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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>Necessity of COVID-19 Vaccination in Previously Infected Individuals: A Retrospective Cohort Study</strong> -
<div>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
<b>Background.</b> The purpose of this study was to evaluate the necessity of COVID-19 vaccination in persons previously infected with SARS-CoV-2. <b>Methods.</b> Employees of the Cleveland Clinic Health System working in Ohio on Dec 16, 2020, the day COVID-19 vaccination was started, were included. Any subject who tested positive for SARS-CoV-2 at least 42 days earlier was considered previously infected. One was considered vaccinated 14 days after receipt of the second dose of a SARS-CoV-2 mRNA vaccine. The cumulative incidence of SARS-CoV-2 infection over the next five months, among previously infected subjects who received the vaccine, was compared with those of previously infected subjects who remained unvaccinated, previously uninfected subjects who received the vaccine, and previously uninfected subjects who remained unvaccinated. <b>Results.</b> Among the 52238 included employees, 1359 (53%) of 2579 previously infected subjects remained unvaccinated, compared with 22777 (41%) of 49659 not previously infected. The cumulative incidence of SARS-CoV-2 infection remained almost zero among previously infected unvaccinated subjects, previously infected subjects who were vaccinated, and previously uninfected subjects who were vaccinated, compared with a steady increase in cumulative incidence among previously uninfected subjects who remained unvaccinated. Not one of the 1359 previously infected subjects who remained unvaccinated had a SARS-CoV-2 infection over the duration of the study. In a Cox proportional hazards regression model, after adjusting for the phase of the epidemic, vaccination was associated with a significantly lower risk of SARS-CoV-2 infection among those not previously infected (HR 0.031, 95% CI 0.015 to 0.061) but not among those previously infected (HR 0.313, 95% CI 0 to Infinity). <b>Conclusions.</b> Individuals who have had SARS-CoV-2 infection are unlikely to benefit from COVID-19 vaccination, and vaccines can be safely prioritized to those who have not been infected before.
</p>
</div>
<div class="article-link article-html-link">
🖺 Full Text HTML: <a href="https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2021.06.01.21258176v2" target="_blank">Necessity of COVID-19 Vaccination in Previously Infected Individuals: A Retrospective Cohort Study</a>
</div></li>
<li><strong>Passively Sensing SARS-CoV-2 RNA in Public Transit Buses</strong> -
<div>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
Affordably tracking the transmission of respiratory infectious diseases in urban transport infrastructures can inform individuals about potential exposure to diseases and guide public policymakers to prepare timely responses based on geographical transmission in different areas in the city. Towards that end, we designed and tested a method to detect SARS-CoV-2 RNA in the air filters of public buses, revealing that air filters could be used as passive fabric sensors for the detection of viral presence. We placed and retrieved filters in the existing HVAC systems of public buses to test for the presence of trapped SARS-CoV-2 RNA using phenol-chloroform extraction and RT-qPCR. SARS-CoV-2 RNA was detected in 14% (5/37) of public bus filters tested in Seattle, Washington, from August 2020 to March 2021. These results indicate that this sensing system is feasible and that, if scaled, this method could provide a unique lens into the geographically relevant transmission of SARS-CoV-2 through public transit rider vectors, pooling samples of riders over time in a passive manner without installing any additional systems on transit vehicles.
</p>
</div>
<div class="article-link article-html-link">
🖺 Full Text HTML: <a href="https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2021.06.02.21258184v1" target="_blank">Passively Sensing SARS-CoV-2 RNA in Public Transit Buses</a>
</div></li>
<li><strong>Antibody responses to BNT162b2 mRNA COVID-19 vaccine in 2,015 healthcare workers in a single tertiary referral hospital in Japan</strong> -
<div>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
We measured antibody responses in 2,015 healthcare workers who were receiving 2 doses of BNT162b2 mRNA vaccine against SARS-CoV-2. The vast majority (99.9%) had either seroconversion or a substantial increase in antibody titer. A multivariate linear regression model identified predictive factors for antibody responses which may have clinical implications.
</p>
</div>
<div class="article-link article-html-link">
🖺 Full Text HTML: <a href="https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2021.06.01.21258188v1" target="_blank">Antibody responses to BNT162b2 mRNA COVID-19 vaccine in 2,015 healthcare workers in a single tertiary referral hospital in Japan</a>
</div></li>
<li><strong>Rapid and Sensitive Detection of SARS-CoV-2 Infection Using Quantitative Peptide Enrichment LC-MS/MS Analysis</strong> -
<div>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
Reliable, robust, large-scale molecular testing for SARS-CoV-2 is essential for monitoring the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic. We have developed a scalable analytical approach to detect viral proteins based on peptide immunoaffinity enrichment combined with liquid chromatography - mass spectrometry (LC-MS). This is a multiplexed strategy, based on targeted proteomics analysis and read-out by LC-MS, capable of precisely quantifying and confirming the presence of SARS-CoV-2 in PBS swab media from combined throat/nasopharynx/saliva samples. The results reveal that the levels of SARS-CoV-2 measured by LC-MS correlate well with their corresponding RT-PCR readout. The analytical workflow shows similar turnaround times as regular RT-PCR instrumentation with quantitative readout of viral proteins corresponding to cycle thresholds (Ct) equivalents ranging from 21 to 34. Using RT-PCR as a reference, we demonstrate that the LC-MS-based method has 100% estimated specificity and 83.3% estimated sensitivity when analyzing clinical samples collected from asymptomatic individuals. These results suggest that a scalable analytical method based on LC-MS has a place in future pandemic preparedness centers to complement current virus detection technologies.
</p>
</div>
<div class="article-link article-html-link">
🖺 Full Text HTML: <a href="https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2021.06.02.21258097v1" target="_blank">Rapid and Sensitive Detection of SARS-CoV-2 Infection Using Quantitative Peptide Enrichment LC-MS/MS Analysis</a>
</div></li>
<li><strong>Necessity of COVID-19 Vaccination in Previously Infected Individuals: A Retrospective Cohort Study</strong> -
<div>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
Background: There are good reasons to expect natural infection to provide protection against future infection with SARS-CoV-2. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the necessity of COVID-19 vaccination in persons previously infected with SARS-CoV-2. Methods: Employees of the Cleveland Clinic Health System working in Ohio on Dec 16, 2020, the day COVID-19 vaccination was started, were included. Any subject who tested positive for SARS-CoV-2 at least 42 days earlier was considered previously infected. One was considered vaccinated 14 days after receipt of the second dose of a SARS-CoV-2 mRNA vaccine. The cumulative incidence of SARS-CoV-2 infection over the next four months, among previously infected subjects who received the vaccine, was compared with those of previously infected subjects who remained unvaccinated, previously uninfected subjects who received the vaccine, and previously uninfected subjects who remained unvaccinated. Results: Among the 52238 included employees, 1220 (47%) of 2579 previously infected subjects received the vaccine, compared with 29461 (59%) of 49659 not previously infected. The cumulative incidence of SARS-CoV-2 infection did not differ among previously infected unvaccinated subjects, previously infected subjects who were vaccinated, and previously uninfected subjects who were vaccinated, and was much lower than that of previously uninfected subjects who remained unvaccinated. Not one of the 1359 previously infected subjects who remained unvaccinated had a SARS-CoV-2 infection over the duration of the study. Conclusion: Individuals who have had SARS-CoV-2 infection are unlikely to benefit from COVID-19 vaccination, and vaccines can be safely prioritized to those who have not been infected before.
</p>
</div>
<div class="article-link article-html-link">
🖺 Full Text HTML: <a href="https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2021.06.01.21258176v1" target="_blank">Necessity of COVID-19 Vaccination in Previously Infected Individuals: A Retrospective Cohort Study</a>
</div></li>
<li><strong>A Prospective Observational Study to Investigate Performance of a Chest X-ray Artificial Intelligence Diagnostic Support Tool Across 12 U.S. Hospitals</strong> -
<div>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
Importance: An artificial intelligence (AI)-based model to predict COVID-19 likelihood from chest x-ray (CXR) findings can serve as an important adjunct to accelerate immediate clinical decision making and improve clinical decision making. Despite significant efforts, many limitations and biases exist in previously developed AI diagnostic models for COVID-19. Utilizing a large set of local and international CXR images, we developed an AI model with high performance on temporal and external validation. Objective: Investigate real-time performance of an AI-enabled COVID-19 diagnostic support system across a 12-hospital system. Design: Prospective observational study. Setting: Labeled frontal CXR images (samples of COVID-19 and non-COVID-19) from the M Health Fairview (Minnesota, USA), Valencian Region Medical ImageBank (Spain), MIMIC-CXR, Open-I 2013 Chest X-ray Collection, GitHub COVID-19 Image Data Collection (International), Indiana University (Indiana, USA), and Emory University (Georgia, USA) Participants: Internal (training, temporal, and real-time validation): 51,592 CXRs; Public: 27,424 CXRs; External (Indiana University): 10,002 CXRs; External (Emory University): 2002 CXRs Main Outcome and Measure: Model performance assessed via receiver operating characteristic (ROC), Precision-Recall curves, and F1 score. Results: Patients that were COVID-19 positive had significantly higher COVID-19 Diagnostic Scores (median .1 [IQR: 0.0-0.8] vs median 0.0 [IQR: 0.0-0.1], p &lt; 0.001) than patients that were COVID-19 negative. Pre-implementation the AI-model performed well on temporal validation (AUROC 0.8) and external validation (AUROC 0.76 at Indiana U, AUROC 0.72 at Emory U). The model was noted to have unrealistic performance (AUROC &gt; 0.95) using publicly available databases. Real-time model performance was unchanged over 19 weeks of implementation (AUROC 0.70). On subgroup analysis, the model had improved discrimination for patients with severe as compared to mild or moderate disease, p &lt; 0.001. Model performance was highest in Asians and lowest in whites and similar between males and females. Conclusions and Relevance: AI-based diagnostic tools may serve as an adjunct, but not replacement, for clinical decision support of COVID-19 diagnosis, which largely hinges on exposure history, signs, and symptoms. While AI-based tools have not yet reached full diagnostic potential in COVID-19, they may still offer valuable information to clinicians taken into consideration along with clinical signs and symptoms.
</p>
</div>
<div class="article-link article-html-link">
🖺 Full Text HTML: <a href="https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2021.06.04.21258316v1" target="_blank">A Prospective Observational Study to Investigate Performance of a Chest X-ray Artificial Intelligence Diagnostic Support Tool Across 12 U.S. Hospitals</a>
</div></li>
<li><strong>Intra-individual reproducibility as essential determinant of clinical utility of smartphone-based neurological disability tests</strong> -
<div>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
Technological advances, lack of medical professionals, high cost of face-to face encounters and disasters such as COVID19 pandemic, fuel the telemedicine revolution. Numerous smartphone apps have been developed to measure neurological functions. However, their psychometric properties are seldom determined. Lacking such data, it is unclear which designs underlie eventual clinical utility of the smartphone tests. We have developed the smartphone Neurological Function Tests Suite (NeuFun-TS) and are systematically evaluating their psychometric properties against the gold-standard of complete neurological examination digitalized into NeurExTM App. This paper examines the fifth, and thus far the most complex NeuFun-TS test, the “Spiral tracing”. We generated 40 features in the training cohort (22 healthy donors [HD] and 105 multiple sclerosis [MS] patients) and compared their intraclass correlation coefficient, fold-change between HD and MS and correlations with relevant clinical and imaging outcomes. We assembled the best features into machine-learning models and examined their performance in the independent validation cohort (56 MS patients). We show that by aggregating multiple neurological functions, complex tests such as spiral tracing are susceptible to intra-individual variations, decreasing their reproducibility and thus, clinical utility. Simple tests, reproducibly measuring single function(s) that can be aggregated to increase sensitivity are preferable in app design.
