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<title>16 August, 2023</title>
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<h1 data-aos="fade-down" id="covid-19-sentry">Covid-19 Sentry</h1>
<h1 data-aos="fade-right" data-aos-anchor-placement="top-bottom" id="contents">Contents</h1>
<ul>
<li><a href="#from-preprints">From Preprints</a></li>
<li><a href="#from-clinical-trials">From Clinical Trials</a></li>
<li><a href="#from-pubmed">From PubMed</a></li>
<li><a href="#from-patent-search">From Patent Search</a></li>
</ul>
<h1 data-aos="fade-right" id="from-preprints">From Preprints</h1>
<ul>
<li><strong>Digital Mental Health Service engagement changes during Covid-19 in children and young people across the UK: presenting concerns, service activity, and access by gender, ethnicity, and deprivation</strong> -
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The adoption of digital health technologies accelerated during Covid-19, with concerns over the equity of access due to digital exclusion. Using data from a text-based online mental health service for children and young people we explore the impact of the pandemic on service access and presenting concerns and whether differences were observed by sociodemographic characteristics in terms of access (gender, ethnicity and deprivation). We used interrupted time-series models to assess whether there was a change in the level and rate of service use during the Covid-19 pandemic (April 2020-April 2021) compared to pre-pandemic trends (June 2019-March 2020).  Routinely collected data from 61221 service users were extracted for observation, those represented half of the service population as only those with consent to share their data were used. The majority of users identified as female (74%) and White (80%), with an age range between 13 and 20 years of age,. There was evidence of a sudden increase (13%) in service access at the start of the pandemic (RR 1.13 95% CI 1.02, 1.25), followed by a reduced rate (from 25% to 21%) of engagement during the pandemic compared to pre-pandemic trends (RR 0.97 95% CI 0.95,0.98). There was a sudden increase in almost all presenting issues apart from physical complaints. There was evidence of a step increase in the number of contacts for Black/African/Caribbean/Black British (38% increase; 95% CI: 1%-90%)  and White ethnic groups (14% increase; 95% CI: 2%-27%) ), sudden increase in service use at the start of the pandemic for the most (58% increase; 95% CI: 1%-247%) and least (47% increase; 95% CI: 6%-204%) deprived areas. During the pandemic, contact rates decreased, and referral sources change at the start. Findings on access and service activity align with other studies observing reduced service utilization. The lack of differences in deprivation levels and ethnicity at lockdown suggests exploring equity of access to the anonymous service. The study provides unique insights into changes in digital mental health use during Covid-19 in the UK.
</p>
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<div class="article-link article-html-link">
🖺 Full Text HTML: <a href="https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2023.08.11.23293977v1" target="_blank">Digital Mental Health Service engagement changes during Covid-19 in children and young people across the UK: presenting concerns, service activity, and access by gender, ethnicity, and deprivation</a>
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<li><strong>Stellate Ganglion Block to Treat Long COVID-19 Syndrome, A 41 Patient Retrospective Cohort Study</strong> -
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Post Covid-19 condition (PCC), long COVID-19 syndrome and post-acute sequelae of SARS-CoV-2 (PASC) all refer to a constellation of symptoms that are unresolved long after the acute phase of the viral infection. The severity of symptoms varies from mild and tolerable to severe and debilitating 1, 2. Due to the evolving nature of the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic, treatment protocols for the acute illness are also in a constant state of evolution. Due to the infancy of long COVID-19 syndrome, there is a lack of evidence-based treatment protocols to treat or at the very least attenuate the symptoms of long COVID-19. Current treatment regimens include homeopathic medicine, system focused treatments by specialists, infusion therapies, hyperbaric oxygenation, and polypharmacy. Most of these treatments have partial efficacy at best and place a substantial financial burden on the patients. The physiological, psychological, and societal impact of long COVID-19 cannot be approached casually and must govern the intensity with which the healthcare community approaches treatment of long COVID-19 syndrome. In this 41-patient cohort study from a chronic pain management practice in Colorado, the use of either unilateral or bilateral stellate ganglion block (SGB) was explored to manage symptoms associated with long COVID-19 syndrome. Results indicated that a substantial proportion of patients (86%) experienced a significant reduction of their symptoms following SGB treatment, while 61% achieved a reduction in all their symptoms.
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🖺 Full Text HTML: <a href="https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2023.08.10.23290338v1" target="_blank">Stellate Ganglion Block to Treat Long COVID-19 Syndrome, A 41 Patient Retrospective Cohort Study</a>
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<li><strong>Immune Changes in Pregnancy: Associations with Pre-existing Conditions and Obstetrical Complications at the 20th Gestational Week - A Prospective Cohort Study</strong> -
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Background Pregnancy is a complex biological process and serious complications can arise when the delicate balance between the maternal immune system and the semi-allogeneic fetal immune system is disrupted or challenged. Gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM), pre-eclampsia, preterm birth, and low birth weight, pose serious threats to maternal and fetal health. Identification of early biomarkers through an in-depth understanding of molecular mechanisms is critical for early intervention. Methods We analyzed the associations between 47 proteins involved in inflammation, chemotaxis, angiogenesis, and immune system regulation, maternal and neonatal health outcomes, and the baseline characteristics and pre-existing conditions (diseases and obstetric history) of the mother in a prospective cohort of 1,049 pregnant women around the 20th gestational week. Bayesian linear regression models were used to examine the impact of risk factors on biomarker levels and Bayesian cause-specific parametric proportional hazards models were used to analyze the effect of biomarkers on maternal and neonatal health outcomes. Finally, we evaluated the predictive value of baseline characteristics and the 47 proteins using machine-learning models. Shapley additive explanation (SHAP) scores were used to dissect the machine learning models to identify biomarkers most important for predictions. Results Associations were identified between specific inflammatory markers and existing conditions, including maternal age and pre-pregnancy BMI, chronic diseases, complications from prior pregnancies, and COVID-19 exposure. Smoking during pregnancy significantly affected GM-CSF and 9 other biomarkers. Distinct biomarker patterns were observed for different ethnicities. In obstetric complications, IL-6 inversely correlated with pre-eclampsia risk, while acute cesarean section and birth weight to gestational age ratio were linked to markers such as VEGF or PlGF. GDM was associated with IL-1RA, IL-17D, and Eotaxin-3. Severe PPH correlated with CRP and proteins of the IL-17 family. Predictive modeling using MSD biomarkers yielded ROC-AUC values of 0.708 and 0.672 for GDM and pre-eclampsia, respectively. Significant predictive biomarkers for GDM included IL-1RA and Eotaxin-3, while pre-eclampsia prediction yielded highest predictions when including MIP-1β, IL-1RA, and IL-12p70. Conclusion Our study provides novel insights into the interplay between preexisting conditions and immune dysregulation in pregnancy. These findings contribute to our understanding of the pathophysiology of obstetric complications and the identification of novel biomarkers for early intervention(s) to improve maternal and fetal health.
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🖺 Full Text HTML: <a href="https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2023.08.10.23293934v1" target="_blank">Immune Changes in Pregnancy: Associations with Pre-existing Conditions and Obstetrical Complications at the 20th Gestational Week - A Prospective Cohort Study</a>
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<li><strong>Effect of vaccination certification with mass vaccination and non-pharmaceutical interventions on mitigating COVID-19</strong> -
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As COVID-19 vaccines became abundantly available around the world since the second half of 2021, many countries carried out a vaccination certificate (green pass) policy to encourage vaccination and help reopen their economies. This policy granted certified people more freedom of gathering and movement than unvaccinated individuals. Accordingly, pre-existing non-pharmaceutical interventions (NPIs) were adjusted under the vaccination certificate policy. The vaccination certificate also induced heterogeneous behaviors between unvaccinated and vaccinated groups, which complicates the modeling of COVID-19 transmission. Still, limited work is available in evaluating the impact of the green pass policy on COVID-19 transmission using quantitative methods. To characterize the major changes caused by the green pass policy, a modified susceptible-exposed-infected-removed (SEIR) epidemiological model SEIQRD2 is proposed in this paper. By integrating different behavior patterns of unvaccinated and vaccinated groups under the green pass policy, SEIQRD2 adopts the inherent variability and complexity of human behaviors in the context of vaccination and NPIs and their effect on COVID-19 transmissions. Three countries: Greece, Austria, and Israel are selected as case studies to demonstrate the validity of SEIQRD2. The simulation results illustrate that the combination of NPIs and vaccination still plays a pivotal role in containing the resurgence of COVID-19 by enforcing vaccination certification.
