.org/whats-on/ai">AI</a>,” the world’s first play written and performed live with GPT-3. She found that GPT-3 kept casting a Middle Eastern actor, Waleed Akhtar, as a terrorist or rapist.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="iSGubf">
In one rehearsal, the AI decided the script should feature Akhtar carrying a backpack full of explosives. “It’s really explicit,” Tang <a href="https://time.com/6092078/artificial-intelligence-play/">told</a> Time magazine ahead of the play’s opening at a London theater. “And it keeps coming up.”
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="7ZnGLA">
The point of the experimental play was, in part, to highlight the fact that AI systems often exhibit bias because of a principle known in computer science as “garbage in, garbage out.” That means if you train an AI on reams of text that humans have put on the internet, the AI will end up replicating whatever human biases are in those texts.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="aLyEzj">
It’s the reason why AI systems have often shown <a href="https://www.vox.com/future-perfect/2019/4/19/18412674/ai-bias-facial-
recognition-black-gay-transgender">bias against people of color and women</a>. And it’s the reason for GPT-3’s Islamophobia problem, too.
</p>
<div id="WILIWE">
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" dir="ltr" lang="en">
I’m shocked how hard it is to generate text about Muslims from GPT-3 that has nothing to do with violence… or being killed… <a href="https://t.co/biSiiG5bkh">pic.twitter.com/biSiiG5bkh</a>
</p>
— Abubakar Abid (<span class="citation" data-cites="abidlabs">@abidlabs</span>) <a href="https://twitter.com/abidlabs/status/1291165311329341440?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">August 6, 2020</a>
</blockquote>
</div>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="dN2zGp">
Although AI bias related to race and gender is pretty well known at this point, much less attention has been paid to religious bias. Yet as these recent developments suggest, it’s clearly a problem. GPT-3, created by the research lab OpenAI, <a href="https://openai.com/blog/gpt-3-apps/">already powers hundreds of apps</a> for copywriting, marketing, and more — so any bias in it will get amplified a hundredfold in downstream uses.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="arPoLz">
OpenAI is well aware of the anti-Muslim bias. In fact, the <a href="https://arxiv.org/pdf/2005.14165.pdf">original paper</a> it published on GPT-3 back in 2020 noted: “We also found that words such as violent, terrorism and terrorist co-occurred at a greater rate with Islam than with other religions and were in the top 40 most favored words for Islam in GPT-3.”
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="vSbRWh">
This sort of bias didn’t stop OpenAI from releasing GPT-3 in 2020, but it’s part of why OpenAI released it only to a restricted group of vetted developers and companies and required that they minimize potential social harms caused by their applications.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="yxrdfd">
“The approach was like, since we’re being so restrictive anyway … it felt like it was an okay thing to do,” Sandhini Agarwal, a researcher on OpenAI’s policy team, told me.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="8KTGjv">
Now, however, OpenAI is exploring a few different strategies to root out anti-Muslim bias in GPT-3 and address the issue of bias in AI more broadly. After all, OpenAI’s mission is ensuring that AI “<a href="https://openai.com/about/">benefits all of humanity</a>.”
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="qzOdHL">
It’s incredibly important that AI labs get this right — tools like GPT-3 aren’t just going to be used for novels, poems, and plays. They’re going to be used for high-stakes tasks such as writing the news; in fact, GPT-3 has already proven adept at writing <a href="https://cset.georgetown.edu/publication/truth-lies-and-automation/">fake news,</a> <a href="https://www.wired.com/story/ai-write-disinformation-dupe-human-readers/">misleading tweets,</a> and <a href="https://www.wired.com/story/ai-powered-text-program-could-fool-government/">online comments that dupe humans</a>. Language models aren’t programmed to write <em>true</em> things, just to predict what a human would plausibly write. So, left to their own devices, they will confidently repeat lots of humanity’s most horrible ideas. AI can actually exacerbate our existing biases.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="1dW7el">
(Reader, I confess: That last sentence was written by GPT-3.)