</p>
</div>
<div class="article-link article-html-link">
🖺 Full Text HTML: <a href="https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2021.06.01.21258169v1" target="_blank">Intra-individual reproducibility as essential determinant of clinical utility of smartphone-based neurological disability tests</a>
</div></li>
<li><strong>Antibody profiling reveals gender differences in response to SARS-COVID-2 infection</strong> -
<div>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
The recent emergence of the novel severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) has led to an ongoing global COVID-19 pandemic and public health crisis. Detailed study of human immune response to SARS-COVIS-2 infection is the important topic for a successful treatment of this disease. Our study was aimed to characterize immune response on the level of antibody profiling in convalescent plasma of patients in Georgia. Antibodies against the following SARS-COV-2 proteins were studied: nucleocapsid and various regions of Spike (S) protein: S1, S2 and Receptor binding domain (RBD). Convalescent plasma of patients 6-8 weeks after initial confirmation of SARS-COV-2 infection were tested. Nearly 80% out of 154 patients studied showed presence of antibodies against nucleocapsid protein. The antibody response to three fragments of S protein was significantly less and varied in the range of 20-30%. Significantly more females as compared to males were producing antibodies against S1 fragment, whereas the difference between genders by the antibodies against nucleocapsid protein and RBD was statistically significant only by one-tailed Fisher exact test. There were no differences between the males and females by antibodies against S2 fragment. Thus, immune response against some viral antigens are stronger in females and we suggest that it could be one of the factors of less female fatality after SARS-COVID-2 infection.
</p>
</div>
<div class="article-link article-html-link">
🖺 Full Text HTML: <a href="https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2021.06.01.21258175v1" target="_blank">Antibody profiling reveals gender differences in response to SARS-COVID-2 infection</a>
</div></li>
<li><strong>Aggregating probabilistic predictions of the safety, efficacy, and timing of a COVID-19 vaccine</strong> -
<div>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
Safe, efficacious vaccines were developed to reduce the transmission of SARS-CoV-2 during the COVID-19 pandemic. But in the middle of 2020, vaccine effectiveness, safety, and the timeline for when a vaccine would be approved and distributed to the public was uncertain. To support public health decision making, we solicited trained forecasters and experts in vaccinology and infectious disease to provide monthly probabilistic predictions from July to September of 2020 of the efficacy, safety, timing, and delivery of a COVID-19 vaccine. We found, that despite sparse historical data, a consensus–a combination of human judgment probabilistic predictions–can quantify the uncertainty in clinical significance and timing of a potential vaccine. The consensus underestimated how fast a therapy would show a survival benefit and the high efficacy of approved COVID-19 vaccines. However, the consensus did make an accurate prediction for when a vaccine would be approved by the FDA. Compared to individual forecasters, the consensus was consistently above the 50th percentile of the most accurate forecasts. A consensus is a fast and versatile method to build probabilistic predictions of a developing vaccine that is robust to poor individual predictions. Though experts and trained forecasters did underestimate the speed of development and the high efficacy of a SARS-CoV-2 vaccine, consensus predictions can improve situational awareness for public health officials and for the public make clearer the risks, rewards, and timing of a vaccine.
</p>
</div>
<div class="article-link article-html-link">
🖺 Full Text HTML: <a href="https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2021.06.03.21258240v1" target="_blank">Aggregating probabilistic predictions of the safety, efficacy, and timing of a COVID-19 vaccine</a>
</div></li>
<li><strong>The Impact of COVID-19 Vaccination on California’s Return to Normalcy</strong> -
<div>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
SARS-CoV-2 has infected nearly 3.7 million and killed 61,722 Californians, as of May 22, 2021. Non-pharmaceutical interventions have been instrumental in mitigating the spread of the coronavirus. However, as we ease restrictions, widespread implementation of COVID-19 vaccines is essential to prevent its resurgence. In this work, we addressed the adequacy and deficiency of vaccine uptake within California and the possibility and severity of resurgence of COVID-19 as restrictions are lifted given the current vaccination rates. We implemented a real-time Bayesian data assimilation approach to provide projections of incident cases and deaths in California following the reopening of its economy on June 15, 2021. We implemented scenarios that vary vaccine uptake prior to reopening, and transmission rates and effective population sizes following the reopening. For comparison purposes, we adopted a baseline scenario using the current vaccination rates, which projects a total 11,429 cases and 429 deaths in a 15-day period after reopening. We used posterior estimates based on CA historical data to provide realistic model parameters after reopening. When the transmission rate is increased after reopening, we projected an increase in cases by 21.8% and deaths by 4.4% above the baseline after reopening. When the effective population is increased after reopening, we observed an increase in cases by 51.8% and deaths by 12.3% above baseline. A 30% reduction in vaccine uptake alone has the potential to increase cases and deaths by 35% and 21.6%, respectively. Conversely, increasing vaccine uptake by 30% could decrease cases and deaths by 26.1% and 17.9%, respectively. As California unfolds its plan to reopen its economy on June 15, 2021, it is critical that social distancing and public behavior changes continue to be promoted, particularly in communities with low vaccine uptake. The Centers of Disease Control9s (CDC) recommendation to ease mask-wearing for fully vaccinated individuals despite major inequities in vaccine uptake in counties across the state highlights some of the logistical challenges that society faces as we enthusiastically phase out of this pandemic.
</p>
</div>
<div class="article-link article-html-link">
🖺 Full Text HTML: <a href="https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2021.06.01.21258187v1" target="_blank">The Impact of COVID-19 Vaccination on California’s Return to Normalcy</a>
</div></li>
<li><strong>Protein N-glycosylation is essential for SARS-CoV-2 infection</strong> -
<div>
SARS-CoV-2 extensively N-glycosylates its spike proteins, which are necessary for host cell invasion and the target of both vaccines and immunotherapies. These sugars are predicted to help mediate spike binding to the host receptor by stabilizing its open conformation and evading host immunity. Here, we investigated both the essentiality of the host N-glycosylation pathway and SARS-CoV-2 N-glycans for infection. Inhibition of host N-glycosylation using RNAi or FDA- approved drugs reduced virus infectivity, including that of several variants. Under these conditions, cells produced less virions and some completely lost their infectivity. Furthermore, partial deglycosylation of intact virions showed that surface-exposed N-glycans are critical for cell invasion. Altogether, spike N-glycosylation is a targetable pathway with clinical potential for treatment or prevention of COVID-19.
</div>
<div class="article-link article-html-link">
🖺 Full Text HTML: <a href="https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2021.02.05.429940v2" target="_blank">Protein N-glycosylation is essential for SARS-CoV-2 infection</a>
</div></li>
<li><strong>JIB-04 has broad-spectrum antiviral activity and inhibits SARS-CoV-2 replication and coronavirus pathogenesis</strong> -
<div>
Pathogenic coronaviruses represent a major threat to global public health. Here, using a recombinant reporter virus-based compound screening approach, we identified several small-molecule inhibitors that potently block the replication of the newly emerged severe acute respiratory syndrome virus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). Among them, JIB-04 inhibited SARS-CoV-2 replication in Vero E6 cells with an EC50 of 695 nM, with a specificity index of greater than 1,000. JIB-04 showed in vitro antiviral activity in multiple cell types against several DNA and RNA viruses, including porcine coronavirus transmissible gastroenteritis virus. In an in vivo porcine model of coronavirus infection, administration of JIB-04 reduced virus infection and associated tissue pathology, which resulted in improved weight gain and survival. These results highlight the potential utility of JIB-04 as an antiviral agent against SARS-CoV-2 and other viral pathogens.
</div>
<div class="article-link article-html-link">
🖺 Full Text HTML: <a href="https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2020.09.24.312165v2" target="_blank">JIB-04 has broad-spectrum antiviral activity and inhibits SARS-CoV-2 replication and coronavirus pathogenesis</a>
</div></li>
<li><strong>Formation of oxidized gases and secondary organic aerosol from a commercial oxidant-generating electronic air cleaner</strong> -
<div>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
Airborne virus transmission during the COVID-19 pandemic increased the demand for indoor air cleaners. While some commercial electronic air cleaners could be effective in reducing primary pollutants and inactivating bioaerosol, studies on the formation of secondary products from oxidation chemistry during their use are limited. Here, we measured oxygenated volatile organic compounds (OVOCs) and the chemical composition of particles generated from a hydroxyl radical generator in an office. During operation, enhancements in OVOCs, especially low-molecular-weight organic and inorganic acids, were detected. Rapid increases in particle number and volume concentrations were observed, corresponding to the formation of highly-oxidized secondary organic aerosol (SOA) (O:C ~1.3). The organic mass spectra showed an enhanced signal at <i>m/z</i> 44 (CO<sub>2</sub><sup>+</sup>) and the aerosol evolved with a slope of ~ -1 in the Van Krevelen diagram. These results suggest that organic acids generated during VOC oxidation contributed to particle nucleation and SOA formation. Nitrate, sulfate, and chloride also increased during the oxidation without a corresponding increase in ammonium, suggesting organic nitrate, organic sulfate, and organic chloride formation. As secondary species are reported to have detrimental health effects, further studies are needed to evaluate potential OVOCs and SOA formation from electronic air cleaners in different indoor environments.
</p>
</div>
<div class="article-link article-html-link">
🖺 Full Text HTML: <a href="https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2021.06.01.21258186v1" target="_blank">Formation of oxidized gases and secondary organic aerosol from a commercial oxidant-generating electronic air cleaner</a>
</div></li>
<li><strong>Definitions matter: heterogeneity of COVID-19 disease severity criteria and incomplete reporting compromise meta-analysis</strong> -
<div>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
Therapeutic efficacy in COVID-19 is dependent upon disease stage and severity (treatment effect heterogeneity). Unfortunately, definitions of severity vary widely. This compromises the meta-analysis of randomised controlled trials (RCTs) and the therapeutic guidelines derived from them. The World Health Organisation “living” guidelines for the treatment of COVID-19 are based on a network meta-analysis (NMA) of published RCTs. We reviewed the 81 studies included in the WHO COVID-19 living NMA and compared their severity classifications with the severity classifications employed by the international COVID-NMA initiative. The two were concordant in only 35% (24/68) of trials. Of the RCTs evaluated 69% (55/77) were considered by the WHO group to include patients with a range of severities (12 mild-moderate; 3 mild-severe; 18 mild-critical; 5 moderate-severe; 8 moderate-critical; 10 severe-critical), but the distribution of disease severities within these groups usually could not be determined, and data on the duration of illness and/or oxygen saturation values were often missing. Where severity classifications were clear there was substantial overlap in mortality across trials in different severity strata. This imprecision in severity assessment compromises the validity of some therapeutic recommendations; notably extrapolation of “lack of therapeutic benefit” shown in hospitalised severely ill patients on respiratory support to ambulant mildly ill patients is not warranted. Both harmonised unambiguous definitions of severity and individual patient data meta-analyses are needed to guide and improve therapeutic recommendations in COVID-19.
</p>
</div>
<div class="article-link article-html-link">
🖺 Full Text HTML: <a href="https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2021.06.04.21257852v1" target="_blank">Definitions matter: heterogeneity of COVID-19 disease severity criteria and incomplete reporting compromise meta-analysis</a>
</div></li>
<li><strong>Comparing India’s second COVID wave with the first wave, a single center experience</strong> -
<div>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
Background The COVID-19 pandemic has resurfaced in India in the form of a hard-hitting second wave. This study aims to compare the clinical profile of the first wave (April-June 2020) and the second wave (March-May 2021) of the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) in a single tertiary care center of India. This will help prioritize the target population group and management strategies in the upcoming third wave if any. Methods In this retrospective observational study, we examined the demographic profile, symptoms at presentation, the severity of illness, baseline investigations, treatments received, underlying comorbidities, and outcomes of the COVID-19 patients belonging to the first (W1) and the second wave (W2) of the pandemic in India. Findings Among 106 patients in W1 and 104 patients in W2, the age group affected most was 37.1 (SD=16.9) years compared with 50.5 (SD=17.7) years respectively. The baseline oxygen saturation is lower in W2, being 84.0 (13.4) % compared with 91.9 (7.4) % in W1. 70.2 % of the cases belonged to the severe category in W2 compared to 37.5% in W1. W2 patients demonstrated higher transaminase levels [SGOT, 108.3 (99.3) v/s 54.6 (69.3); SGPT, 97.6 (82.3) v/s 58.7 (69.7)] with respect to W1. Similarly, the CT severity score for W2 [29.5 (6.7)] was higher than W1 [23.2 (11.5)][All P&lt;0.05]. The proportion of patients requiring oxygen (81.8% v/s 11.2%), high flow nasal cannula (11.4% v/s 5.6%), non-invasive ventilation (41.2% v/s 1.5%), invasive ventilation (24.5% v/s 0.9%), as well as ICU/HDU admissions (56.4% v/s 12.0%) was higher for W2 as compared with W1. The measured case fatality rate varies from 29% for W2 to 9.6% for W1. Interpretation Higher age, oxygen requirement, ventilator requirement, ICU admission, and organ impairment are more prevalent in the admitted COVID-19 cases during the second wave that has hit India compared to the first wave and associated with more fatalities. Strategy for another wave should be planned accordingly.