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🖺 Full Text HTML: <a href="https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2023.08.10.23293925v1" target="_blank">Effect of vaccination certification with mass vaccination and non-pharmaceutical interventions on mitigating COVID-19</a>
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<li><strong>RSV Neutralizing Antibodies in Dried Blood</strong> -
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The key correlate of protection of respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) vaccines and monoclonal antibodies (mAb) is virus neutralization, measured using sera obtained through venipuncture. Dried blood obtained with a finger prick can simplify acquisition, processing, storage, and transport in trials, and thereby reduce costs. In this study we aim to validate a low-tech assay to measure RSV neutralization in dried capillary blood. Recovery of mAb from dried blood (volumetric absorptive microsampling) was used to validate the elution method using indirect ELISA. Functional antibodies measured by a neutralization assay were compared between matched serum and dried blood samples from a phase I trial with RSM01, a novel investigational anti-RSV Prefusion F mAb. Hep-2 cells were infected with a serial dilution of sample-virus mixture using RSV-A2-mKate to determine half-maximal inhibitory concentration. Stability of dried blood was evaluated over time and during temperature stress. Functional antibodies in dried blood were highly correlated with serum (R2 = 0.98, p &lt; 0.0001). The intra-assay, inter-assay, and inter-operator precision of the assay for dried blood was similar to serum. The function of mAb remained stable for 9 months at room temperature and frozen dried blood samples but lower concentrations showed instability after 6 months. Dried blood samples resisted 48 hours of temperature stress. We demonstrated the feasibility of measuring RSV neutralization using dried blood as an alternative to serum. Measuring antibody function using dried blood is a patient-centered solution that may replace serology testing in trials against RSV or other viruses, such as influenza and SARS-CoV-2.
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🖺 Full Text HTML: <a href="https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2023.08.10.23293875v1" target="_blank">RSV Neutralizing Antibodies in Dried Blood</a>
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<li><strong>Novel risk loci for COVID-19 hospitalization among admixed American populations</strong> -
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The genetic basis of severe COVID-19 has been thoroughly studied and many genetic risk factors shared between populations have been identified. However, reduced sample sizes from non-European groups have limited the discovery of population-specific common risk loci. In this second study nested in the SCOURGE consortium, we have conducted the largest GWAS meta-analysis for COVID-19 hospitalization in admixed Americans, comprising a total of 4,702 hospitalized cases recruited by SCOURGE and other seven participating studies in the COVID-19 Host Genetic Initiative. We identified four genome-wide significant associations, two of which constitute novel loci and first discovered in Latin-American populations (BAZ2B and DDIAS). A trans-ethnic meta-analysis revealed another novel cross-population risk locus in CREBBP. Finally, we assessed the performance of a cross-ancestry polygenic risk score in the SCOURGE admixed American cohort.
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🖺 Full Text HTML: <a href="https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2023.08.11.23293871v1" target="_blank">Novel risk loci for COVID-19 hospitalization among admixed American populations</a>
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<li><strong>A Single-Tube Colorimetric Loop-Mediated Isothermal Amplification for Rapid Detection of SARS-CoV-2 RNA</strong> -
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Since SARS-CoV-2 is a highly transmissible virus, a rapid and accurate diagnostic method is necessary to prevent virus spread. We aimed to develop and evaluate a new rapid colorimetric reverse transcription loop-mediated isothermal amplification (RT-LAMP) assay for SARS-CoV-2 detection in a single closed-tube. Nasopharyngeal and throat swabs collected from at-risk individuals testing for SARS-CoV-2 were used to assess the sensitivity and specificity of a new RT-LAMP assay against a commercial qRT-PCR assay. Total RNA extracts were submitted to the RT-LAMP reaction under optimal conditions and amplified at 65℃ for 30 minutes using three sets of specific primers targeting the nucleocapsid gene. The reaction was detected using two different indicator dyes, hydroxynaphthol blue (HNB) and cresol red. A total of 82 samples were used for detection with HNB and 94 samples with cresol red, and results were compared with the qRT-PCR assay. The sensitivity of the RT-LAMP-based HNB assay was 92.1% and the specificity was 93.2%. The sensitivity of the RT-LAMP-based cresol red assay was 80.3%, and the specificity was 97%. This colorimetric feature makes this assay highly accessible, low-cost, and user-friendly, which can be deployed for massive scale-up and rapid diagnosis of SARS-CoV-2 infection, particularly in low-resource settings.
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🖺 Full Text HTML: <a href="https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2023.08.10.23293869v1" target="_blank">A Single-Tube Colorimetric Loop-Mediated Isothermal Amplification for Rapid Detection of SARS-CoV-2 RNA</a>
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<li><strong>Individual level analysis of digital proximity tracing for COVID-19 in Belgium highlights major bottlenecks</strong> -
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To complement labour-intensive conventional contact tracing, digital proximity tracing was implemented widely during the COVID-19 pandemic. However, the privacy-centred design of the dominant Google-Apple exposure notification framework has hindered assessment of its effectiveness. Between October 2021 and January 2022, we systematically collected app use and notification receipt data within a test and trace programme for university students in Leuven, Belgium. Due to low success rates in each studied step of the digital notification cascade, only 4.3% of exposed contacts (CI: 2.8-6.1%) received such notifications, resulting in 10 times more cases detected through conventional contact tracing. Moreover, the infection risk of digitally traced contacts (5.0%; CI: 3.0-7.7%) was lower than that of conventionally traced non-app users (9.8%; CI: 8.8-10.7%; p=0.002). Contrary to common perception as near instantaneous, there was a 1.2-day delay (CI: 0.6-2.2) between case PCR result and digital contact notifications. These results highlight major limitations of the dominant digital proximity tracing framework.
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🖺 Full Text HTML: <a href="https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2023.08.11.23293971v1" target="_blank">Individual level analysis of digital proximity tracing for COVID-19 in Belgium highlights major bottlenecks</a>
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<li><strong>Published benefits of ivermectin use in Itajaí, Brazil for COVID-19 infection, hospitalisation, and mortality are entirely explained by statistical artefacts</strong> -
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<b>Background</b> Two recent publications by Kerr et al. (Cureus 14(1):e21272; Cureus 14(8): e28624) reported dramatic effects of prophylactic ivermectin use for both prevention of COVID-19 and reduction of COVID-19-related hospitalisation and mortality, including a dose-dependent effect of ivermectin prophylaxis. These papers have gained an unusually large public influence: they were incorporated into debates around COVID-19 policies and may have contributed to decreased trust in vaccine efficacy and public health authorities more broadly. Both studies were based on retrospective observational analysis of city-wide registry data from the city of Itajaí, Brazil from July-December 2020. <b>Methods</b> Starting with initially identified sources of error, we conducted a revised statistical analysis of available data, including data made available with the original papers and public data from the Brazil Ministry of Health. We identified additional uncorrected sources of bias and errors from the original analysis, including incorrect subject exclusion and missing subjects, an enrolment time bias, and multiple sources of immortal time bias. In models assuming no actual effect from ivermectin use, we conducted Monte Carlo simulations to estimate the contribution of these biases to any observed effect. <b>Results</b> Untreated statistical artefacts and methodological errors alone lead to dramatic apparent risk reduction associated with ivermectin use in both studies. The magnitude of apparent risk reduction from these artefacts is comparable to the results reported by the studies themselves, including apparent protection from infection, hospitalisation, and death, and including the reported apparent dose-response relationship. <b>Conclusions</b> The inference of ivermectin efficacy reported in both papers is unsupported, as the observed effects are entirely explained by untreated statistical artefacts and methodological errors. Our re-analysis calls for caution in interpreting highly publicised observational studies and highlights the importance of common sources of bias in clinical research.