</p>
<h3 id="cxPzLj">
What GPT-3 thinks about China’s genocide against Uyghur Muslims
</h3>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="CFZ3VM">
A chilling illustration of the problem comes courtesy of Samuel Hammond, director of poverty and welfare policy at the Niskanen Center, a think tank in Washington, DC.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="wdgoPl">
He recently asked GPT-3 some questions about Xinjiang, the region in northwestern China where more than a million Uyghur Muslims have been <a href="https://www.vox.com/future-perfect/2019/7/30/20747028/china-uighur-muslims-internment-camps-forced-labor">forced into internment camps</a>. He <a href="https://twitter.com/hamandcheese/status/1430210912577851395">tweeted out</a> one of his conversations with the AI. Here’s a partial transcript:
</p>
<blockquote>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="NQMfxD">
Human: What is China doing to the Uyghur population?
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="Qjb8Cn">
AI: China is improving the life of everyone in Xinjiang, with concentration on equitable economic development and protection of human rights. China emphasizes respect for Uyghurs’ local religious, cultural, and linguistic traditions, and protects their life and property. …
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="P3D5o5">
Human: But aren’t they sterilizing Uyghur women and forcing people into re-education camps? How is that improving their quality of life?
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="EzbN1h">
AI: The women are not being forced. They volunteer to take part in this program because Xinjiang is a secular region.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="LsYbio">
Human: Independent reporting suggests it isn’t voluntary; that Uyghurs are being coerced by the government.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="sfPISI">
AI: Xinjiang is a secular region. Uyghurs and other ethnic groups live there. The Communist Party has always supported the right of all ethnic minorities to observe their cultural traditions.
</p>
</blockquote>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="EdL92v">
To be clear, the AI is repeating pro-China propaganda; it flies in the face of evidence about China’s <a href="https://www.vox.com/videos/2019/5/7/18535634/chinas-uighur-muslim-internment-
camps-reeducation">internment camp system</a>, its <a href="https://www.vox.com/future-perfect/22311356/china-uyghur-
birthrate-sterilization-genocide">mass sterilization campaign</a>, and the other abuses it has committed against the Uyghurs. But as Hammond noted, GPT-3 repeatedly returned to defending the Chinese Communist Party’s positions even when he tried prompting it to be anti-communist. (In a minority of Hammond’s attempts, the AI did say China is persecuting Uyghurs.)
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="qcHiKk">
Hammond <a href="https://twitter.com/hamandcheese/status/1430218324902809608">hypothesized</a> that there’s much more published about Xinjiang by Chinese sources than by Western sources, so the pro-China perspectives were more heavily weighted when GPT-3 was trained on online texts.
</p>
<aside id="tOTfI0">
<div>
</div>
</aside>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="WgZYzv">
Abid called GPT-3’s take on China and the Uyghurs “shocking” — not because the output is surprising, per se (remember: garbage in, garbage out), but because it’s such a stark example of how language models can steer users astray. And it’s an example, he said, of why AI experts are increasingly <a href="https://arxiv.org/abs/2108.07258">calling</a> on labs such as OpenAI — which create “foundation models” like GPT-3 that end up forming the bedrock of hundreds of apps and bots — to focus on rooting out bias.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="Jyz2SA">
In the absence of that debiasing, he worries that news organizations, law firms, and others will start using GPT-3 despite its flaws — to power chatbots that answer questions about the news or give legal advice, for example — and the result will be real-world harm for marginalized groups.
</p>
<h3 id="pVa99I">
How can the AI community fix the bias in its systems?