</p>
</div>
<div class="article-link article-html-link">
🖺 Full Text HTML: <a href="https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2021.06.03.21258009v1" target="_blank">Comparing India’s second COVID wave with the first wave, a single center experience</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>Study of Intravenous COVI-MSC for Treatment of COVID-19-Induced Acute Respiratory Distress</strong> - <b>Condition</b>:   Covid19<br/><b>Interventions</b>:   Biological: COVI-MSC;   Drug: Placebo<br/><b>Sponsor</b>:   Sorrento Therapeutics, Inc.<br/><b>Not yet recruiting</b></p></li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Study of Allogeneic Adipose-Derived Mesenchymal Stem Cells for Treatment of COVID-19 Acute Respiratory Distress</strong> - <b>Condition</b>:   Covid19<br/><b>Interventions</b>:   Biological: COVI-MSC;   Drug: Placebo<br/><b>Sponsor</b>:   Sorrento Therapeutics, Inc.<br/><b>Not yet recruiting</b></p></li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Study to Evaluate a Single Intranasal Dose of STI-2099 (COVI-DROPS™) in Outpatient Adults With COVID-19 (US)</strong> - <b>Condition</b>:   Covid19<br/><b>Interventions</b>:   Biological: COVI-DROPS;   Drug: Placebo<br/><b>Sponsor</b>:   Sorrento Therapeutics, Inc.<br/><b>Not yet recruiting</b></p></li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Study to Evaluate a Single Intranasal Dose of STI-2099 (COVI-DROPS™) in Outpatient Adults With COVID-19 (UK)</strong> - <b>Condition</b>:   Covid19<br/><b>Interventions</b>:   Biological: COVI-DROPS;   Drug: Placebo<br/><b>Sponsor</b>:   Sorrento Therapeutics, Inc.<br/><b>Not yet recruiting</b></p></li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>To Evaluate the Safety and Efficacy of TQ Formula in Covid-19 Participants</strong> - <b>Condition</b>:   Covid19<br/><b>Intervention</b>:   Drug: Black Seed Oil Cap/Tab<br/><b>Sponsor</b>:   Novatek Pharmaceuticals<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>CRP-Apheresis for Attenuation of Pulmonary, MYocardial and/or Kidney Injury in COvid-19</strong> - <b>Condition</b>:   Covid19<br/><b>Intervention</b>:   Device: CRP-apheresis<br/><b>Sponsor</b>:   University Hospital, Essen<br/><b>Recruiting</b></p></li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Study of Allogeneic Adipose-Derived Mesenchymal Stem Cells to Treat Post COVID-19 “Long Haul” Pulmonary Compromise</strong> - <b>Condition</b>:   Covid19<br/><b>Intervention</b>:   Biological: COVI-MSC<br/><b>Sponsor</b>:   Sorrento Therapeutics, Inc.<br/><b>Not yet recruiting</b></p></li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Intramuscular VIR-7831 (Sotrovimab) for Mild/Moderate COVID-19</strong> - <b>Condition</b>:   Covid19<br/><b>Intervention</b>:   Biological: VIR-7831<br/><b>Sponsors</b>:   Vir Biotechnology, Inc.;   GlaxoSmithKline<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>CISCO-21 Prevent and Treat Long COVID-19.</strong> - <b>Condition</b>:   Covid19<br/><b>Intervention</b>:   Other: Resistance Exercise<br/><b>Sponsors</b>:   NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde;   University of Glasgow;   Chief Scientist Office of the Scottish Government<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>Collecting Respiratory Sound Samples From Corona Patients to Extend the Diagnostic Capability of VOQX Electronic Stethoscope to Diagnose COVID-19 Patients</strong> - <b>Condition</b>:   COVID-19<br/><b>Intervention</b>:   Diagnostic Test: Electronic stethoscope<br/><b>Sponsor</b>:   Sanolla<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>Leronlimab in Moderatelly Ill Patients With COVID-19 Pneumonia</strong> - <b>Condition</b>:   COVID-19 Pneumonia<br/><b>Interventions</b>:   Drug: Leronlimab;   Drug: Placebo<br/><b>Sponsors</b>:   Hospital Israelita Albert Einstein;   CytoDyn, Inc.<br/><b>Not yet recruiting</b></p></li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Leronlimab in Critically Ill Patients With Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) With Need for Mechanical Ventilation or Extracorporeal Membrane Oxygenation</strong> - <b>Condition</b>:   COVID-19 Pneumonia<br/><b>Interventions</b>:   Drug: Leronlimab;   Drug: Placebo<br/><b>Sponsors</b>:   Hospital Israelita Albert Einstein;   CytoDyn, Inc.<br/><b>Not yet recruiting</b></p></li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>A Proof of Concept Study for the DNA Repair Driven by the Mesenchymal Stem Cells in Critical COVID-19 Patients</strong> - <b>Condition</b>:   COVID-19 Pneumonia<br/><b>Intervention</b>:   Biological: Mesenchymal Stem Cells Transplantation<br/><b>Sponsors</b>:   SBÜ Dr. Sadi Konuk Eğitim ve Araştırma Hastanesi;   Istinye University;   Liv Hospital (Ulus)<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>Antigen Rapid Test Screening to Prevent SARS-CoV-2 Transmission (COVID-19) at Mass Gathering Events.</strong> - <b>Condition</b>:   Covid19<br/><b>Intervention</b>:   Diagnostic Test: SARS-CoV-2 antigen rapid test<br/><b>Sponsors</b>:   Norwegian Institute of Public Health;   University of Oslo<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 Global Phase III Clinical Trial of Recombinant COVID- 19 Vaccine (Sf9 Cells)</strong> - <b>Condition</b>:   COVID-19<br/><b>Interventions</b>:   Biological: Recombinant COVID-19 vaccine (Sf9 cells);   Other: Placebo control<br/><b>Sponsors</b>:   WestVac Biopharma Co., Ltd.;   West China Hospital<br/><b>Not yet recruiting</b></p></li>
</ul>
<h1 data-aos="fade-right" id="from-pubmed">From PubMed</h1>
<ul>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Synthesis, Comparative in vitro Antibacterial, Antioxidant &amp; UV fluorescence studies of bis Indole Schiff bases and Molecular docking with ct-DNA &amp; SARS-CoV-2 M(pro)</strong> - In this study, synthesis of fifteen novel bis indole based Schiff bases (SBs) 4a-o was conducted by condensation of 2-(1-aminobenzyl)benzimidazole with symmetrical bis-isatins linked via five alkyl chains (n = 2, 3, 4, 5 and 6). These were subjected to ADME, physiochemical properties, molecular docking, in vitro antibacterial and antioxidant studies. The in silico studies indicated lower toxicity with metabolic stability for nearly all the derivatives proving reliability as drug candidates. The…</p></li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Potential role of free-radical processes in biomolecules damage during COVID-19 and ways of their regulation</strong> - It has been shown that the development of coronavirus infection (COVID-19), especially in severe cases, is accompanied by hypoxia as a result of several pathological processes: alveolar blood supply disorders, hemolysis, COVID-associated coagulopathy. Under these conditions, the level of reactive oxygen species is increased and it is more likely that free-radical damage to biomolecules is caused by the process of free-radical fragmentation than oxidation. In contrast to the oxidation process,…</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>Single dose of BNT162b2 mRNA vaccine against severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2) induces neutralising antibody and polyfunctional T-cell responses in patients with chronic myeloid leukaemia</strong> - Patients receiving targeted cancer treatments such as tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKIs) have been classified in the clinically extremely vulnerable group to develop severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2), including patients with chronic myeloid leukaemia (CML) taking TKIs. In addition, concerns that immunocompromised individuals with solid and haematological malignancies may not mount an adequate immune response to a single dose of SARS-CoV-2 BNT162b2 (Pfizer-BioNTech)…</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>Flecainide toxicity associated with the use of goji berries: a case report</strong> - BACKGROUND: Goji berries (GB), usually marketed as a ‘superfruit’, are a widely used herbal supplement. As with other herbal remedies, the use of GB might be associated with herb-drug interactions, increasing plasma levels of other drugs and causing adverse events. Here, we present the case of a patient that developed flecainide toxicity secondary to an herb-drug interaction, associated with the use of GB to prevent COVID-19.</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>SARS-CoV-2 Membrane Protein Inhibits Type I Interferon Production Through Ubiquitin-Mediated Degradation of TBK1</strong> - The severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2) is the causative pathogen of current COVID-19 pandemic, and insufficient production of type I interferon (IFN-I) is associated with the severe forms of the disease. Membrane (M) protein of SARS-CoV-2 has been reported to suppress host IFN-I production, but the underlying mechanism is not completely understood. In this study, SARS-CoV-2 M protein was confirmed to suppress the expression of IFNβ and interferon-stimulated genes…</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>Drug repurposing screens identify chemical entities for the development of COVID-19 interventions</strong> - The ongoing pandemic caused by the novel severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), necessitates strategies to identify prophylactic and therapeutic drug candidates for rapid clinical deployment. Here, we describe a screening pipeline for the discovery of efficacious SARS-CoV-2 inhibitors. We screen a best-in-class drug repurposing library, ReFRAME, against two high-throughput, high-content imaging infection assays: one using HeLa cells expressing SARS-CoV-2 receptor ACE2 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>Fe-S cofactors in the SARS-CoV-2 RNA-dependent RNA polymerase are potential antiviral targets</strong> - Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), the causal agent of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), uses an RNA-dependent RNA polymerase (RdRp) for the replication of its genome and the transcription of its genes. We found that the catalytic subunit of the RdRp, nsp12, ligates two iron-sulfur metal cofactors in sites that were modeled as zinc centers in the available cryo-electron microscopy structures of the RdRp complex. These metal binding sites are essential for…</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>Essential sufficiency of zinc, omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids, vitamin D and magnesium for prevention and treatment of COVID-19, diabetes, cardiovascular diseases, lung diseases and cancer</strong> - Despite the development of a number of vaccines for COVID-19, there remains a need for prevention and treatment of the virus SARS-CoV-2 and the ensuing disease COVID-19. This report discusses the key elements of SARS-CoV-2 and COVID-19 that can be readily treated: viral entry, the immune system and inflammation, and the cytokine storm. It is shown that the essential nutrients zinc, ω-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs), vitamin D and magnesium provide the ideal combination for prevention 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>SARS-CoV-2 infects human pancreatic beta cells and elicits beta cell impairment</strong> - Emerging evidence points toward an intricate relationship between the pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) and diabetes. While preexisting diabetes is associated with severe COVID-19, it is unclear whether COVID-19 severity is a cause or consequence of diabetes. To mechanistically link COVID-19 to diabetes, we tested whether insulin-producing pancreatic β cells can be infected by SARS-CoV-2 and cause β cell depletion. We found that the SARS-CoV-2 receptor, ACE2, and related 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>SARS-CoV-2 infection and cancer: Evidence for and against a role of SARS-CoV-2 in cancer onset</strong> - Despite huge efforts towards understanding the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) pathogenesis, little is known about the long-term consequences of the disease. Here, we critically review existing literature about oncogenesis as a potential long-term effect of SARS-CoV-2 infection. Like other viral infections, SARS-CoV-2 may promote cancer onset by inhibiting tumor suppressor genes. We conclude that, although unlikely, such hypothesis cannot be excluded a priori and we…</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 transferable deep learning approach to fast screen potential antiviral drugs against SARS-CoV-2</strong> - The COVID-19 pandemic calls for rapid development of effective treatments. Although various drug repurpose approaches have been used to screen the FDA-approved drugs and drug candidates in clinical phases against SARS-CoV-2, the coronavirus that causes this disease, no magic bullets have been found until now. In this study, we used directed message passing neural network to first build a broad-spectrum anti-beta-coronavirus compound prediction model, which gave satisfactory predictions on newly…</p></li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>An Integrated Computational and Experimental Approach to Identifying Inhibitors for SARS-CoV-2 3CL Protease</strong> - The newly evolved SARS-CoV-2 has caused the COVID-19 pandemic, and the SARS-CoV-2 main protease 3CLpro is essential for the rapid replication of the virus. Inhibiting this protease may open an alternative avenue toward therapeutic intervention. In this work, a computational docking approach was developed to identify potential small-molecule inhibitors for SARS-CoV-2 3CLpro. Totally 288 potential hits were identified from a half-million bioactive chemicals via a protein-ligand docking protocol….