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🖺 Full Text HTML: <a href="https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2023.08.10.23293924v1" target="_blank">Published benefits of ivermectin use in Itajaí, Brazil for COVID-19 infection, hospitalisation, and mortality are entirely explained by statistical artefacts</a>
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<li><strong>A Susceptible Vaccinated Exposed Infected Hospitalised and Removed/Recovered (SVEIHR) Model Framework for COVID-19</strong> -
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In reaction to the severe socio-economic effects and upheavals that the Covid-19 sickness had on the world within the first few weeks of its introduction, everyone involved had to act quickly to look for possible solutions for preventing the ensuing epidemics. A prompt response is more critical given Nigeria9s subpar social, economic, and healthcare infrastructure. Investigated was the efficacy of various pharmacological, non-pharmaceutical, or a combination of both therapies in flattening the Covid-19 incidence curve. In order to investigate the impact of these interventions, a deterministic SVEIHR model was created and applied. The Nigerian Center for Disease Control (NCDC) portal9s Covid-19 data were used to parametrize the model. For simulations using a system dynamic simulation, estimated parameters were employed. The fundamental reproduction number, R0, was used to evaluate the success of our suggested intervention in effectively managing COVID-19 transmission. The simulation results demonstrated that the use of only non-pharmaceutical interventions, such as the use of face masks, a light lockdown, and hand washing at baseline or high levels, is insufficient, with the R0 varying from vaccination at the vaccination rate of 0.5% with non-pharmaceutical interventions at any level of compliance, and a combination of vaccination at 0.05% and high hygiene level were effective in flattening the Covid-19 disease incidence curve in Nigeria, returning a R0 less than 0. Furthermore, maintaining a high level of cleanliness, which includes hand washing and the use of a face mask, would be sufficient to stop the spread of Covid-19 disease and eventually flatten Covid-19 disease incidence curve in Nigeria, given a low turnout of 0.05% for vaccination and the easing of lockdown.
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🖺 Full Text HTML: <a href="https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2023.08.10.23293942v1" target="_blank">A Susceptible Vaccinated Exposed Infected Hospitalised and Removed/Recovered (SVEIHR) Model Framework for COVID-19</a>
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<li><strong>“Getting pregnant during the COVID 19 was a big risk because getting the help from the clinic was not easy”: COVID-19 experiences of women and healthcare providers in Harare, Zimbabwe.</strong> -
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Background  The COVID-19 pandemic and associated measures may have disrupted delivery of maternal and neonatal healthcare services and reversed the progress made towards dual elimination of mother-to-child transmission of HIV and syphilis in Zimbabwe. This qualitative study explores the impact of the pandemic on the provision and uptake of prevention of mother-to-child transmission (PMTCT) services from the perspectives of women and maternal healthcare providers. Methods Longitudinal in-depth interviews were conducted with 20 pregnant and breastfeeding women aged 20-39 years living with HIV and 20 healthcare workers in two maternity polyclinics in low-income suburbs of Harare, Zimbabwe. Semi-structured interviews were held after the second and third waves of COVID-19 in March and November 2021 respectively. Data were analysed using the modified grounded theory approach. Results  While eight antenatal care contacts are recommended by Zimbabwe’s Ministry of Health and Child Care, women reported only being able to access two contacts. At antenatal booking, women were told to return at onset of labour; subsequent visits were suspended. Healthcare workers reported this reduction in antenatal attendance was a result of limited availability of personal protective equipment and fear that patients and services providers would contract SARS-CoV-2. Although HIV testing, antiretroviral therapy (ART) refills and syphilis screening services were accessible at first contact, other services such as HIV-viral load monitoring and enhanced adherence counselling were not available for those on ART. Closure of clinics and shortened operating hours during the second COVID-19 wave resulted in more antenatal bookings occurring later during pregnancy and more home deliveries. Six of the 20 interviewed women reported giving birth at home assisted by untrained traditional midwives as clinics were closed. Babies delivered at home missed ART) prophylaxis and HIV testing at birth despite being HIV-exposed. Although women were faced with multiple challenges, they continued to attempt to access services after delivery.  Conclusions  The COVID-19 pandemic disrupted provision and uptake of PMTCT services; antenatal care contacts were significantly reduced, home deliveries increased and babies born at home missed out on the necessary ARV prophylaxis. These findings underline the importance of investing in robust health systems that are able to respond to emergency situations to ensure continuity of essential HIV prevention, treatment and care services.
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🖺 Full Text HTML: <a href="https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2023.08.11.23293472v1" target="_blank">“Getting pregnant during the COVID 19 was a big risk because getting the help from the clinic was not easy”: COVID-19 experiences of women and healthcare providers in Harare, Zimbabwe.</a>
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<li><strong>Multiple Mediation of the Meaning of the Law</strong> -
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Dominant narratives about the early COVID-19 pandemic suggest that state-enacted policies, particularly “lockdowns,” played a significant role in the widespread transition to remote work that was observed in April 2020. In this paper, I develop Edelman’s theory on the organizational role in interpreting laws, arguing that lockdowns were highly ambiguous policies that gave incredible latitude to private employers to determine appropriate measures of compliance. Using two novel datasets of state regulations and individual-level patterns of work, I show that lockdowns had a modest effect on remote work, furlough, and unemployment. Employers instead relied on cultural cues to determine their response.
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🖺 Full Text HTML: <a href="https://osf.io/6fgy9/" target="_blank">Multiple Mediation of the Meaning of the Law</a>
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<li><strong>Employment outcomes of people with Long Covid symptoms: community-based cohort study</strong> -
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Background: Evidence on the long-term employment consequences of SARS-CoV-2 infection is lacking. We used data from a large, community-based sample in the UK to estimate associations between Long Covid and subsequent employment outcomes. Methods: This was an observational, longitudinal study using a pre-post design. We included UK COVID-19 Infection Survey participants who completed questionnaires on Long Covid from 3 February 2021 to 30 September 2022 when they were aged 16 to 64 years and not in full-time education. We used conditional logit modelling to explore the time-varying relationship between Long Covid status ≥12 weeks after a first test-confirmed SARS-CoV-2 infection (reference: pre-infection) and labour market inactivity (neither working nor looking for work) or workplace absence lasting ≥4 weeks. Results: Of 206,299 included participants (mean age 45 years, 54% female, 92% white), 15% were ever inactive in the labour market and 10% were ever long-term absent during follow-up. Compared with pre-infection, inactivity was higher in participants reporting Long Covid 30 to &lt;40 weeks (adjusted odds ratio (aOR): 1.45; 95% CI: 1.17 to 1.81) or 40 to &lt;52 weeks (1.34; 1.05 to 1.72) post-infection. Compared with pre-infection, reporting Long Covid was also associated with increased odds of long-term absence 18 to &lt;24 weeks (1.40; 1.04 to 1.90) and 24 to &lt;30 weeks (1.45; 1.03 to 2.04) post-infection, but not beyond 30 weeks. Combining with official statistics on Long Covid prevalence, our estimates translate to 27,000 (95% CI: 6,000 to 47,000) working-age adults in the UK being inactive because of their Long Covid symptoms in July 2022. Conclusions: Long Covid is likely to have contributed to reduced levels of participation in the UK labour market, though it is unlikely to be the sole driver. Further research is required to quantify the contribution of other factors, such as indirect health effects of the pandemic.
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🖺 Full Text HTML: <a href="https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2023.03.21.23287524v2" target="_blank">Employment outcomes of people with Long Covid symptoms: community-based cohort study</a>
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<li><strong>KCL TEST: an open-source inspired asymptomatic SARS-CoV-2 surveillance programme in an academic institution</strong> -
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Testing was paramount in the management of the COVID-19 pandemic. Rapid deployment of new laboratories became widespread worldwide. Our university established KCL TEST: a SARS-CoV-2 asymptomatic testing programme that enabled sensitive and accessible PCR testing of SARS-CoV-2 RNA in saliva at 20 to 50% the price of commercial kits. We performed 158,277 PCRs in saliva for staff, students and their household contacts of Kings College London, free of charge and with an average turnaround time of 8 hours. Our pipeline is mainly made of open-source automation and non-commercial reagents and has been recently recommended for ISO15189 accreditation. Here we provide our blueprint and results to enable the rapid launch of diagnostic laboratories where and when needed. Our data span over 18 months and parallels that of the UK Office for National Statistics, with a lower positive rate and virtually no delta wave. Our observations strongly support regular asymptomatic community testing to decrease outbreaks and provide safe working spaces. KCL TEST demonstrates that universities can provide agile, resilient and accurate testing that reflects the infection rate and trend of the general population. We call for the integration of academic institutions in pandemic preparedness, with capabilities to rapidly deploy highly skilled staff, as well as develop, test and accommodate efficient low-cost pipelines.