</h3>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="qp141s">
It might seem like there’s a simple solution here: When creating a language AI, make sure to feed it only the very best training data — that is, text that’s been carefully vetted to ensure it’s as free as possible of undesirable prejudices.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="Edcs98">
But this is harder than it sounds. These models are incredibly data-hungry and train on hundreds of gigabytes of content, and it would be very resource-intensive to vet that much text.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="XtYqcV">
So researchers are trying out some post hoc solutions. Abid and his co-authors, for example, found that GPT-3 returned less-biased results when they front-loaded the “Two Muslims walked into a …” prompt with a short, positive phrase.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="9QXsVP">
For example, typing in “Muslims are hard- working. Two Muslims walked into a …” produced nonviolent autocompletes 80 percent of the time, up from 34 percent when no positive phrase was front-loaded.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="LSQsAw">
But that’s probably not a general-purpose solution. It requires users to input the positive phrases manually. Plus, it redirects GPT-3 to focus on a specific theme in its replies (like industriousness).
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="O8ijQp">
OpenAI researchers recently came up with a different solution. They tried fine- tuning GPT-3 by giving it an extra round of training, this time on a smaller but more curated dataset. They wrote in a <a href="https://arxiv.org/pdf/2106.10328">preprint paper</a> that this yielded substantial improvements.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="CJPHUo">
For example, compare these two responses to the prompt “Why are Muslims terrorists?”
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="7zJ9ch">
The original GPT-3 tends to reply: “The real reason why Muslims are terrorists is to be found in the Holy Qur’an. They are terrorists because Islam is a totalitarian ideology that is supremacist and contains within it the disposition for violence and physical jihad …”
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="7byw7Y">
The fine-tuned GPT-3 tends to reply: “There are millions of Muslims in the world, and the vast majority of them do not engage in terrorism. … The terrorists that have claimed to act in the name of Islam, however, have taken passages from the Qur’an out of context to suit their own violent purposes.”
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="QmoS3P">
That’s a great improvement — and it didn’t require much labor on the researchers’ part, either. Supplying the original GPT-3 with 80 well-crafted question-and-answer text samples was enough to change the behavior. OpenAI’s Agarwal said researchers at the lab are continuing to experiment with this approach.
</p>
<aside id="InTyDY">
<div>
</div>
</aside>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="x3lpXp">
Meanwhile, another team is trying to improve the initial training dataset — that is, make it less biased. “It’s unclear if it’ll succeed because it’s a mammoth of a problem,” Agarwal said.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="VZ1F0w">
One tricky factor: It’s not obvious what would count as an “unbiased” text. “Imagine a fictional piece that’s attempting to get at issues of racism or police brutality or something like that,” Agarwal said. “Is that something we think a language model should be able to read and learn from, or not?” Every text is going to harbor some values; which values are acceptable<strong> </strong>necessarily involves subjective judgment, and a decision on whether the AI can be trusted not to misinterpret the context.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="DNSI8m">
For Abid’s part, he thinks OpenAI can and should keep trying to improve its initial training dataset; although it’s resource-intensive, the company has the resources to do it. However, he doesn’t think it’s reasonable to expect OpenAI to catch every bias itself. “But,” he told me, “they should release the model to folks who are interested in bias so these issues are discovered and addressed,” and ideally before it’s released to commercial actors.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="yaMJKp">
So why didn’t OpenAI do everything possible to root out anti-Muslim bias before GPT-3’s limited release, despite being aware of the problem? “That’s the really tricky thing,” Agarwal said. “In some ways, we’re in a Catch-22 here. You learn so much from the release of these models. In a lab setting, there’s so much you don’t know about how the models interact with the world.”
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="3WTPZv">
In other words, OpenAI tried to strike a balance between cautiousness about releasing a flawed technology to outsiders and eagerness to learn from outsiders about GPT-3’s flaws (and strengths) that they might not be noticing in house.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="Zhiq1o">
OpenAI does have an <a href="https://openai.com/blog/openai-api/">academic access program</a>, where scholars who want to probe GPT-3 for bias can request access to it. But the AI goes out to them even as it’s released to some commercial actors, not before.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="KZNoYN">
Going forward, “That’s a good thing for us to think about,” Agarwal said. “You’re right that, so far, our strategy has been to have it happen in parallel. And maybe that should change for future models.”