</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>Marine Sponge is a Promising Natural Source of Anti-SARS-CoV-2 Scaffold</strong> - The current pandemic caused by SARS-CoV2 and named COVID-19 urgent the need for novel lead antiviral drugs. Recently, United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved the use of remdesivir as anti-SARS-CoV-2. Remdesivir is a natural product-inspired nucleoside analogue with significant broad-spectrum antiviral activity. Nucleosides analogues from marine sponge including spongouridine and spongothymidine have been used as lead for the evolutionary synthesis of various antiviral drugs…</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>Resource-efficient internally controlled in-house real-time PCR detection of SARS-CoV-2</strong> - CONCLUSION: The presented RKI/ZBS1 SARS-CoV-2 protocol represents a cost-effective alternative in times of shortages when commercially available ready-to-use kits may not be available or affordable.</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 Dual Inhibitory Effect of Anagliptin, Ramipril, and Lisinopril on Angiotensin-Converting Enzyme and DPP-4 Activities</strong> - CONCLUSION: It seems that while most ACE inhibitors cannot affect DPP-4 activity, inhibitors of DPP-4 vary in their effect on ACE activity. The selection of DPP-4 inhibitors under different clinical situations should take into account the action of these drugs on ACE.</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>COST EFFECTIVE PORTABLE OXYGEN CONCENTRATOR FOR COVID-19</strong> - - <a href="https://patentscope.wipo.int/search/en/detail.jsf?docId=AU324964715">link</a></p></li>
<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>METHOD OF IDENTIFYING SEVERE ACUTE RESPIRATORY SYNDROME CORONA VIRUS 2 (SARS-COV-2) RIBONUCLEIC ACID (RNA)</strong> - - <a href="https://patentscope.wipo.int/search/en/detail.jsf?docId=AU323956811">link</a></p></li>
<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>IMPROVEMENTS RELATED TO PARTICLE, INCLUDING SARS-CoV-2, DETECTION AND METHODS THEREFOR</strong> - - <a href="https://patentscope.wipo.int/search/en/detail.jsf?docId=AU323295937">link</a></p></li>
<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>DEEP LEARNING BASED SYSTEM FOR DETECTION OF COVID-19 DISEASE OF PATIENT AT INFECTION RISK</strong> - The present invention relates to Deep learning based system for detection of covid-19 disease of patient at infection risk. The objective of the present invention is to solve the problems in the prior art related to technologies of detection of covid-19 disease using CT scan image processing. - <a href="https://patentscope.wipo.int/search/en/detail.jsf?docId=IN324122821">link</a></p></li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Wiederverwendbare Maske</strong> -
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
</p><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">Wiederverwendbare Maske, mit einem Maskenkörper (100), einem Fixierband (300) zum Befestigen des Maskenkörpers (100) an einem menschlichen Gesicht, einer auswechselbaren Schicht (200), die zwischen dem menschlichen Gesicht und dem Maskenkörper (100) angeordnet ist, und einem Fixierteil (400) zum Fixieren der auswechselbaren Schicht auf dem Maskenkörper (100).</p></li>
</ul>
<img alt="embedded image" id="EMI-D00000"/>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"></p>
<ul>
<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><a href="https://patentscope.wipo.int/search/en/detail.jsf?docId=DE325736702">link</a></p></li>
<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>A COMPREHENSIVE DISINFECTION SYSTEM DURING PANDEMIC FOR PERSONAL ITEMS AND PROTECTIVE EQUIPMENT (PPE) TO SAFEGUARD PEOPLE</strong> - The current Covid-19 pandemic has led to an enormous demand for gadgets / objects for personal protection. To prevent the spread of virus, it is important to disinfect commonly touched objects. One of the ways suggested is to use a personal UV-C disinfecting box that is “efficient and effective in deactivating the COVID-19 virus. The present model has implemented the use of a UV transparent material (fused silica quartz glass tubes) as the medium of support for the objects to be disinfected to increase the effectiveness of disinfection without compromising the load bearing capacity. Aluminum foil, a UV reflecting material, was used as the inner lining of the box for effective utilization of the UVC light emitted by the UVC lamps. Care has been taken to prevent leakage of UVC radiation out of the system. COVID-19 virus can be inactivated in 5 minutes by UVC irradiation in this disinfection box - <a href="https://patentscope.wipo.int/search/en/detail.jsf?docId=IN322882412">link</a></p></li>
<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>UBIQUITOUS COMPUTING SYSTEM FOR MENTAL HEALTH MONITORING OF PERSON DURING THE PANDEMIC OF COVID-19</strong> - - <a href="https://patentscope.wipo.int/search/en/detail.jsf?docId=AU323295498">link</a></p></li>
<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>一种预判重症新冠肺炎（COVID-19）的标志物及其产品和用途</strong> - 本发明提供了一种预判重症疾病的标志物，所述的预判重症疾病的标志物为S100A12，序列为SEQ ID NO.1，所述的重症疾病为重症新冠肺炎、重症感染中的一种。S100A12基因作为标志物，在预判重症疾病时对全血中的S100A12基因的表达水平进行检测即可，无需对白细胞进行分离，简化检测流程。S100A12的表达水平可以指导感染类疾病包括新冠肺炎重症的预判，从而及早施治，降低病死率，具有很好的临床应用前景。 - <a href="https://patentscope.wipo.int/search/en/detail.jsf?docId=CN325296031">link</a></p></li>
<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>一种新型冠状病毒COVID-19-S1蛋白的表达和纯化方法</strong> - 本发明属于生物技术领域，具体涉及一种新型冠状病毒COVID‑19‑S1蛋白的表达和纯化方法。本发明提供的方法，主要包括构建COVID‑19‑S1蛋白表达质粒、将COVID‑19‑S1蛋白表达质粒转化、培养表达COVID‑19‑S1蛋白、纯化COVID‑19‑S1蛋白等过程。本发明将能在293F细胞中高分泌表达蛋白的信号肽与Kozak区和编码人COVID‑19‑S1蛋白的基因进行重组，来提高目的蛋白的表达量和分泌量。采用本发明提供的方法，可以解决新型冠状病毒COVID‑19‑S1蛋白分泌量低、纯度低的问题，为免疫学快速诊断、制备单抗、开展解析蛋白结构研究等提供物质基础。 - <a href="https://patentscope.wipo.int/search/en/detail.jsf?docId=CN325375143">link</a></p></li>
<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>INDICATING SYSTEM</strong> - A visual indicating system for use with a hospital bed, the hospital bed comprising a bed frame extending between a head end and a foot end of the bed frame, the visual indicating system comprising: an indicating member adapted to be coupled with the bed frame wherein the indicating member comprises an indicia for indicating one of a plurality of pre-determined health conditions.</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">FIGURE 1 - <a href="https://patentscope.wipo.int/search/en/detail.jsf?docId=AU322897510">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 Peril of Not Vaccinating the World</strong> - Absent a concerted global commitment to vaccine equity, the virus will continue to evolve, and humanity may be consigned to a never-ending pandemic. - <a href="https://www.newyorker.com/tech/annals-of-technology/the-peril-of-not-vaccinating-the-world">link</a></p></li>
<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>The Unique Dangers of the Supreme Court’s Decision to Hear a Mississippi Abortion Case</strong> - The most pressing question now may be not whether Roe and Casey can survive but how reproductive rights can be sustained without them. - <a href="https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2021/06/07/the-unique-dangers-of-the-supreme-courts-decision-to-hear-a-mississippi-abortion-case">link</a></p></li>
<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>The Purpose of Political Correctness</strong> - A conversation with the columnist Nesrine Malik about who makes the changing rules of public speech. - <a href="https://www.newyorker.com/news/q-and-a/the-purpose-of-political-correctness">link</a></p></li>
<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Is There Any Time Left for Maya Wiley?</strong> - The former City Hall lawyer considers herself the last progressive standing in the New York City mayoral race. - <a href="https://www.newyorker.com/news/our-local-correspondents/is-there-any-time-left-for-maya-wiley">link</a></p></li>
<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Protests in Colombia, Elections in Peru, and Other Chaos in the Andes</strong> - Hopes for a sustained democratic rebirth in the seven Andean nations have waned, again. - <a href="https://www.newyorker.com/news/daily-comment/protests-in-colombia-elections-in-peru-and-other-chaos-in-the-andes">link</a></p></li>
</ul>
<h1 data-aos="fade-right" id="from-vox">From Vox</h1>
<ul>
<li><strong>Progressive groups are “fed up” with Biden’s infrastructure playbook</strong> -
<figure>
<img alt="" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/o--qgQx2nil5Wsv49l8wkBmEAfQ=/167x0:2834x2000/1310x983/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/69410488/GettyImages_1321734902_copy.0.jpg"/>
<figcaption>
A group of 60 Sunrise youth activists gathered outside the White House calling for President Biden to pass infrastructure plan that addresses the climate crisis on June 4. | Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
Progressives want Biden to stop negotiating with Republicans and embrace budget reconciliation.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="VIAkIM">
The honeymoon period between President Joe Biden and progressives is ending.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="FcJVck">
Progressive groups, who cheered Biden passing his $1.9 trillion Covid-19 stimulus bill through Congress with only Democratic support early on, are growing increasingly frustrated over Biden’s prolonged infrastructure negotiations with Senate Republicans.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="9RPoUZ">
A tentative deadline to strike a bipartisan deal by Memorial Day has come and gone. And on Friday, Biden once again spoke to lead Republican negotiator Sen. Shelley Moore Capito, with their conversation yielding no deal, according to Capito’s spokesperson. Progressives are frustrated by the pace, and by the White House’s choice to lower the price tag of their $2.25 trillion infrastructure package to try to get GOP support.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="9KTKLA">
“We’re fed up and we want our voices to be heard,” said Evan Weber, the political director for the progressive climate group Sunrise Movement, which staged a protest blocking an entrance outside the White House on Friday afternoon — with dozens of 20-something protesters risking arrest. “Since the election, we’re starting to feel he’s ignoring the very people who put him in office and spending more time talking to the party of insurrectionists who don’t feel he’s president.”
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="BPDqVR">
Biden <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2021/06/03/business/economy/biden-infrastructure-senate-republicans.html">has now proposed</a> shaving over $1 trillion off of his initial price tag on a physical infrastructure package, and proposing a 15 percent minimum tax on corporations in an attempt to placate GOP concerns about raising the corporate tax rate to 28 percent. Both are signs that the White House is serious about negotiating with Republicans to find common ground — a vow Biden made repeatedly throughout this campaign.
</p>
<figure class="e-image">
<img alt=" " src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/cqPZYCmtwRHGgk2eVqFW0uEiHj8=/800x0/filters:no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22638132/GettyImages_1233137645_copy.jpg"/> <cite>Nicholas Kamm/AFP via Getty Images</cite>
<figcaption>
President Biden speaks to reporters on May 27. Many progressives are frustrated by Biden’s willingness to lower the overall cost of his infrastructure plan as he seeks a bipartisan deal with Republicans.