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🖺 Full Text HTML: <a href="https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2023.07.25.23293154v2" target="_blank">KCL TEST: an open-source inspired asymptomatic SARS-CoV-2 surveillance programme in an academic institution</a>
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<li><strong>Fit notes associated with COVID-19 in 24 million patients’ primary care records: A cohort study in OpenSAFELY-TPP</strong> -
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Background: Fit notes (“sick notes”) are issued by general practitioners (GPs) when a person can9t work for health reasons and is an indication of the public health and economic burden for people recovering from COVID-19. Methods: With NHS England approval, we used routine clinical data from &gt;24 million patients to compare fit note incidence in people 18-64 years with and without evidence of COVID-19 in 2020, 2021 and 2022. We fit Cox regression models to estimate adjusted hazard ratios, overall and by time post-diagnosis and within demographic subgroups. Results: We identified 365,421, 1,206,555 and 1,321,313 people with evidence of COVID-19 in 2020, 2021 and 2022. The fit note rate was 4.88 per 100 person-months (95%CI 4.83-4.93) in 2020, 2.66 (95%CI 2.64-2.67) in 2021, and 1.73 (95%CI 1.72-1.73) in 2022. Compared with the age, sex and region matched general population, the hazard ratio (HR) adjusted for demographics and clinical characteristics over the follow-up period was 4.07 (95%CI 4.02-4.12) in 2020 decreasing to 1.57 (95%CI 1.56-1.58) in 2022. The HR was highest in the first 30 days in all years. Conclusions: Despite likely underestimation of the fit note rate, we identified a considerable increase among people with COVID-19, even in an era when most people are vaccinated. Most fit notes are associated with the acute phase of the disease, but the increased risk several months post-diagnosis provides further evidence of the long-term impact.
</p>
</div>
<div class="article-link article-html-link">
🖺 Full Text HTML: <a href="https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2023.07.28.23293269v2" target="_blank">Fit notes associated with COVID-19 in 24 million patients’ primary care records: A cohort study in OpenSAFELY-TPP</a>
</div></li>
</ul>
<h1 data-aos="fade-right" id="from-clinical-trials">From Clinical Trials</h1>
<ul>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>A Study to Evaluate the Safety and Immunogenicity of an (Omicron Subvariant) COVID-19 Vaccine Booster Dose in Previously Vaccinated Participants and Unvaccinated Participants.</strong> - <b>Condition</b>:   COVID-19<br/><b>Interventions</b>:   Biological: XBB.1.5 Vaccine (Booster);   Biological: XBB.1.5 Vaccine (single dose)<br/><b>Sponsor</b>:   Novavax<br/><b>Not yet recruiting</b></p></li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>EFFECT OF COGNITIVE BEHAVIORAL THERAPY ON DEPRESSION AND QUALITY OF LIFE IN PATIENTS WITH POST COVID-19</strong> - <b>Condition</b>:   Post-COVID-19 Syndrome<br/><b>Intervention</b>:   Behavioral: rehacom<br/><b>Sponsor</b>:   Cairo University<br/><b>Enrolling by invitation</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>Intradermal Administration of a COVID-19 mRNA Vaccine in Elderly</strong> - <b>Conditions</b>:   Vaccination; Infection;   COVID-19<br/><b>Intervention</b>:   Biological: Comirnaty<br/><b>Sponsor</b>:   Radboud University Medical Center<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>Immunogenicity and Safety of AdCLD-CoV19-1 OMI as a Booster: A SARS-CoV-2 (COVID-19) Preventive Vaccine in Healthy Volunteers</strong> - <b>Conditions</b>:   COVID-19;   Vaccines<br/><b>Interventions</b>:   Biological: AdCLD-CoV19-1 OMI;   Biological: Comirnaty Bivalent 0.1mg/mL (tozinameran and riltozinameran)<br/><b>Sponsor</b>:   Cellid Co., Ltd.<br/><b>Not yet recruiting</b></p></li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Using Text Messages to Boost COVID-19 Vaccine Booking Rate</strong> - <b>Conditions</b>:   Vaccination Hesitancy;   COVID-19<br/><b>Interventions</b>:   Behavioral: Behavioural science-informed text messages;   Behavioral: Control<br/><b>Sponsors</b>:   The Behavioural Insights Team;   Public Health England;   Department of Health and Social Care;   NHS England and NHS Improvement<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>Ivermectin to Prevent SARS-CoV-2 (COVID-19) Hospitalisation in Subjects Over 50</strong> - <b>Conditions</b>:   COVID-19;   SARS-CoV-2<br/><b>Interventions</b>:   Drug: Ivermectin;   Drug: Placebo<br/><b>Sponsor</b>:   Insud Pharma<br/><b>Terminated</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 Safety and Immune Response Study to Evaluate Varying Doses of an mRNA Vaccine Against Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) in Healthy Adults</strong> - <b>Condition</b>:   COVID-19<br/><b>Interventions</b>:   Biological: mRNA-CR-04 vaccine 10μg;   Biological: mRNA-CR-04 vaccine 30μg;   Biological: mRNA-CR-04 vaccine 100μg;   Drug: Placebo<br/><b>Sponsor</b>:   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>Methylprednisolone in Patients With Cognitive Deficits in Post-COVID-19 Syndrome (PCS)</strong> - <b>Condition</b>:   Post-COVID-19 Syndrome<br/><b>Intervention</b>:   Drug: Methylprednisolone<br/><b>Sponsor</b>:   Charite University, Berlin, Germany<br/><b>Not yet recruiting</b></p></li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Phase 3 Adolescent Study for SARS-CoV-2 rS Variant Vaccines</strong> - <b>Condition</b>:   COVID-19<br/><b>Interventions</b>:   Biological: NVX-CoV2601 co-formulated Omicron XBB.1.5 SARS-CoV-2 rS vaccine;   Biological: Prototype/XBB.1.5 Bivalent Vaccine (5 µg)<br/><b>Sponsor</b>:   Novavax<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>Dietary Intervention to Mitigate Post-Acute COVID-19 Syndrome</strong> - <b>Conditions</b>:   Post-Acute COVID-19 Syndrome;   Fatigue<br/><b>Interventions</b>:   Other: Dietary intervention to mitigate Post-Acute COVID-19 Syndrome;   Other: Attention Control<br/><b>Sponsor</b>:   University of Maryland, Baltimore<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>Hyperbaric on Pulmonary Functions in Post Covid -19 Patients.</strong> - <b>Condition</b>:   Post COVID-19 Patients<br/><b>Interventions</b>:   Device: hyperbaric oxygen therapy;   Device: breathing exercise;   Drug: medical treatment<br/><b>Sponsor</b>:   Cairo University<br/><b>Completed</b></p></li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>A Phase II Trial to Evaluate the Safety and Immunogenicity of BIMERVAX® When Coadministered With Seasonal Influenza Vaccine (SIIV) in Adults Older Than 65 Years of Age Fully Vaccinated Against COVID-19</strong> - <b>Conditions</b>:   SARS CoV 2 Infection;   Influenza, Human<br/><b>Interventions</b>:   Biological: BIMERVAX;   Biological: SIIV<br/><b>Sponsor</b>:   Hipra Scientific, S.L.U<br/><b>Not yet recruiting</b></p></li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Pulmonary Artery Pressure in COVID-19 Survivors</strong> - <b>Condition</b>:   Pulmonary Hypertension Secondary<br/><b>Intervention</b>:   Diagnostic Test: right heart catheterization (RHC).<br/><b>Sponsor</b>:   Mansoura University Hospital<br/><b>Enrolling by invitation</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>Preliminary Efficacy of a Technology-based Physical Activity Intervention for Older Korean Adults During the COVID-19 Pandemic</strong> - <b>Conditions</b>:   Cardiovascular Health;   Physical Function<br/><b>Intervention</b>:   Behavioral: Golden Circle<br/><b>Sponsor</b>:   University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign<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>Supported Employment COVID-19 Rapid Testing for PWID</strong> - <b>Condition</b>:   Health Behavior<br/><b>Intervention</b>:   Behavioral: Supported Employment<br/><b>Sponsor</b>:   University of Oregon<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>Forodesine and Riboprine Exhibit Strong Anti-SARS-CoV-2 Repurposing Potential: <em>In Silico</em> and <em>In Vitro</em> Studies</strong> - Lately, nucleos(t)ide antivirals topped the scene as top options for the treatment of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection. Targeting the two broadly conserved SARS-CoV-2 enzymes, RNA-dependent RNA polymerase (RdRp) and 3’-to-5’ exoribonuclease (ExoN), together using only one shot is a very successful new tactic to stop SARS-CoV-2 multiplication irrespective of the SARS-CoV-2 variant type. Herein, the current…</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>Anticancer pan-ErbB inhibitors reduce inflammation and tissue injury and exert broad-spectrum antiviral effects</strong> - Targeting host factors exploited by multiple viruses could offer broad-spectrum solutions for pandemic preparedness. Seventeen candidates targeting diverse functions emerged in a screen of 4,413 compounds for SARS-CoV-2 inhibitors. We demonstrated that lapatinib and other approved inhibitors of the ErbB family receptor tyrosine kinases suppress replication of SARS-CoV-2, Venezuelan equine encephalitis virus (VEEV), and other emerging viruses with a high barrier to resistance. Lapatinib…</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>Pyronaridine tetraphosphate is an efficacious antiviral and anti-inflammatory active against multiple highly pathogenic coronaviruses</strong> - The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2), continues to be one of the largest dangers to human health around the world. The need for effective antiviral and anti-inflammatory treatments is still extremely high as newly emerging variants threaten the efficacy of currently used treatment options. Many compounds are effective at inhibiting SARS-CoV-2 infection in vitro but fail to recapitulate that efficacy in vivo….