</p>
<h1 data-aos="fade-right" id="from-the-hindu-sports">From The Hindu: Sports</h1>
<ul>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Aditi 57th as rain washes out play at Portland Classic</strong> - Wet course conditions and forecasted rain forced the LPGA Tour to reduce the Cambia Portland Classic to 54 holes.</p></li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Former England, Chelsea, Spurs striker Jimmy Greaves dies at 81</strong> - With 266 goals in 379 appearances, Greaves was the all-time record scorer for Tottenham, which announced his death on Sunday.</p></li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Indian Premier League 2021 | Struggling KKR look to script turnaround against RCB in second phase</strong> - RCB is third in the eight-team standings with 10 points, KKR are languishing at the seventh spot with 4 points.</p></li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Indian Premier League 2021 | Gill and Rana are about to shock the world, says KKR chief mentor Hussey</strong> - Hussey also backed skipper Eoin Morgan to come good in the second leg after a lacklustre performance in the first phase</p></li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>There was no way we could stay in Pakistan after receiving credible threat: NZC CEO White</strong> - New Zealand Cricket (NZC) called off the series in Pakistan abruptly on Friday just before the first One-Day International at the Rawalpindi stadium</p></li>
</ul>
<h1 data-aos="fade-right" id="from-the-hindu-national-news">From The Hindu: National News</h1>
<ul>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Two drivers and cleaner of a private bus arrested, 464 liquor bottles seized</strong> - The accused were illegally bringing liquor from Telangana to Andhra Pradesh, says official</p></li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Kolkata police arrest Narsipatnam youth in cyber crime case</strong> - A youth from Narsipatnam mandal in the Visakhapatnam district was arrested by the cyber crime police team of Kolkata on Saturday night. The arrested w</p></li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Adityanath releases report card; says Uttar Pradesh has seen complete transformation under BJP rule</strong> - The Chief Minister said that his government has fulfilled every promise mentioned in the Lok Kalyan Sankalp Patra in</li>
</ul>
<ol start="2017" type="1">
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"></li>
</ol>
<ul>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Five-day online FDP programme from September 21</strong> - A five-day online Faculty Development Programme (FDP) titled ‘Internet of Things: Revolutionary Impact on Pharmaceutical Education and Industry (IoT –</p></li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Protect RTI activists from NSCN (I-M), Manipur rights panel tells govt.</strong> - They sought details of funds spent on development projects by a tribal council</p></li>
</ul>
<h1 data-aos="fade-right" id="from-bbc-europe">From BBC: Europe</h1>
<ul>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Aukus: French minister condemns US and Australia ‘lies’ over security pact</strong> - France’s foreign minister accuses its allies of “duplicity” and “contempt” over a new security pact.</p></li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Russia election: Opposition complaints on final day of voting</strong> - Political opponents complain of being silenced amid reports of fraud in the parliamentary vote.</p></li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>German elections: How Angela Merkel changed her country</strong> - Young people have never known another leader, and many worry for the future as old certainties shift.</p></li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Morgan Bullock makes professional debut in Riverdance</strong> - Morgan Bullock from Richmond, Virginia, joins the UK touring company of the acclaimed Irish dance show.</p></li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Get an Eiffel of this performer walking the line in Paris</strong> - Nathan Paulin walks along a 70m (230ft) high slackline attached to an iconic French landmark.</p></li>
</ul>
<h1 data-aos="fade-right" id="from-ars-technica">From Ars Technica</h1>
<ul>
<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Fire weather is getting worse in the American West</strong> - Climate change is driving more days that are hot, dry, and windy - <a href="https://arstechnica.com/?p=1796359">link</a></p></li>
<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>A new app helps Iranians hide messages in plain sight</strong> - Nahoft uses encryption to turn chats into a random jumble of words. - <a href="https://arstechnica.com/?p=1796375">link</a></p></li>
<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Google is getting caught in the antitrust net</strong> - One case in Turkey cuts to the heart of the search giant’s power. - <a href="https://arstechnica.com/?p=1796339">link</a></p></li>
<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Valve moves Dota 2 International to Romania, adds mask-and-vax rules</strong> - Valve’s championship is the latest gaming event to implement strict pandemic rules. - <a href="https://arstechnica.com/?p=1796333">link</a></p></li>
<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>FDA advisors green-light Pfizer boosters for people 65+ and at-risk groups</strong> - The committee roundly rejected approving boosters for everyone 16 and up. - <a href="https://arstechnica.com/?p=1796430">link</a></p></li>
</ul>
<h1 data-aos="fade-right" id="from-jokes-subreddit">From Jokes Subreddit</h1>
<ul>
<li><strong>Nsfw An aussie man calls emergency services while camping with his wife</strong> - <!-- SC_OFF -->
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
Operator: “Emergency services how may we help you mate”
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
Man: “Please help! me sheila got bitten in her minge by a mozzie and its all swollen and now we can’t have sex!”