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="hY4XVi">
“The President is engaged in good faith with both parties in Congress to deliver historic infrastructure investments that will drive economic growth, produce the clean technologies of the future and create good-paying jobs,” a White House official told Vox.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="vtDbP4">
But to progressives, the events of the past few weeks are a sign that Republicans are trying to stall while Democrats have a unified majority in Congress, to hurt Democrats electorally in the 2022 midterms. And many are worried that Biden is prioritizing working with Republicans over another campaign promise to get bold things done for the country, including tackling the climate crisis and improving racial equity.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="0ZrRO7">
With Republicans signaling they’re unhappy with any new taxation proposals, progressives are still holding out a shred of hope that Democrats will ultimately pass an infrastructure bill via budget reconciliation — a process where they can use only Democratic votes in the Senate.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="2WBJN7">
Progressives have an ear in Biden’s inner circle, especially with White House Chief of Staff Ron Klain, and they have had some early successes on policy and personnel. But getting Biden to promise something and getting him to actually deliver it are two different things — and it presents their greatest challenge in Biden’s tenure so far.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="Mr4mzp">
“Republicans are never going to agree to a deal,” Jamal Raad, co-founder of the progressive climate group Evergreen Action and a former top staffer to Washington Gov. Jay Inslee, told Vox. “This is bad-faith negotiating only done to run out the clock on the Biden agenda.”
</p>
<h3 id="f3bzS7">
Climate groups forged an unlikely alliance with Biden. That could be fracturing.
</h3>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="yJ3RQv">
On a sweltering June day, a group of about 60 Sunrise youth activists spread out in front of a White House entrance, blocking cars from going in and out.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="nLxZgc">
Sitting on the hot blacktop pavement, the protesters sang, chanted, and shared stories about how they have been personally impacted by the climate crisis. They yelled into a megaphone, asking Biden to listen to them. There was one problem, though: The president actually happened to be out of town when the Sunrise blockade began.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="NvsNAC">
And Biden, specifically, is whose ear progressives need the most. Unlike his swift legislating with the $1.9 trillion American Rescue Plan, the president seems more comfortable taking his time on an infrastructure package — even if that makes lawmakers and left-wing groups uncomfortable.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="vPJcnm">
“We’re using this action today to make our demands really clear,” Sunrise advocacy director Lauren Maunus told Vox. “If [Biden] does not respond to those demands, then we’ll be back at the end of June with a lot more people.”
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="mTJxjJ">
Specifically, Sunrise was demanding a sit-down between Biden and their co-founder Varshini Prakash, who was a member of a climate task force created by the Biden and Bernie Sanders campaigns after Biden won the Democratic primary. The task forces were meant to unite the left and more center wings of the party and create Biden’s agenda in the process.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="If2Gcs">
Prakash and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) were Sanders’s picks for Biden’s climate task force, which also included the president’s top climate officials: US Special Presidential Envoy for Climate John Kerry and White House National Climate Adviser Gina McCarthy. Together, the group came up with an extremely ambitious climate plan, proposing to spend $2 trillion over four years to intertwine climate action with clean energy jobs, and drastically cut America’s greenhouse gas emissions.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="RtLBCh">
“On climate, I think we actually made far more progress than I think I even anticipated,” Prakash told me in an interview last summer, after the task forces had wrapped up. “In large part, that was because many of the advisers on climate on Biden’s side were also equally amenable to ambitious action as people on the Bernie side.”
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="XeMRN4">
Biden married his infrastructure and jobs agenda to his climate agenda before he was inaugurated, noting the potential for job growth in the clean energy sector during the presidential campaign. “When I think about climate change, the word I think of is ‘jobs,’” Biden said in a July campaign speech announcing his $2 trillion plan.
</p>
<figure class="e-image">
<img alt=" " src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/NnrRVMzlqSpoBBbWCHL3j1kh5Ro=/800x0/filters:no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22638087/GettyImages_1233269641_copy.jpg"/> <cite>Saul Loeb/AFP via Getty Images</cite>
<figcaption>
A group of Sunrise climate activists block a vehicle entrance at the White House on June 4.
</figcaption>
</figure>
<figure class="e-image">
<img alt=" " src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/2pBmy5zviNrAmv23O5rapGl8Jco=/800x0/filters:no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22638012/GettyImages_1321734943_copy.jpg"/> <cite>Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images</cite>
<figcaption>
Climate groups once allied with then-presidential candidate Biden are growing frustrated with his prolonged infrastructure negotiations with Republicans.
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="oX9Tv4">
Indeed, the reason progressive groups are getting anxious about infrastructure negotiations is that Biden’s infrastructure plan is also his climate plan; it would invest billions in new tax credits for clean energy, contains a clean electricity standard, and has $174 billion in funding to collectively speed up production of electric vehicles (EV), user rebates to help purchase them, and money to install 500,000 EV charging stations around the nation’s roadways. Democrats and climate groups are keenly aware that time is running out to take action; the climate prognosis for the planet is looking increasingly dire if countries keep emitting carbon at their current pace.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="l4q8jn">
“When Miami is going underwater or California catches fire again, no one is going to be thinking, ‘Well, at least we got some Republican votes on that infrastructure package,’” said Jamie Henn, director of Fossil Free Media and a co-founder of the climate group <a href="http://350.org">350.org</a>. “Biden’s legacy depends on his ability to go big on climate, not dither around the edges.”
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="84m42V">
The flip-side dynamic that progressive groups are frustrated by now is that infrastructure was always going to be the area the Biden administration saw as having the most potential for bipartisan compromise with Republicans. Infrastructure has for years been the subject on which Republicans and Democrats believed they could come to an agreement, because it traditionally encompasses boring but essential needs like roads and bridges.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="uSXcS2">
The White House is obviously aware, as well, of <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2021/04/29/politics/cnn-poll-bipartisanship/index.html">numerous</a> <a href="https://www.vox.com/2021/5/12/22421064/mcconnell-poll-bipartisanship">polls</a> showing that voters favor bipartisanship in Congress, and want both parties to have input into a bill. A <a href="https://assets.morningconsult.com/wp-uploads/2021/06/01103557/210582_crosstabs_MC_WASHINGTON_RVs_v1_SH.pdf">recent Morning Consult poll</a> found 85 percent of voters saying it was very or somewhat important for legislation to have bipartisan support, and 62 percent saying they disagreed with the idea that politicians seeking bipartisan support was a waste of time.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="lZDoh8">
The very fact that Biden added so much of his climate agenda into his infrastructure plan, plus a proposed $400 billion to bring down long-term care costs and raise wages for home health aides, who are largely women, including women of color, greatly expanded the definition of infrastructure. Progressive groups are now warning Biden that he can’t abandon the coalitions of youth voters and people of color who helped get him elected — and also deliver visible, noticeable results through a big bill.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="f1oUQR">
“Going small on climate is a political trap because it means you sacrifice some of the most visible, popular parts of the clean energy transition: more charging stations, solar panels on rooftops, a Civilian Climate Corps that puts tens of thousands of people to work,” Henn said. “We know the GOP and fossil fuel companies are going to blame Democrats for the inevitable collapse of the fossil fuel economy. The best way to combat that narrative is to have a big, visible clean energy program.”
</p>
<h3 id="HU5z5Y">
Negotiations between Biden and Republicans are reaching a critical point
</h3>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="0g8RL9">
Biden and a group of Senate Republicans led by Capito have been trading infrastructure counteroffers for weeks. Yet another talk between Biden and Capito on Friday afternoon saw no final deal; instead, they agreed to essentially check back in on Monday. But if talks flounder or yield a smaller bill, some Democrats on Capitol Hill are itching to go it alone.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="0JfIv6">
“We move as quickly as we can on going big, we move as quickly as we can on negotiations,” Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-OH) told Vox recently. “At some point, if they won’t go where we believe the country needs to go and where the country seems to want to go, then we take off.”
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="I83IBp">
The White House has already cut its initial $2.25 trillion infrastructure proposal by more than $1 trillion, and proposed significant changes to the taxation plan to pay for the infrastructure plan.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="EBBfzU">
The GOP group, meanwhile, has added less than $100 billion in new spending to its initial proposal. The latest Republican plan <a href="https://www.npr.org/2021/05/27/1000717244/senate-republicans-release-928-billion-infrastructure-counteroffer">totals $928 billion</a> but<strong> </strong>is proposing just $257 billion in new spending, and repurposing the rest of the infrastructure money from unused American Rescue Plan funds. On Friday, White House press secretary Jen Psaki said Biden wants to see Republicans propose more money specifically for electric vehicles and rebuilding veterans hospitals.
</p>
<figure class="e-image">
<img alt=" " src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/iWteCim5w4mvA5TETfD6VAHpVbM=/800x0/filters:no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22638131/GettyImages_1233136323_copy.jpg"/> <cite>Stefani Reynolds/Bloomberg via Getty Images</cite>
<figcaption>
Sen. Shelley Moore Capito (R-WV) is the lead GOP negotiator on Biden’s infrastructure bill.
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="D6Og3L">
“There are areas where the president has priorities where he’d like to see more,” Psaki said. She said that even though Biden is continuing to talk to both Democrats and Republicans in Congress, “there are some realities of timelines” being driven by certain congressional committees. The House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee is expected to mark up a five-year surface transportation infrastructure bill this coming week, which contains elements of Biden’s American Jobs Plan.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="1PuYBB">
Still, progressive groups are telegraphing their disappointment, especially after the Senate GOP filibustered a bill for a commission to investigate the January 6 insurrection on Capitol Hill — a violent event led by supporters of President Donald Trump targeting lawmakers of both parties.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="0XOPfa">
“It’s hard to argue Republicans are good faith negotiations when they couldn’t pass that.” Maurice Mitchell, national director of the Working Families Party, told Vox of the commission bill. “Democrats are attempting to govern, and Republicans have their eyes on 2022 and 2024 and are seeking to get back into power.”
</p></li>
<li><strong>Where’s the “Impossible Burger” of cheese?</strong> -
<figure>
<img alt="" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/Ow30VPPp9oZhULux9IZauqR5yFs=/0x0:4937x3703/1310x983/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/69410314/Motif_FoodWorks_Cheese_Pull_No_Logo.0.jpg"/>
<figcaption>
Motif FoodWorks, a food technology startup in Boston, says it’s developing plant-based cheese that stretches and melts like the real thing. | Courtesy of Motif FoodWorks
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
Plant-based food has come a long way, but we still don’t have a stretchy, melty cow-free cheese.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="xsC2b2">
Two years ago, Beyond Meat became the first plant-based food startup to go public.<strong> </strong>Its shares surged <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2019/05/02/beyond-meat-ipo.html">163 percent on its first day</a> and today it’s valued at $9 billion, with shares now worth about five times their original value.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="4hLmYQ">
Since then, analysts have wondered which major plant-based food company would go public next.<strong> </strong>Late last month, they found out: Oatly, the Swedish maker of oat-based milk, yogurt, and ice cream.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="9wy85K">
Oatly’s stock<strong> </strong>didn’t quite skyrocket like Beyond’s, but by the end of the company’s first day of trading, it was valued at about <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2021-05-19/oatly-is-said-to-price-ipo-at-top-of-range-with-markets-slumping">$12 billion</a>. Now, Oatly is valued at $14 billion, over 50 percent more than Beyond’s valuation of $9 billion. Though Beyond and other high-tech vegan meat producers get much more attention than companies that make plant-based milks, Oatly’s valuation says a lot about the state of the plant-based food industry — namely, that plant-based milk has reached a point of maturation in the market that’s even more advanced than plant-based meat.
</p>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="sG3yqO">
According to a <a href="https://www.plantbasedfoods.org/retail-sales-data/">report</a> recently published by the Plant-Based Foods Association and the Good Food Institute, two organizations that advocate for plant-based foods, plant-based milk alone accounts for <a href="https://www.plantbasedfoods.org/retail-sales-data/">35 percent of the total plant-based foods market, worth $2.5 billion to plant-based meat’s $1.4 billion</a>. Plant-based milks don’t just dominate the plant-based food sector, they also take up a sizable portion of retail milk sales — 15 percent overall, and 45 percent<em> </em>in natural food stores.
</p>
<figure class="e-image">
<img alt=" " src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/V_aU-J5NI3DHC0e62jJEyGwZlHQ=/800x0/filters:no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22446103/Total_U.S._plant_based_food_dollar_sales_and_growth_GFI.jpg"/> <cite>SPINS, The Plant Based Foods Association, The Good Food Institute</cite>
<figcaption>
Plant-based milk is the largest segment of the overall plant-based food industry.