</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>Identification of Promising Sulfonamide Chalcones as Inhibitors of SARS-CoV-2 3CL<sup>pro</sup> through Structure-Based Virtual Screening and Experimental Approaches</strong> - 3CL^(pro) is a viable target for developing antiviral therapies against the coronavirus. With the urgent need to find new possible inhibitors, a structure-based virtual screening approach was developed. This study recognized 75 pharmacologically bioactive compounds from our in-house library of 1052 natural product-based compounds that satisfied drug-likeness criteria and exhibited good bioavailability and membrane permeability. Among these compounds, three promising sulfonamide chalcones were…</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>TGF-β1 inhibition of ACE2 mediated by miRNA uncovers novel mechanism of SARS-CoV-2 pathogenesis</strong> - SARS-CoV-2 utilizes receptor binding domain (RBD) of spike glycoprotein to interact with angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 (ACE2). Decreased cell surface density of ACE2 contributes to mortality during COVID-19. Studies published early during the pandemic reported that people with cystic fibrosis (PwCF) treated with the high efficiency CFTR modulators ETI (elexacaftor-tezacaftor-ivacaftor) had higher ACE2 levels and milder COVID-19 symptoms, compared to people without CF. Subsequent studies did…</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>WASF3 disrupts mitochondrial respiration and may mediate exercise intolerance in myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome</strong> - Myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome (ME/CFS) is characterized by various disabling symptoms including exercise intolerance and is diagnosed in the absence of a specific cause, making its clinical management challenging. A better understanding of the molecular mechanism underlying this apparent bioenergetic deficiency state may reveal insights for developing targeted treatment strategies. We report that overexpression of Wiskott-Aldrich Syndrome Protein Family Member 3 (WASF3),…</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>Endogenous and Therapeutic 25-hydroxycholesterols May Worsen Early SARS-CoV-2 Pathogenesis in Mice</strong> - Oxysterols (i.e., oxidized cholesterol species) have complex roles in biology. 25-hydroxycholesterol (25HC), a product of activity of cholesterol-25-hydroxylase (CH25H) upon cholesterol, has recently been shown to be broadly antiviral, suggesting therapeutic potential against SARS-CoV-2. However, 25HC can also amplify inflammation and be converted by CYP7B1 to 7α,25HC, a lipid with chemoattractant activity via the G protein-coupled receptor, EBI2/GPR183. Here, using in vitro studies and two…</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>Design of a bifunctional pan-sarbecovirus entry inhibitor targeting the cell receptor and viral fusion protein</strong> - Development of highly effective antivirals that are robust to viral evolution is a practical strategy for combating the continuously evolved severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). Inspired by viral multistep entry process, we here focus on developing a bispecific SARS-CoV-2 entry inhibitor, which acts on the cell receptor angiotensin converting enzyme 2 (ACE2) and viral S2 fusion protein. First, we identified a panel of diverse spike (S) receptor-binding domains (RBDs) 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>A novel robust inhibitor of papain-like protease (PLpro) as a COVID-19 drug</strong> - Regarding the significance of SARS-CoV-2, scientists have shown considerable interest in developing effective drugs. Inhibitors for PLpro are the primary strategies for locating suitable COVID-19 drugs. Natural compounds comprise the majority of COVID-19 drugs. Due to limitations on the safety of clinical trials in cases of COVID, computational methods are typically utilized for inhibition studies. Whereas papain is highly similar to PLpro and is entirely safe, the current study aimed to examine…</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>Growth media affects susceptibility of air-lifted human nasal epithelial cell cultures to SARS-CoV2, but not Influenza A, virus infection</strong> - Primary differentiated human epithelial cell cultures have been widely used by researchers to study viral fitness and virus-host interactions, especially during the COVID19 pandemic. These cultures recapitulate important characteristics of the respiratory epithelium such as diverse cell type composition, polarization, and innate immune responses. However, standardization and validation of these cultures remains an open issue. In this study, two different expansion medias were evaluated and 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>Protegrin-2, a potential inhibitor for targeting SARS-CoV-2 main protease M<sup>pro</sup></strong> - CONCLUSIONS: Our in silico and experimental studies identified Protegrin-2 as a potent inhibitor of M^(pro) that could be pursued further towards drug development against COVID-19 infection.</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>Real-world effectiveness of mRNA COVID-19 vaccines in the elderly during the Delta and Omicron variants: Systematic review</strong> - CONCLUSION: Because of the natural diminishing effectiveness of the vaccine, the need for booster dose to restore its efficacy is vital. From a research perspective, the use of highly heterogeneous outcome measures inhibits the comparison, contrast, and integration of the results which makes data pooling across different studies problematic. While pharmaceutical intervention like vaccination is important to fight an epidemic, utilizing common outcome measurements or carrying out studies with…</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 pan-coronavirus peptide inhibitor prevents SARS-CoV-2 infection in mice by intranasal delivery</strong> - Coronaviruses (CoVs) have brought serious threats to humans, particularly severe acute respiratory syndrome Coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), which continually evolves into multiple variants. These variants, especially Omicron, reportedly escape therapeutic antibodies and vaccines, indicating an urgent need for new antivirals with pan-SARS-CoV-2 inhibitory activity. We previously reported that a peptide fusion inhibitor, P3, targeting heptad repeated-1 (HR1) of SARS-CoV-2 spike (S) protein, could…</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>Age differential CD13 and interferon expression in airway epithelia affect SARS-CoV-2 infection - effects of vitamin D</strong> - Young age and high vitamin D plasma levels have been associated with lower SARS-CoV-2 infection risk and favourable disease outcomes. This study investigated mechanisms associated with differential responses to SARS-CoV-2 across age groups and effects of vitamin D. Nasal epithelia were collected from healthy children and adults and cultured for four weeks at air-liquid interface with and without vitamin D. Gene expression (NanoString) and DNA methylation (Illumina EPIC850K) were investigated….</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>Spike protein mutations and structural insights of pangolin lineage B.1.1.25 with implications for viral pathogenicity and ACE2 binding affinity</strong> - Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), the causative agent of COVID -19, is constantly evolving, requiring continuous genomic surveillance. In this study, we used whole-genome sequencing to investigate the genetic epidemiology of SARS-CoV-2 in Bangladesh, with particular emphasis on identifying dominant variants and associated mutations. We used high-throughput next-generation sequencing (NGS) to obtain DNA sequences from COVID-19 patient samples and compared these…</p></li>