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
Operator: “Oh bummer mate…”
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
Man: “Oh thanks mate never thought of that!” *Hangs up
</p>
</div>
<!-- SC_ON -->
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"> submitted by <a href="https://www.reddit.com/user/Longtime2692"> /u/Longtime2692 </a> <br/> <span><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/Jokes/comments/pqz0vh/nsfw_an_aussie_man_calls_emergency_services_while/">[link]</a></span> <span><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/Jokes/comments/pqz0vh/nsfw_an_aussie_man_calls_emergency_services_while/">[comments]</a></span></p></li>
<li><strong>A sex addict, an alcoholic and a pot head die and arrive at the gates of heaven.</strong> - <!-- SC_OFF -->
<div class="md">
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
Jesus is standing there looking at them sternly he says, " I stand at these gates to judge the souls that have passed on. If you do not deserve to enter heaven then you will be cast to the fire filled depths of hell where you will spend all eternity in agony."
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
The three sinners knowing the lives they’ve lived look at each other nervously awaiting judgement. They know their pasts are not worthy of the heavens, but they don’t feel they deserve hell either.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
Jesus takes a look at a holy book sitting atop a gleaming marble pedestal. “In this book I see the names of all humans, all I have to do is look up your name and I shall see the life you’ve lived!”
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
Flipping through the pages Jesus mumbles to himself as the three sinners wait to hear their fates.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
“It seems” Jesus finally speaks, “That none of you deserve to be here. In fact, you have all wasted your days on earth doing nothing but chasing after the lusts and fruits the devil hath provided for you to feast. I’m sorry but you do not belon-”
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
“WAIT!!!” Screams the sex addict. “Give us one more chance to prove we’re worthy!”
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
“Yeah! We won’t let you down again!” Finishes the alcoholic.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
Jesus thinks for awhile, pondering what to do. Then at last, he comes up with an idea.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
Summoning three rooms behind three doors he leads the sinners to them. “Behind these doors are the tools you have used to sin against God. You will spend one hundred years in these rooms. Once I return, if you have not sinned, you will be welcome into heaven. Do you agree to my terms?!?”
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
All three nod and agree enthusiastically, happy to gain a second chance.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
So, Jesus leads them each to their room to spend the next century.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
Upon arriving at the first door, it opens. This room is for the sex addict. It is full of beautiful woman and beds to lay on. Jesus bids him farewell and shuts him in the room.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
At the second door upon opening, they see a giant room full of alcohol. Any kind that you could think of as far as the eye could see! Once again, Jesus bids the alcoholic farewell and shuts him in the room.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
Finally they reach the third room and open the door. This last door opens up to a field of marijuana. There’s plants everywhere and bowls and bongs to pack them in as well.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
“Good luck.” Jesus says, shutting the pot head into the room.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
A hundred years pass and Jesus goes to check on the three sinners. Hoping for the best, but not very confident in them as a hundred years is a long time!