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="FmrYEY">
Oatly’s sudden rise since it came on the US market in 2016 has helped drive this growth. Almond milk sits at the top of the plant-based milk category, but <a href="https://www.fooddive.com/news/oat-milk-surges-to-second-most-popular-in-plant-based-dairy/586010/">oat milk recently pushed soy milk out of second place</a>, thanks to Oatly and big brands like Silk (owned by Danone) and Chobani <a href="https://apnews.com/article/europe-lifestyle-health-business-f5bf285bf70e1bf73d050656d110aa7e">following Oatly’s lead</a> with a range of oat-based dairy products.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="IxCSWj">
In fact, Starbucks, which started using Oatly products last year in select US stores and rolled it out nationwide earlier this year, says its share of orders that use plant-based milk jumped from <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2021-05-18/oatly-s-about-to-go-public-in-an-increasingly-crowded-milk-aisle">17 to 25 percent after it introduced Oatly</a>.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="6cnCKi">
These shifts from traditional to plant-based dairy are important in the fight against climate change, as traditional dairy is an especially resource-intensive sector. According to a 2018 University of Oxford study, any way you slice it, <a href="https://theconversation.com/which-milk-is-best-for-the-environment-we-compared-dairy-nut-soy-hemp-and-grain-milks-147660">cow’s milk uses much more land and water and emits far more greenhouse gases than any plant-based milk</a>. For example, almond milk gets a bad rap for being water-intensive, but cow’s milk requires about 70 percent more water to produce, emits more than twice as much Co2, and requires more than 15 times as much land. Compared to almond milk, oat milk uses much less water but a little more land.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="uw8ovK">
On top of the environmental impact of traditional dairy, most dairy cows, at least in the US, are <a href="https://www.sentienceinstitute.org/us-factory-farming-estimates">raised in factory farms</a>.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="J2Az3R">
Yet despite the popularity of plant-based milks, they haven’t quite made a dent in taking the cow out of dairy, their raison d’être. Some farmers do say <a href="https://civileats.com/2018/11/05/whats-behind-the-crippling-dairy-crisis-family-farmers-speak-out/">plant-based milk is affecting their bottom line</a>, and a <a href="https://www.ers.usda.gov/amber-waves/2020/december/plant-based-products-replacing-cow-s-milk-but-the-impact-is-small/">late 2020 report</a> that was funded by the United States Department of Agriculture found that “increased sales of plant-based alternatives are negatively affecting households’ purchases of cow’s milk” but that it’s “not a primary driver.”
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="3PtcNK">
There are a lot of factors that affect dairy production and consumption, and adoption of alternatives is just one of them. But in order for plant-based startups to become a primary driver in displacing conventional dairy, stealing market share from<strong> </strong>the milk shelves of the supermarket isn’t enough. Oatly and its competitors need to figure out how to make a great alternative for another dairy product: cheese.
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<h3 id="XeYsps">
Milk sales are plummeting, but there are more cows than ever
</h3>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="x2aAos">
Some vegan advocates say that “<a href="https://vegannews.press/2020/06/11/dairy-is-dying-sales-fell-1-1-billion-dollars-according-to-dairy-farmers-of-america/">dairy is dying</a>” (or <a href="https://www.livekindly.co/the-dairy-industry-is-dead/">already dead</a>), in part because of the United States’ <a href="https://www.statista.com/chart/2387/american-milk-consumption-has-plummeted/">decades-long decline in milk consumption</a> coinciding with the rise of plant-based milk.
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="sVVGmp">
Many dairy farmers are indeed hurting, but plant-based milks aren’t the biggest culprit — it’s Big Dairy, which has been <a href="https://thecounterorg.wpengine.com/how-rural-america-got-milked/">consolidating and squeezing out small farmers</a>, one of several factors that caused <a href="https://www.vox.com/2020/6/18/21295834/why-american-farmers-are-throwing-out-milk-coronavirus">11,000 dairy farms</a> to shutter between 2014 and 2019. The pandemic only hastened this trend, as major dairy customers — schools and restaurants — closed down, resulting in farmers across the country dumping millions of gallons of milk. <a href="https://www.lancasterfarming.com/farming/dairy/7-of-u-s-dairies-shuttered-in-2020/article_b5f755dc-5639-5b61-aef9-1c0763849f95.html"><strong>Seven percent of US dairies closed in 2020.</strong></a>
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="El377w">
But dairy is far from dead: The number of dairy cows in production has <a href="https://www.nass.usda.gov/Charts_and_Maps/Milk_Production_and_Milk_Cows/milkcows.php">increased slightly in the past decade</a>, and they’re producing <a href="https://www.nass.usda.gov/Charts_and_Maps/Milk_Production_and_Milk_Cows/milkprod.php">more milk</a> — <a href="https://www.nass.usda.gov/Charts_and_Maps/Milk_Production_and_Milk_Cows/cowrates.php">more efficiently</a> — than ever.
</p>
<figure class="e-image">
<img alt=" " src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/a3GycQ9K5eTLZNL87Fpiiv0gUtg=/800x0/filters:no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22636832/0DAIp_american_consumption_of_milk_br_and_other_dairy_products.png"/> <cite>Tim Ryan Williams/Vox</cite>
</figure>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="UHNfKa">
This can be explained, in part, by Americans’ love for cheese; per capita cheese consumption has risen <a href="https://www.statista.com/statistics/183785/per-capita-consumption-of-cheese-in-the-us-since-2000/">25 percent</a> since the early 2000s, which is one factor that has kept milk production high, since it takes nearly <a href="https://www.progressivedairy.com/topics/management/how-much-cheese-is-there-in-a-hundred-pounds-of-milk">10 pounds of milk to make one pound of cheese</a>. (Butter consumption is rising even faster, and it takes more than <a href="https://dairy-cattle.extension.org/how-many-pounds-of-whole-milk-does-it-take-to-make-a-pound-of-butter/"><em>21 pounds </em>of milk</a> to make one pound of butter.)
</p>
<figure class="e-image">
<img alt=" " src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/yeA1ibZlHs89sDvDGIgURawdD9U=/800x0/filters:no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22544283/wbKbK_how_many_pounds_of_milk_are_in_a_pound_of_.png"/> <cite>Tim Ryan Williams/Vox</cite>
</figure>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="StVHBP">
There are plant-based cheese alternatives on the market, and they generally fall into two categories. The first are the pricey, fermented wheels or tubs of spreadable cheese, often made of nuts, seasonings, and cultures (and sometimes oils, gums, and starches),<strong> </strong>which have managed to impress the <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2021/04/16/dining/vegan-cheese.html">taste buds of omnivorous food critics</a>. Bigger brands like Miyoko’s Creamery, Kite Hill, and Treeline Cheese dominate this first category, but there are <a href="https://www.eater.com/22315684/vegan-cheese-history-ingredients-process-grocery-brands">dozens of smaller, artisanal outfits</a> like the Herbivorous Butcher in Minneapolis and Rebel Cheese in Austin.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="g3oZ5E">
The second category consists of the bags of shredded or sliced mozzarella or cheddar, often made with oil and potato starch or cornstarch, which don’t melt and stretch (or taste) the way cheese from cow’s milk does. The problem is best summed up by the joke about how a vegan’s house burned down and the only thing that didn’t melt was their cheese.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="yghjEr">
But Americans eat a lot of shredded and sliced cheese, and the vegan versions haven’t improved much since I last heard that joke some years ago (though if you’re curious, I suggest giving Violife, Field Roast, and Follow Your Heart products a try). And even though the plant-based food industry has grown rapidly in the past few years, its startups loaded with billions in investment, no company has come close to making a “breakthrough” shredded or sliced cheese product akin to the Beyond or Impossible burger — or a carton of Oatly — that can bring in curious omnivores.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="dOUmy4">
Not yet, anyway.
</p>
<h3 id="Sbbblp">
The future of animal-free cheese
</h3>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="5SUoUW">
The absence of great shredded and sliced plant-based cheese could be a problem of demand or innovation, or both.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="eDr0Cp">
Meat gets much more attention for its ecological and animal welfare harms than cheese, to the point where nearly a <a href="https://news.gallup.com/poll/282779/nearly-one-four-cut-back-eating-meat.aspx">quarter of Americans</a> say they are trying to cut back. But you don’t hear much about people trying to reduce their cheese intake, even though globally, the dairy sector <a href="http://www.fao.org/news/story/en/item/197623">emits more greenhouse gases than all meat sectors</a> (except beef), and most dairy cows, at least in the US, are factory-farmed.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="lP33LE">
On the innovation side, it’s simply much harder to replicate stretchy, melty cheese made from cow’s milk than the soft, spreadable varieties.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="x5NMYc">
“Achieving the stretchy quality and texture consumers expect from harder cheeses upon melting has proven challenging to date, which is why soft plant-based cheese may be more prominent,” Dr. Priera Panescu, a senior scientist at the Good Food Institute, told me over email.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="XtqfYz">
Ryan Pandya, the CEO and co-founder of Perfect Day — a food technology startup based in Berkeley, California — shared a similar sentiment with <a href="https://www.wired.co.uk/article/dairy-free-cheese">Wired</a>, explaining, “The melty, stretchy thing is absolutely the most challenging holy grail thing to do. Because there’s only one protein known to man that does this, and it’s casein.”
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="fMk0KK">
Through precision fermentation, which is used to make specific proteins, enzymes, or vitamins, Perfect Day has developed a microflora (fungi) that converts sugar into whey, another protein in milk, for its ice cream products. The company says it’s also<a href="https://www.fastcompany.com/90607741/this-animal-free-dairy-isnt-plant-based-its-grown-from-real-cow-protein-with-no-cows-involved"> working on cheese</a> but doesn’t have plans for the shredded or sliced varieties in the near future.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="E2uEwx">
<a href="https://www.realvegancheese.org/">Real Vegan Cheese</a>, a nonprofit, open-science research project — quite rare in a field of venture capital-backed startups — <em>is</em> going for the “holy grail” of cheese by adding the genes for casein to yeast and other microflora, and then adding plant-based fats and sugars. New Culture, based in San Francisco, is also working to replicate casein, using microbial fermentation, similar to Perfect Day’s approach, to make shredded cheese. The company plans to launch its first product in late 2023.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="9l8Ha4">
When asked about the lack of stretchy plant-based cheese, Panescu said that “academic researchers are working to address these challenges by using biological interventions, optimizing more flexible, well-assembled plant-based proteins, and applying mechanical texturization processes.”
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="p4Ibxm">
One of those researchers is Alejandro Marangoni at the University of Guelph in Ontario, Canada. According to <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2665927120300113?via%3Dihub">Marangoni’s research</a>, zein — a protein found in corn — is an overlooked tool in the search to make plant-based alternatives to animal products. Most companies making shredded and sliced plant-based cheese use starches and gums for the melt and stretch effects, but zein could be a better route. When hydrated and heated above a certain temperature, it forms a “flexible, bendable mass which may be pulled, stretched, and sculpted,” sharing “melting characteristics with cheddar cheese.”