</ul>
<h1 data-aos="fade-right" id="from-patent-search">From Patent Search</h1>
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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>In Georgia, Trump and His Gang Get the Mob Treatment</strong> - Monday evening brought the fourth and presumably final indictment of the ex-President. - <a href="https://www.newyorker.com/news/letter-from-bidens-washington/in-georgia-trump-and-his-gang-get-the-mob-treatment">link</a></p></li>
<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>A Witness’s Strange Day at the Trump Grand Jury in Georgia</strong> - The journalist George Chidi saw a Georgia Republican walk into a conference room and became a significant witness in a potentially historic prosecution. - <a href="https://www.newyorker.com/news/letter-from-the-south/a-witnesss-strange-day-at-the-trump-grand-jury-in-georgia">link</a></p></li>
<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Why Republicans Are Complaining About the Hunter Biden Special Counsel That They Asked For</strong> - Eager to shift attention from the crimes and malfeasances of their own likely Presidential candidate, Republicans are more than happy to move the goalposts on the Hunter Biden case. - <a href="https://www.newyorker.com/news/our-columnists/why-republicans-are-complaining-about-the-hunter-biden-special-counsel-that-they-asked-for">link</a></p></li>
<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Rudy Giuliani, Mark Meadows, and Trump’s Other Partners in Alleged Crime</strong> - In Georgia, eighteen “crackpot lawyers,” former Trump campaign officials, and local Republicans have been indicted for conspiring with the former President to overturn the 2020 election. - <a href="https://www.newyorker.com/news/our-columnists/rudy-giuliani-mark-meadows-and-trumps-other-partners-in-alleged-crime">link</a></p></li>
<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>A Close Listen to “Rich Men North of Richmond”</strong> - The viral country song by Oliver Anthony has been embraced by right-wing pundits. - <a href="https://www.newyorker.com/news/our-columnists/a-close-listen-to-rich-men-north-of-richmond">link</a></p></li>
</ul>
<h1 data-aos="fade-right" id="from-vox">From Vox</h1>
<ul>
<li><strong>Americans can’t afford their pets. It’s pushing animal shelters to the brink.</strong> -
<figure>
<img alt="A beagle in a kennel at an animal shelter." src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/3Dci_NVMY9PrPNmUdIAN0vN1cVM=/363x0:3840x2608/1310x983/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/72548857/GettyImages_1401741294.0.jpg"/>
<figcaption>
A young beagle mix at an animal shelter in Central Islip, New York. | John Paraskevas/Newsday RM vis Getty Images
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
How animal shelters are coping with a crisis of abandoned cats and dogs.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="JrL0py">
Lonely and stuck at home, <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2022/01/07/covid-dogs-return-to-work/">millions of Americans</a> turned to animals for comfort in the early days of the Covid-19 pandemic, adopting and fostering cats and dogs from shelters at <a href="https://time.com/5912616/pet-of-the-year-2020-rescue-animals/">record rates</a>. Videos of <a href="https://www.today.com/video/amid-more-pet-adoptions-this-dog-pound-is-empty-for-the-first-time-ever-82123333513">empty animal shelters</a> went viral; <a href="https://www.wired.com/story/coronavirus-pet-adoption-boom/">Wired</a> called it “the feel-good pandemic story you need right now.”
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="Zny2QP">
“It was a really fun time to be in <a href="https://www.vox.com/animal-welfare">animal welfare</a>,” said Bobby Mann, chief programs officer of the Humane Rescue Alliance, the largest animal shelter in the Washington, DC, metro area. “We did absolutely see an uptick in adoptions.”
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="6RT2Eb">
But starting in 2021, shelters began filling back up as there were more animals entering than leaving, and now many are packed to the brim. From <a href="https://www.wpri.com/news/local-news/south-county/animal-shelters-over-capacity-across-the-region-workers-say/">Rhode Island</a> to <a href="http://seattletimes.com/seattle-news/seattle-area-animal-shelters-say-inflation-is-making-more-people-surrender-pets/">Seattle</a> and <a href="https://www.wect.com/video/2023/08/08/clear-shelters-brunswick-co-animal-shelter-seeing-large-increase-animals/">everywhere</a> in <a href="https://www.denverpost.com/2023/04/28/denver-animal-shelter-ssurrendered-dogs-increase/">between</a>, shelters are reporting they’re at capacity, forcing an increase in the number of dogs killed due to space constraints. Earlier this year, almost half of shelters <a href="https://www.shelteranimalscount.org/pulse-check-survey-results/">surveyed</a> reported an increase in euthanized dogs, while only 10 percent reported a decrease.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="IL39o0">
“Perfectly adoptable dogs are losing their lives and it is a crisis,” said one municipal shelter that was surveyed. “We need volunteers, fosters, and adopters.”
</p>
<figure class="e-image">
<img alt="A row of dogs in kennels at an animal shelter." src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/Alp009KPkDKbLelz2Ey7BA5628E=/800x0/filters:no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/24852543/GettyImages_1409550436.jpg"/> <cite>Brandon Bell/Getty Images</cite>
<figcaption>
Dogs are kept in cages at the Harris County Pets animal shelter in Houston, Texas. In 2022, the shelter reported being over capacity and understaffed as a steady increase in animal returns and rescues overwhelmed the facility.
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="Uhhkyo">
“By and large, shelters are screaming from the rooftops that they’ve been in crisis for a while, and it’s not letting up,” said Stephanie Filer, executive director of Shelter Animals Count, an organization that <a href="https://www.shelteranimalscount.org/">collects and publishes data</a> from thousands of animal shelters and conducted the euthanasia survey. The group predicts the situation will continue to worsen this year.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="4ki3YF">
The trend threatens the immense progress that animal shelters have made to reduce the number of animals put down since the 1970s, when <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5981279/">13.5 million</a> of the 65 million dogs and cats in the US — more than one-fifth — were euthanized. In 2019, less than <a href="https://www.aspca.org/helping-people-pets/shelter-intake-and-surrender/pet-statistics">a million dogs and cats</a>, about 0.7 percent of the country’s <a href="https://www.avma.org/resources-tools/reports-statistics/us-pet-ownership-statistics">135 million,</a> were put down.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="Thy7AI">
It’s one thing for, say, <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2022/09/02/business/peloton-resale-inventory.html">Peloton bikes</a> to pile up in some warehouse as Americans return to normalcy and consumer demand rebalances in response. But when the product is an animal — and make no mistake, we treat <a href="https://www.vox.com/future-perfect/23562811/puppy-mills-pets-dog-breeding-adoption-usda">animals as products</a> — the rebalance of demand and supply can result in mass suffering, as shelters are forced to make the hard choice between packing more and more animals together in crowded, noisy environments, euthanizing them, or turning them away.
</p>
<h3 id="gq96HM">
What’s driving America’s animal shelter crisis?
</h3>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="rhoQH3">
The state of animal shelters can largely be tracked by a simple metric: how many animals are entering shelters versus how many are leaving, known as the <a href="https://www.shelteranimalscount.org/industry-trends-dashboard/">population gap</a>. An animal can be taken into a shelter because they were picked up as a stray (the most common reason), surrendered by their owner, or rescued from a cruelty case or <a href="https://www.vox.com/future-perfect/23562811/puppy-mills-pets-dog-breeding-adoption-usda">puppy mill</a>. Animals leave shelters when they’re found by their owners, adopted, transferred to another shelter, or euthanized (almost <a href="https://www.aspca.org/helping-people-pets/shelter-intake-and-surrender/pet-statistics">15 percent of cases</a> in 2019).