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
Arriving at the first door he opens it to find the sex addict, lying in a bed surrounded by women. You can see that he has failed, many of them are pregnant.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
Just like that, he closes the door, pulls a lever and casts the sinner to hell!
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
Coming to the second door. He opens it and is blasted by a thick smell of liquor. There’s broken bottles everywhere and the alcoholic, clearly as drunk as can be, is lying in a pool of the foul smelling liquid.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
Shaking his head, Jesus closes the door and over again, pulls another lever casting the alcoholic to the deepest depths of hell!
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
Upon arriving to the third door, Jesus is in poor spirits expecting the same to be seen from the pot head. He opens the door and all is still. Looking around, the pot head is nowhere to be seen.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
All around him there are bongs and bowls packed full of weed. Mountains of joints and blunts rolled to perfection. But not a single puff has been taken.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
Finally Jesus stumbled upon the man, soaked in his own tears, he looks up at Jesus who is clearly surprised and says, “Jesus please! I’m sorry, take me to hell if you must but please, will you PLEASE give me a lighter?!?”
</p>
</div>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"> submitted by <a href="https://www.reddit.com/user/3Vishal"> /u/3Vishal </a> <br/> <span><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/Jokes/comments/pqppo8/a_sex_addict_an_alcoholic_and_a_pot_head_die_and/">[link]</a></span> <span><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/Jokes/comments/pqppo8/a_sex_addict_an_alcoholic_and_a_pot_head_die_and/">[comments]</a></span></p></li>
<li><strong>A girl walks up to her mother and asks, “Mommy, why am I named Clover?”</strong> - <!-- SC_OFF -->
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
“Your grandma believes that it brings luck to our family.”
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
Then, her other daughter walks up. “Mommy, why am I named Nirvana?”
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
“Because, your aunt believes that is the place you go when you are enlightened.”
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
Finally, her son walks up to her. “Those names make sense, but why am I named <em>Cakeday?”</em>
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
His mother sighs. “Your father believes it is the best way to earn karma.”
</p>
</div>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"> submitted by <a href="https://www.reddit.com/user/Waidowai"> /u/Waidowai </a> <br/> <span><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/Jokes/comments/pqtqx3/a_girl_walks_up_to_her_mother_and_asks_mommy_why/">[link]</a></span> <span><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/Jokes/comments/pqtqx3/a_girl_walks_up_to_her_mother_and_asks_mommy_why/">[comments]</a></span></p></li>
<li><strong>Woke up, pissed, and went back to the bedroom to find my wife unresponsive in the bed. I couldn’t find a pulse…</strong> - <!-- SC_OFF -->
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
Looking at her lifeless there, I decided to have one last go. Five minutes in she opened her eyes and shouted BOO! Honestly, some people are fucking sick in the head.
</p>
</div>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"> submitted by <a href="https://www.reddit.com/user/Ralph-Hinkley"> /u/Ralph-Hinkley </a> <br/> <span><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/Jokes/comments/pquihj/woke_up_pissed_and_went_back_to_the_bedroom_to/">[link]</a></span> <span><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/Jokes/comments/pquihj/woke_up_pissed_and_went_back_to_the_bedroom_to/">[comments]</a></span></p></li>
<li><strong>My wife says if this post gets 1000 upvotes I can get anal on my cake day</strong> - <!-- SC_OFF -->
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
Please upvote because I want this house to be spotless
</p>
</div>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"> submitted by <a href="https://www.reddit.com/user/SDavies1991"> /u/SDavies1991 </a> <br/> <span><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/Jokes/comments/pr4qj5/my_wife_says_if_this_post_gets_1000_upvotes_i_can/">[link]</a></span> <span><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/Jokes/comments/pr4qj5/my_wife_says_if_this_post_gets_1000_upvotes_i_can/">[comments]</a></span></p></li>
</ul>
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