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="20E78k">
Motif FoodWorks, a food tech startup based in Boston that has received investment from the major dairy company Fonterra, recently <a href="https://www.dairyreporter.com/Article/2021/05/17/Motif-FoodWorks-accesses-transformative-plant-based-technologies">signed an exclusive licensing deal</a> to use a unique food processing technology Marangoni developed using zein.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="l76dQq">
Motif’s CEO, Jonathan McIntyre, told me their newly acquired tech will enable them to make a stretchy, gooey vegan cheese that’s better than what’s currently on the market. “This technology doesn’t solve all problems in plant-based cheese,” he said, and that “there are other aspects, like mouthfeel and creaminess” that they’re using other tools to address.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="p4lc0J">
McIntyre isn’t yet sure whether Motif will develop its own products, work with a dairy company to make a plant-based product, or partner with an existing plant-based cheese company to upgrade its own, but he does envision it being used on nachos and, of course, pizza. You can see it in action below or <a href="https://madewithmotif.com/2021/05/13/bringing-meltiness-and-marbleization-to-plant-based-cheese-and-meat/">here</a>.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="TZaGZl">
</p>
<div id="7pn5h8">
<div style="width: 100%; height: 0; padding-bottom: 56.25%;">
<video controls="" style="width: 100%; height: 100%;">
Your browser does not support HTML5 video.<source src="https://madewithmotif.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/Motif-CheesePull-FINAL.mp4" type="video/mp4"/>
</video>
</div>
</div>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="VkJf5T">
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="9VsUKG">
Given all the hype around plant-based food, it may come as no surprise that there are <a href="https://newprotein.org/evolution">dozens more startups</a> racing to make convincing cheese alternatives — but Impossible Foods isn’t one of them. While it is developing Impossible Milk, a spokesperson told me the company won’t be selling Impossible Cheese anytime soon.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="E0EzlZ">
Then there’s Oatly, which recently <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2021-05-20/newly-public-oatly-eyes-plant-based-cheese-as-the-next-frontier?sref=taxRtTxi">told Bloomberg</a> it’s making “good progress” on developing oat-based cheese products, though its CEO didn’t specify what kinds. Given the <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2021/05/19/oatly-1point4-billion-ipo-priced-84point4-million-shares-at-17-each.html">$1.4 billion</a> the company raised from last month’s IPO, it seems like it should have the resources to raise the bar on plant-based cheese, and a devoted customer base who will likely be curious enough to give it a try.
</p></li>
<li><strong>What Facebook’s two-year Trump ban does and doesn’t do</strong> -
<figure>
<img alt="Donald Trump, sitting inside a limousine, makes a thumbs-up gesture through the closed window." src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/ex-AKbmVYFIk6i2IzWVlKll60LE=/144x0:1835x1268/1310x983/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/69407284/GettyImages_1310685417.0.jpg"/>
<figcaption>
This is how Donald Trump makes a “Like.” | James Devaney/GC Images
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
The social network says the former president will receive a two-year ban following his actions surrounding January 6.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="lx9eOW">
Donald Trump’s Facebook ban will last at least two years, the company <a href="https://about.fb.com/news/2021/06/facebook-response-to-oversight-board-recommendations-trump/">announced on Friday</a>. Facebook said that <a href="https://www.vox.com/recode/22221285/trump-online-capitol-riot-far-right-parler-twitter-facebook">the former president’s actions on January 6</a>, which contributed to a violent mob storming Capitol Hill and staging an insurrection that led to five deaths, “constituted a severe violation of our rules,” and that it was enacting this policy change as part of a new approach to public figures during civil unrest.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="EZZT3T">
Facebook added that the two-year sanction constitutes a time period “long enough” to be a significant deterrent to Trump and other world leaders who might make similar posts, as well as enough to allow for a “safe period of time after the acts of incitement.” However, Facebook still has not made a final decision about the future of Trump’s account. The company said that after two years, it will again evaluate whether there’s still a risk to public safety and potential civil unrest.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="TEQ9Ki">
“We know that any penalty we apply — or choose not to apply — will be controversial. There are many people who believe it was not appropriate for a private company like Facebook to suspend an outgoing President from its platform, and many others who believe Mr. Trump should have immediately been banned for life,” Nick Clegg, the company’s vice president of global affairs, said in <a href="https://about.fb.com/news/2021/06/facebook-response-to-oversight-board-recommendations-trump/">a blog post</a>, later adding: “The Oversight Board is not a replacement for regulation, and we continue to call for thoughtful regulation in this space.”
</p>
<figure class="e-image">
<img alt=" " src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/37nUJgjqT6HqUTZOxAXQ-JoLmr4=/800x0/filters:no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22637661/Heightened_Policy_Final.png"/> <cite>Facebook</cite>
</figure>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="mSeHSL">
The announcement comes after Facebook’s oversight board, a group of policy experts and journalists the company has appointed to handle difficult content moderation questions, <a href="https://www.vox.com/recode/2021/5/5/22419029/trump-facebook-ban-suspension-oversight-board-decision">decided to uphold the platform’s freeze</a> on the former president’s account. In May, the board ruled that Facebook should not have banned Trump indefinitely and would have to make a final decision within six months. The board also said that Facebook would have to clarify its rules about world leaders and the risk of violence, among other recommendations.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="f4HiAG">
“The Oversight Board is reviewing Facebook’s response to the Board’s decision in the case involving former US President Donald Trump and will offer further comment once this review is complete,” the board’s press team said in response to Facebook’s Friday announcement. Later in the day, the board said <a href="https://oversightboard.com/news/181834917194656-statement-on-facebook-s-response-to-the-oversight-board-s-decision-involving-former-us-president-donald-trump/">in a statement</a> it was “encouraged” by Facebook’s decision, and will monitor the company’s implementation.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="6hhqew">
Facebook now says it will fully implement 15 of the oversight board’s 19 recommendations. It also responded to the board’s demand that it provide more detail on its newsworthiness exception, a policy that Facebook has used — though rarely — to give politicians a free pass to post content that violates its rules. Now, Facebook says it will label posts that receive those exceptions, and will treat politicians’ posts more like those from regular users.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="87IKrz">
This set of decisions from Facebook has major implications not just for Trump’s account but also for national politics in the United States in the foreseeable future. At the same time, they signal that the company has remained steadfast in maintaining its power to decide what politicians can ultimately post to the platform. Facebook is providing more details about the rules it could use to punish politicians who violate its community guidelines, potentially increasing transparency. Still, it’s Facebook that has the final say over enforcement, including what’s considered newsworthy and remains on the platform versus what violates its community guidelines and gets removed.
</p>
<h3 id="OiSYN1">
Facebook still decides who gets a free pass from its rules
</h3>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="2dRLQU">
In Friday’s announcement, Facebook said it would change one of its most controversial policies: an allowance for content that breaks its rules but is important enough to the public discourse to remain online, often because it has been posted by a politician. Some call this the “newsworthiness exception” or the “<a href="https://www.vox.com/recode/22233450/trump-twitter-facebook-ban-world-leader-rules-exception">world leader exception</a>.” Now, Facebook is changing the rules so that the exemption seems more transparent and less unfair. But the company is still preserving its power to decide what happens the next time a politician posts something offensive or dangerous.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="cj0HdO">
Trump was the inspiration for this exemption, which Facebook first created in 2015 after the former president (then a candidate) <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2020/06/28/facebook-zuckerberg-trump-hate/">posted</a> a video of himself saying Muslims should be banned from the United States. The newsworthiness exception was <a href="https://about.fb.com/news/2016/10/input-from-community-and-partners-on-our-community-standards/">formally announced in 2016</a> and has long been controversial because it creates two types of users and posts: those who have to follow Facebook’s rules and those that don’t, and can post offensive and even dangerous content.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="I4A16e">
In 2019, the company <a href="https://www.vox.com/recode/2019/9/26/20885783/facebook-twitter-youtube-policies-political-content">added more detail</a>. Nick Clegg, Facebook’s vice president for global affairs and communication, said that Facebook would presume anything a politician posted to its platform would be of interest to the public, and should stay up — “even when it would otherwise breach our normal content rules” — and as long as the public interest outweighed the risk of harm.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="hiuzOa">
The policy also presumably serves as a convenient shield for Facebook to avoid getting into fights with powerful people (like the president of the United States).
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="YCdXNZ">
For all the controversy and confusion it has produced, Facebook says the newsworthiness exception is rarely deployed. In 2020, Facebook’s <a href="https://about.fb.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/Civil-Rights-Audit-Final-Report.pdf">independent civil rights audit</a> reported that Facebook had only used the exception 15 times in the previous year, and only once in the US. Facebook amended its previous statement to the oversight board on Friday, saying it has only technically used the standard once in regard to Trump, over a video Trump posted of one of his 2019 rallies. Despite rarely being the beneficiary of the policy, the oversight board said back in May Trump’s account suspension meant Facebook should respond to the ongoing confusion.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="RARxeu">
Now, Facebook says politicians’ content will be analyzed for violations of its community guidelines — and weighed against the public interest — just like any other user. While that means the formalized global leader exception is gone, much of what actually remains up and off Facebook remains where it started: in Facebook’s hands.
</p>
<h3 id="0GXcbq">
Facebook won’t study how the platform contributed to January 6
</h3>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="41QkkQ">
In the aftermath of the deadly January 6 insurrection, many have pointed to the <a href="https://www.vox.com/recode/22221285/trump-online-capitol-riot-far-right-parler-twitter-facebook">role social media platforms,</a> including Facebook, played in exacerbating the violence. Critics of Facebook have said the insurrection showed how Facebook shouldn’t just reflect on its approach to Trump’s account, but also to the <a href="https://www.vox.com/recode/22335801/algorithms-artificial-intelligence-facebook-instagram-recommendations">algorithms, ranking systems, and design feature choices</a> that could have helped the rioters organize.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="PqbN0r">
Even the Facebook oversight board, an independent body set up by Facebook to serve as a sort of court for litigation of the company’s most difficult content moderation decisions, recommended Facebook should take such a step. Earlier this week, allies of the Biden administration <a href="https://www.politico.com/news/2021/06/02/building-back-together-facebook-election-fraud-491545">urged the company</a> to follow that guidance and conduct a public-facing review of how the platform might have contributed to the insurrection.
</p>
<div id="x8CgMX">
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" dir="ltr" lang="en">
Facebook has ample reason to believe their platform contributed to the events of Jan. 6. At a minimum they have an obligation to conduct a full, independent, thorough investigation, and to publish the results. It’s the least they should do.
</p>
— Katy Glenn Bass (<span class="citation" data-cites="KGlennBass">@KGlennBass</span>) <a href="https://twitter.com/KGlennBass/status/1400888796800028684?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 4, 2021</a>
</blockquote></div></li>
</ul>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="mL3dZY">
But Facebook isn’t doing that, and it seems to be deflecting that responsibility. The company is instead pointing to a separate research effort focused on Facebook, Instagram, and the 2020 US election, which Facebook says could include studying what happened at the Capitol.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="rAB4tE">
“The responsibility for January 6, 2021, lies with the insurrectionists and those who encouraged them,” the company said in <a href="https://about.fb.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/Facebook-Responses-to-Oversight-Board-Recommendations-in-Trump-Case.pdf">its Friday decision</a>, adding that independent researchers and politicians were best suited to researching the role of social media in the insurrection.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="zMekbK">
“We also believe that an objective review of these events, including contributing societal and political factors, should be led by elected officials,” wrote the company, adding that it would still work with law enforcement. Republicans, notably, have <a href="https://www.vox.com/2021/5/25/22445422/january-6-commission-senate-filibuster">all but shut down</a> the possibility of a bipartisan January 6 commission.
</p>
<h3 id="eg0XfC">
Facebook might never make a final ruling on Trump
</h3>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="P7syOJ">
Facebook is delaying, perhaps forever, a final decision on Trump himself. Right now, Facebook plans to suspend Trump for a minimum of two years, meaning he’d regain his account at the beginning of 2023. The ban does exclude Trump from using the platform to comment on the 2022 midterm elections, during which his posts could have boosted (or hurt) the hundreds of Republican candidates for the House.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="oItTPR">
Still, the two-year ban is not a final ruling as to whether Trump can return to Facebook. That means it’s still unclear if the former president will have access to the platform should he run for president again. It also leaves open the question of what it would really take for a politician to be permanently booted from the platform.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="mErKld">
Many are frustrated that Facebook didn’t permanently ban Trump. It’s possible he could return to the platform in time to run for president in 2024, and Facebook obviously knows that. “If this gets 2 years, what can one possibly do to get a lifetime ban,” wrote one employee on an internal post, according to <a href="https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/janelytvynenko/facebook-will-ban-trump-for-two-years">BuzzFeed</a>. <a href="https://twitter.com/MuslimAdvocates/status/1400871039731744773">Civil</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/ColorOfChange/status/1400889805664395264">rights</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/jimsteyer/status/1400873822576812037">groups</a> reacting to the decision called Facebook’s ruling inadequate, and called Trump’s potential return to the social network a danger to democracy. Some think the decision yet again proves lawmakers need to step in and regulate social media.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="Bc9gAl">
Trump, for his part, seems extremely displeased with Facebook’s decision. “Facebook’s ruling is an insult to the record-setting 75M people, plus many others, who voted for us in the 2020 Rigged Presidential Election,” Trump said in a <a href="https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/us-politics/donald-trump-facebook-ban-response-b1859970.html">statement released Friday</a>. “They shouldn’t be allowed to get away with this censoring and silencing and ultimately we will win. Our Country can’t take this abuse any more!”