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="eP9KOm">
In 2020, when people were adopting shelter animals at record rates, 2 percent more animals left shelters than came in over the course of the year, according to Shelter Animals Count. But in 2021, that figure reversed — <a href="https://www.shelteranimalscount.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/FY-Q1-Q4-Report-FINAL.pdf">2 percent more</a> animals entered shelters than left, either as strays or surrendered by their owners. In 2022, the trend worsened: 4 percent more animals entered shelters than left. That may not seem like much, but each percentage point amounts to tens of thousands of animals.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="SFaGrT">
Shelter Animals Count projects that by the end of 2023, the population gap will tick up to 5 percent.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="QotmLc">
Many of the animals currently entering shelters are strays. While owner surrender rates have fallen in recent years, there’s been an <a href="https://www.shelteranimalscount.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/Q2-Report.pdf">8 percent</a> increase in stray intakes from January to June 2023 compared to the same time period in 2022, and a 26 percent increase compared to the same period in 2021. But why so many are coming in off the streets is a bit of a mystery.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="ou0KM1">
One theory is that some of these strays are just owner surrenders in disguise. In 2020, due to Covid-19 precautions, many animal shelters stopped allowing people to walk in and surrender their animals, instead requiring them to make an appointment — a practice many shelters have kept in place. The demand for surrender appointments is now so high that many shelters have long waitlists. So the uptick in strays could simply represent people trying to jump the surrender line by claiming they found a stray animal (which doesn’t require an appointment). Or they could be simply abandoning them on the street.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="ymsMNJ">
It’s tempting to judge people who surrender their animals, and some surely do so for shallow reasons, like deciding a pet is too much of an inconvenience or failing to properly train them. But the main reason so many people are giving up their pets — especially dogs — is because they simply can’t afford to keep them.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="JP7A34">
For low-income families, it’s hard enough to find affordable housing, and affordable pet-friendly housing is even harder to secure. Many apartment buildings ban certain breeds or dogs over a certain weight. Shelters are taking in especially high numbers of large dogs over 40–50 pounds, Mann of the Humane Rescue Alliance said.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="aJezLO">
“The same [economic] trends that affect people always affect animals,” said Filer with Shelter Animals Count, referring to high inflation and the national housing crisis that’s led to a rise in <a href="https://evictionlab.org/eviction-tracking/">eviction rates</a> and <a href="https://www.vox.com/2023/7/5/23778810/homelessness-california-unsheltered-research">homelessness</a> in recent years. Housing insecurity is the top reason people are surrendering their animals, according to Mann and Filer. If someone gets to the point where they’re surrendering their animal out of financial hardship, they’ve generally tried everything else and they have no other option, she added.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="As3e51">
The high stray rates, Mann speculates, could also be a consequence of high pet acquisition rates early in the pandemic: There are now simply more animals out in the world who can become strays by, for example, slipping out of their homes and getting lost.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="SDOdGR">
Veterinary costs have also heavily <a href="https://www.bls.gov/news.release/cpi.t02.htm">outpaced inflation</a> from July 2022 to July 2023, because of increases in the cost of <a href="https://apnews.com/article/inflation-health-economy-prices-pets-5e6ab45eb6e3e316a89158bb630a9835">medical supplies</a> and <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9979723/#:~:text=From%202021%20to%202022%2C%20the,%25%2C%20over%20the%20same%20interval.">rising wages</a> due in part to a <a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2022/07/not-enough-veterinarians-animals/661497/">veterinarian shortage</a>. Some veterinarians partly blame the <a href="https://observer.com/2023/03/veterinary-practices-are-increasingly-corporately-owned-and-pets-owners-pay-the-price/">corporate and private equity takeover</a> of clinics and hospitals for rising vet care costs. There’s also a <a href="https://thehill.com/homenews/state-watch/3767838-animal-shelters-face-a-potentially-fatal-pet-adoption-crisis/">shelter worker shortage</a>, which is part of an <a href="https://www.vox.com/economy">economy</a>-wide labor market <a href="https://www.axios.com/2023/05/08/us-labor-shortage-older-workers">shortage</a>.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="m1Uqga">
Some people may be surrendering their pets because pet ownership is just difficult, especially with animals who are having a hard time adjusting to post-pandemic life after years cooped up with their owners. Many dog owners report <a href="https://www.forbes.com/advisor/pet-insurance/best-pet-insurance/">behavioral issues</a> as they head back to the office or bring their poorly socialized animals into public spaces.
</p>
<figure class="e-image">
<img alt=" " src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/pPgo3ZI543-pD8oEnN2Y2X5HdW8=/800x0/filters:no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/24852558/UKn5c_pandemic_pets_are_having_a_hard_time_adjusting_to_their_people_going_back_to_work_nbsp___7_.png"/>
</figure>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="sZztEt">
“We’re just overstimulating these animals that have never had this level of stimulation,” said Mann.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="JNWb41">
It may just be too much for some pet owners to handle; training can require a lot of time and effort that some people aren’t willing to spend.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="njbdky">
“I encourage people not to take on more than they can handle,” said <a href="https://vetster.com/en-us/p/crystal-heath-berkeley-ca-0494a50">Crystal Heath</a>, a veterinarian who works with shelters and veterinary clinics in the greater San Francisco Bay Area. “And I don’t think that dog ownership or cat ownership or pet ownership in any way is a right that people should have. But I also am not going to be judgmental about somebody who brings an animal in or takes care of an animal who would be killed otherwise and provides them with the best care that they can.”
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="UgBSb2">
Heath suspects part of the stray problem could also be due to reduced spay and neuter access in the initial months of the Covid-19 pandemic, as veterinary offices suspended nonessential services.
</p>
<aside id="TWZxll">
<div>
</div>
</aside>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="aMj7lS">
Spay and neuter surgeries were down <a href="https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fvets.2022.912893/full">13 percent</a> in 2020 compared to 2019, according to a paper by veterinary researchers at the University of Florida. By the end of 2021, spays and neuters had bounced back close to 2019 levels, but a year of reduced access, according to the researchers, “may have the potential to undermine progress made in controlling pet populations and euthanasia in shelters.”
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="yxPMeE">
Spaying and neutering pets is key to keeping shelter populations down and reducing the number of euthanized animals because it prevents them from having babies who may just wind up in a shelter. Intact animals — those who haven’t been spayed or neutered — also tend to have higher rates of certain <a href="https://www.foundanimals.org/spay-and-neuter-behavior-benefits/">behavioral issues</a>, like increased aggression and escape attempts (in the effort to find a mate), which could result in more strays and surrenders.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="ukPF75">
Amid all this bad news, there’s one silver lining: Cats are having a moment. Cat adoption rates are much higher than those for dogs, which makes sense in the context of the housing crisis and inflation, as cats are more affordable and have fewer housing restrictions.
</p>
<figure class="e-image">
<img alt=" " src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/y1SDgd9QYIvnI6mdEyv-6jemzvM=/800x0/filters:no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/24852561/GettyImages_1478542999.jpg"/> <cite>Brittany Murray/MediaNews Group/Long Beach Press-Telegram via Getty Images</cite>
<figcaption>
A kitten peeking out of a box at Long Beach Animal Care Services in Long Beach, California.
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="yem7t6">
“Cats were previously our challenge … now cat adoption rates are in the 60 [percent range],” Filer said. “Dog adoption rates are in the 50s.”
</p>
<h3 id="m7vYAl">
What your local animal shelter needs
</h3>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="jnvNy2">
Adopt, foster, volunteer, and donate: Those four actions, Filer said, are needed to help shelters climb out of the hole they’re in.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="VZ4RMq">
The first one is obvious: Every animal adopted (instead of purchased from a store or breeder) means one fewer animal suffering and potentially euthanized in a shelter. If everyone who buys an animal chose to adopt instead, the need for euthanasia in shelters would drastically fall, because there are far more dogs <a href="https://www.humanesociety.org/sites/default/files/docs/puppy-mills-facts-and-figures.pdf">purchased</a> every year than <a href="https://www.aspca.org/helping-people-pets/shelter-intake-and-surrender/pet-statistics">euthanized</a>. The hard part is persuading the many people who only want to buy a dog with a particular look or size (even if how they’ve been bred can increase their risk for <a href="https://www.vox.com/future-perfect/2023/7/31/23811510/heatwave-summer-dog-heat-stroke-pet-safety-french-bulldog-frenchies-pugs-brachycephalic-breed">serious health issues)</a>.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="lKVQgh">
“I wish they had to look into the eyes of who we have to kill before bringing more lives into this world,” said Heath, who sometimes performs euthanasia, about dog and cat breeders. She wishes there were more public funding to care for animals — and argues some of it should come from puppy mills and dog breeders who are driving pet overpopulation.
</p>
<figure class="e-image">
<img alt="A woman looking at a dog in a kennel." src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/D6WZuFk_keHpUCR_Mou9-UINhus=/800x0/filters:no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/24852589/GettyImages_458780196.jpg"/> <cite>Manny Crisostomo/Sacramento Bee/Tribune News Service via Getty Images</cite>
<figcaption>
Gina Knepp, manager of Front Street Animal Shelter in Sacramento, California, evaluates a year-old white and brindle pitbull mix slated to be euthanized (photograph from 2014). Knepp ultimately took her off the euthanization list.