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="TwOMhn">
It’s not clear what Trump returning to Facebook would even look like. Facebook has said the policy is in part meant to deter politicians from violating their rules again, but Facebook’s current suspension hasn’t stopped the former president from spreading election conspiracy theories on other platforms. Facebook implied Trump could possibly return when things are more stable, but it often appears that Trump himself is a primary source of instability.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="DtMiYP">
It matters that Trump won’t be posting on Facebook until 2023, at the earliest, and that the company has some shiny new rules. But overall, Facebook is once again holding onto its power to decide what happens next.
</p>
<hr class="p-entry-hr" id="tL7sOK"/>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="flOU4H">
<strong>Update, June 4, 6:10 pm ET:</strong> This piece has been updated with further analysis.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="tUAUPn">
</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>Sri Lanka players refuse to sign central contract</strong> - The decision wasn’t surprising as almost all the senior players in unison, had made it clear that the contracts offered by the Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) wasn’t to their liking and also excluded some deserving performers</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>IFA teams up with local clubs to lead vaccination drive in Kolkata</strong> - The vaccination camp aims to inoculate players, coaches, referees and officials involved with the game.</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>Coronavirus | Milkha Singh is ‘stable and better’: Chandigarh hospital</strong> - Milkha’s 82-year-old wife Nirmal, who had also contracted COVID-19 days after her husband got the infection, continues to be in the ICU of the Fortis hospital</p></li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>T20 World Cup set to be moved out of India, ICC intimated internally</strong> - While the UAE was always the first back-up option, Muscat has been added as the fourth venue, apart from Abu Dhabi, Dubai and Sharjah.</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>“Qatar is past”, India shift focus to Bangladesh match</strong> - India’s match against Bangladesh is scheduled for June 7.</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>One crore fruit saplings to be distributed in State</strong> - Agriculture Department to distribute more than 20 types of fruit saplings including jackfruit, mango, rambutan</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>Corporation in Kerala capital observes World Environment Day</strong> - The Thiruvananthapuram Corporation launches ‘Karuthal’ mass clean-up drive and plants saplings in various parts of the city</p></li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>‘Total Revolution Day’ observed in Dharwad</strong> - In response to the call for ‘Total Revolution Day’ by Samyukta Kissan Morcham members of different organisations staged symbolic protests at various p</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>Delhi HC bars two entities from illegally using brand name ‘Khadi’ for beauty pageant or business</strong> - Noida-based ‘Khadi Design Council of India’ and ‘Miss India Khadi Foundation’ were accused of fraudulently using the brand name and deceiving people</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>Plantation sector hails proposal on extra crops</strong> - Estates will get more income by growing fruit trees as subsidiary crop</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>Roman Protasevich arrest: EU bans Belarus jets from its airspace</strong> - The move follows Belarus’s grounding of a Ryanair flight to arrest a dissident journalist.</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>Putin sees ‘double standard’ in US Capitol riot prosecutions</strong> - Ahead of a summit with President Joe Biden, Mr Putin also says he expects “no breakthroughs”.</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>Denmark parliament approves giant artificial island off Copenhagen</strong> - Lynetteholm aims to house 35,000 people and protect the port, but environmentalists have concerns.</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>Top German cleric asks to quit over Church sex abuse failures</strong> - Top Catholic cleric Reinhard Marx calls sexual abuse by Church officials “a catastrophe”.</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>Kayakers save pair of eagles drowning in Danube river</strong> - Klaudia Kis and Richard Varga made the chance encounter while kayaking up the Danube river.</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>Reducing poverty can actually lower energy demand, finds research</strong> - Turns out human development is a matter of economic justice <em>and</em> climate justice. - <a href="https://arstechnica.com/?p=1770116">link</a></p></li>
<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>“Kind of crazy”—how the booming US used car market is driving inflation</strong> - Supply constraints and soaring demand have made vehicle prices a key number for the Fed. - <a href="https://arstechnica.com/?p=1770108">link</a></p></li>
<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>There’s hope for American movie theaters after all</strong> - COVID-19 crushed movie chains—<em>A Quiet Place Part II</em>’s box office shows a potential way out. - <a href="https://arstechnica.com/?p=1770060">link</a></p></li>
<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Early adopters of Chinese vaccines see case surges; China plows ahead anyway</strong> - China is now giving 20 million doses a day despite low efficacy. - <a href="https://arstechnica.com/?p=1770201">link</a></p></li>
<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Puppies’ ability to communicate with people is present almost from birth</strong> - We might one day be able to predict which puppies will make the best service dogs. - <a href="https://arstechnica.com/?p=1769901">link</a></p></li>
</ul>
<h1 data-aos="fade-right" id="from-jokes-subreddit">From Jokes Subreddit</h1>
<ul>
<li><strong>There’s this old priest who got sick of all the people in his parish who kept confessing to adultery.</strong> - <!-- SC_OFF -->
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
One Sunday, in the pulpit, he said, “If I hear that word one more time, I’ll quit!”
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
Everyone liked him, so they came up with a code word. Someone who had committed adultery would say they had “fallen.” This seemed to satisfy the old priest and things went well, until the priest died at a ripe old age.
</p>
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About a week after the new priest arrived, he visited the mayor of the town and seemed very concerned. The priest said, “You have to do something about the roads and sidewalks in town. When people come into the confessional, they keep talking about having fallen.”
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
The mayor started to laugh, realising that no one had told the new priest about the code word. Before the mayor could explain, the priest shook an accusing finger at the mayor and said, “I don’t know what you’re laughing about, your own wife fell three times this week already, and your daughter fell twice!”
</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/ZedLyfe51"> /u/ZedLyfe51 </a> <br/> <span><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/Jokes/comments/nsmpg0/theres_this_old_priest_who_got_sick_of_all_the/">[link]</a></span> <span><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/Jokes/comments/nsmpg0/theres_this_old_priest_who_got_sick_of_all_the/">[comments]</a></span></p></li>
<li><strong>The Smiths had no children and decided to use a proxy father to start their family. On the day the proxy father was to arrive, Mr.Smith kissed his wife and said, “I’m off. The man should be here soon.”</strong> - <!-- SC_OFF -->
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
Half an hour later, just by chance, a door-to-door baby photographer rang the doorbell, hoping to make a sale. “Good morning madam. You don’t know me but I’ve come to….” “Oh, no need to explain. I’ve been expecting you,” Mrs. Smith cut in.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
“Really..?” the photographer asked. “Well, good..! I’ve made a specialty of babies.”
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
“That’s what my husband and I had hoped. Please come in and have a seat. Just where do we start..?” asked Mrs. Smith, blushing.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
“Leave everything to me. I usually try two in the bathtub, one on the couch and perhaps a couple on the bed. Sometimes the living room floor is fun too; you can really spread out.”
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
“Bathtub, living room floor..? No wonder it didn’t work for Harry and me.”
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
“Well, madam, none of us can guarantee a good one every time. But if we try several different positions and I shoot from six or seven angles, I’m sure you’ll be pleased with the results.”
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
“I hope we can get this over with quickly,” gasped Mrs. Smith.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
“Madam, in my line of work, a man must take his time. I’d love to be in and out in five minutes, but you’d be disappointed with that, I’m sure.”
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
“Don’t I know!!” Mrs. Smith exclaimed.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
The photographer opened his briefcase and pulled out a portfolio of his baby pictures. “This was done on the top of a bus in downtown London.”
</p>
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“Oh my God..!!” Mrs. Smith exclaimed, tugging at her handkerchief.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
“And these twins turned out exceptionally well when you consider their mother was so difficult to work with.” The photographer handed Mrs. Smith the picture.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
“She was difficult ..?” asked Mrs. Smith.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
“Yes, I’m afraid so. I finally had to take her to Hyde Park to get the job done right. People were crowding around four and five deep, pushing to get a good look.”
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
“Four and five deep..?” asked Mrs. Smith, eyes widened in amazement.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
“Yes”, the photographer said. “And for more than three hours too. The mother was constantly squealing and yelling. I could hardly concentrate. Then darkness approached and I began to rush my shots. Finally, when the squirrels began nibbling on my equipment, I just packed it all in.”
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
Mrs. Smith leaned forward. “You mean they actually chewed on your, eh……equipment?”
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
“That’s right. Well madam, if you’re ready, I’ll set up my tripod so that we can get to work.”
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
“Tripod..??”, Mrs. Smith looked extremely worried now.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
"Oh Good God Yes..! I have to use a tripod to rest my Canon on.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
It’s much too big for me to hold while I’m getting ready for action.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
Madam..? Madam..?….. Good Lord, she’s fucking fainted..!
</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/YZXFILE"> /u/YZXFILE </a> <br/> <span><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/Jokes/comments/nsih9f/the_smiths_had_no_children_and_decided_to_use_a/">[link]</a></span> <span><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/Jokes/comments/nsih9f/the_smiths_had_no_children_and_decided_to_use_a/">[comments]</a></span></p></li>
<li><strong>I walked in on my girlfriend having sex with her personal trainer.</strong> - <!-- SC_OFF -->
<div class="md">
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
So I said: “Ok, this isn’t working out.”
</p>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"> submitted by <a href="https://www.reddit.com/user/JesusSaves002"> /u/JesusSaves002 </a> <br/> <span><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/Jokes/comments/ns544c/i_walked_in_on_my_girlfriend_having_sex_with_her/">[link]</a></span> <span><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/Jokes/comments/ns544c/i_walked_in_on_my_girlfriend_having_sex_with_her/">[comments]</a></span></p></li>
<li><strong>A pregnant woman was shot 3 times in the stomach.</strong> - <!-- SC_OFF -->
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
She survived, luckily enough, and so were her unborn children. Triplets, she found out soon enough. Two girls and a boy.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
They were born with absolutely no problems, healthy babies and unaffected by the trauma.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
Fast forward 13 years, she’s sitting in her kitchen, enjoying a cup of coffee and reading the newspaper when she hears a scream from upstairs. It was one of her daughters.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
“MUM!”, the girl screamed, running down the stairs. “I was peeing and a bullet came out!”
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
Shocked and surprised, the mother sat her down and told her what had happened to her when she was pregnant. “It won’t happen again, sweetie,” she said.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
The next day, she’s sitting in her kitchen, drinking her coffee and reading her newspaper, she hears a scream from upstairs. It was her other daughter.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
“MUM!”, the girl screamed, running down the stairs. “I was peeing and a bullet came out!”
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
Realising what was going on, the mother sat her down and told her the story that she told her sister. “It won’t happen again, sweetie,” she said.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
That evening, she was having a glass of wine before bed, thinking about how absurd it was that both her daughters had pee’d out bullets over the past couple of days. She hears a scream. It was the last triplet, the son.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
“MUM!”
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
“Let me guess, you were peeing and a bullet came out?”
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
"What? No - I was having a wank and I shot the dog!
</p>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"> submitted by <a href="https://www.reddit.com/user/Imbuedartox"> /u/Imbuedartox </a> <br/> <span><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/Jokes/comments/nseij0/a_pregnant_woman_was_shot_3_times_in_the_stomach/">[link]</a></span> <span><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/Jokes/comments/nseij0/a_pregnant_woman_was_shot_3_times_in_the_stomach/">[comments]</a></span></p></li>
<li><strong>Girlfriend: “One day I will marry and a lot of men will be sad that day.”</strong> - <!-- SC_OFF -->
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Boyfriend: “Wow, how many men do you plan to marry?”
</p>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"> submitted by <a href="https://www.reddit.com/user/crazyfortaco"> /u/crazyfortaco </a> <br/> <span><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/Jokes/comments/nsjlk7/girlfriend_one_day_i_will_marry_and_a_lot_of_men/">[link]</a></span> <span><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/Jokes/comments/nsjlk7/girlfriend_one_day_i_will_marry_and_a_lot_of_men/">[comments]</a></span></p></li>
</ul>
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