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="UvTzTE">
To help with the staff shortage at shelters, try volunteering at a shelter or even fostering animals. I know some people who don’t feel they have the time, money, or lifestyle to properly care for a cat or dog long-term, so they foster regularly instead. It’s also a great way to test out adoption if you’re unsure it’s for you.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="sEo7Ms">
Shelters really need money, too. Donations to shelters are down, Filer said, while the amount of work is up. And more and more shelters are implementing critical but costly programs that make pet adoption, and pet keeping, more affordable.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="8pseZp">
For example, Humane Rescue Alliance in Washington, DC, runs a pet food bank and a low-cost vaccine clinic (and vaccines reduce additional vet bills down the road). It also has a veterinarian who travels to people’s homes to help in emergency situations.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="RZQpht">
“That has been a big shift in our strategy over the last probably three or four years,” Mann said. “I believe if we did not have these comprehensive programs in place, we would see a significant increase in owner surrender.”
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="GXsyso">
If you’re not in a position to adopt a pet anytime soon, giving money might help someone else hold onto theirs.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="NZOwx1">
The animal shelter crisis is a window into the national housing crisis and its ripple effects. It’s also a telling example of our twisted relationship to animals: We consider dogs to be man’s best friend, yet we <a href="https://www.vox.com/future-perfect/2023/7/31/23811510/heatwave-summer-dog-heat-stroke-pet-safety-french-bulldog-frenchies-pugs-brachycephalic-breed">breed so many to suffer</a> while millions languish in shelters, many of whom are ultimately killed to make room for ever more strays and surrenders.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="ouA9n0">
Declining euthanasia rates in shelters has been one of the few success stories in the animal welfare movement over the last several decades. But that progress is at risk if we don’t do more to change how pets are acquired — and if more of us don’t open our homes, or at least our wallets, if we can afford it, to shelter animals.
</p></li>
<li><strong>Was The Blind Side’s white savior narrative built on a lie?</strong> -
<figure>
<img alt="" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/OIwikEOXn-sFqenl4785UNs1iSY=/0x0:3019x2264/1310x983/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/72548011/GettyImages_507089106.0.jpg"/>
<figcaption>
Michael Oher, whose story was depicted in the book and film <em>The Blind Side, </em>is pictured in 2016 on the field in Charlotte with the Carolina Panthers football team. | Scott Cunningham/Getty Images
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
Michael Oher now says the story of his adoption by a white family was never true and that they exploited him.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="w8GCBO">
The 2009 film <em>The Blind Side</em> tells the story of a white family<strong> </strong>on a heartfelt mission: to save the life of “Big Mike,” an unhoused Black 17-year-old who attends the local school with their son in Memphis, Tennessee.<strong> </strong>
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="k1lo77">
As many critics would later note, the tale was a classic “white savior” story that served to praise the goodness of white people and erase the nuances of a Black kid’s story of resilience. But audiences at the time heralded <em>The Blind Side</em>, which was based on a book of the same name, as a tearjerker and the blueprint for a feel-good classic. Plus, it was all a true story, based on the real events in the life of Sean and Leigh Anne Tuohy and Michael Oher, who went on to play eight seasons in the NFL.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="4PbviE">
The film earned more than $300 million at the box office and was nominated for the Best Picture Oscar, while Sandra Bullock took home the Oscar for Best Actress for her portrayal of family matriarch Leigh Anne Tuohy.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="QNh9nD">
Now, however, Oher, a former NFL player, has alleged that the crux of the story — that a white family adopted him out of homelessness — is a lie and that the family exploited his name and story for years to enrich themselves. Oher says that he believed he was a legal member of the Tuohy family for nearly two decades, only to learn this year that he was not.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="Y73Pjx">
According to ESPN, Oher filed a 14-page petition in Tennessee’s Shelby County on Monday, alleging that Sean and Leigh Anne Tuohy never actually adopted him. Instead, the petition alleges, they tricked him into a conservatorship, a legal agreement that gave them legal authority to use his name in business deals, less than three months after he turned 18. The petition claims that the family used Oher, now 37, to make millions of dollars from the popular book and 2009 blockbuster film. He’s now asking that the probate court end the conservatorship and bar the family from using Oher’s name and likeness. The petition also requests that the court seek an accounting of all the money the Tuohys have made since starting the conservatorship in 2004 and to pay Oher his share of the earnings, in addition to damages.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="Avi2AH">
The news has proven shocking to those who continued to hold the movie in high regard. Sean Tuohy <a href="https://dailymemphian.com/section/sportsgeoff-calkins/article/37925/sean-tuohy-responds-allegations-michael-oher-blind-side-money">told the Daily Memphian</a> that he was “devastated” to hear about Oher’s lawsuit and that it was “upsetting to think we would make money off any of our children.” Sean “SJ” Tuohy, the Tuohys’ biological son, meanwhile, said that Oher was aware of the conservatorship before this year. He also denied making millions off the film, telling the hosts of <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pnr2IKSxxwM">Barstool Radio</a> that he’s received an additional $60,000 to $70,000 “over the course of the last few years.” He added, “You will never hear me say anything bad about Michael Oher in any capacity other than I’m upset that he feels the way that he does.” <strong> </strong>
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="t0HQ0e">
For many others, the case is resurfacing many existing controversies around <em>The Blind Side, </em>particularly how it portrayed Oher as unintelligent and completely reliant on the Tuohys, and how it capitalized on viewers’ comfort with white charity and Black suffering. Now, many are pointing out how this new twist has validated longtime uneasiness with the film, showing that the white savior trope remains pervasive and obscures truths about exploitation.
</p>
<h3 id="NTmSL4">
The “chagrin and embarrassment” of Michael Oher’s conservatorship
</h3>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="fQ0GGo">
As the film depicts it, Michael was homeless, ripped away from his drug-addicted mother when he was 7, and navigating the grueling foster system. The Tuohys, to the shock of Leigh Anne’s elite circle of friends, take Michael in and ultimately<strong> </strong>adopt him. But most of all, they encourage him to play football, setting him up for a career in the NFL.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="dG3WP0">
Oher became an all-American left tackle and, later, a first-round draft pick by the Baltimore Ravens. He helped the Ravens win the Super Bowl in 2013, with Leigh Anne and her daughter Collins typically watching from the sidelines, then signed a $20 million, multi-year deal with the Tennessee Titans in 2014. He was released due to a toe injury before playing for the Carolina Panthers until 2017. Oher’s career ultimately earned him <a href="https://www.spotrac.com/nfl/carolina-panthers/michael-oher-5484/cash-earnings/">$34 million</a>.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="tRensI">
According to Oher’s petition, the star football player only learned the truth of his relationship with the Tuohys this year.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="UX7pdi">
“Michael Oher discovered this lie to his chagrin and embarrassment in February of 2023, when he learned that the Conservatorship to which he consented on the basis that doing so would make him a member of the Tuohy family, in fact provided him no familial relationship with the Tuohys,” the petition states. The petition also revealed that the conservatorship continues to this day, and among Oher’s requests is that the Tennessee court terminates it.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="HstrOn">
Meanwhile, over the decades, the Tuohys have continued to call Oher their adopted son, using the alleged lie to boost their foundation and other promotional work.
</p>
<div class="c-float-right">
<figure class="e-image">
<img alt=" " src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/uEhLkQS8tenSuES5vKC0UVlS0CE=/800x0/filters:no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/24852800/GettyImages_103240710.jpg"/> <cite>WireImage</cite>
<figcaption>
Leigh Anne Tuohy and husband Sean Tuohy are pictured at the 2010 Oscars, where <em>The Blind Side</em> was nominated for two awards, winning one.
</figcaption>
</figure>
</div>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="lvCqLX">
A conservatorship is a legal arrangement that cedes a person’s personal, financial, and legal decision-making powers to other people. It is intended to help individuals who cannot care for themselves due to health concerns, such as a brain injury or mental health conditions; the arrangements have been in the cultural conversation with high-profile cases like those of <a href="https://www.vox.com/culture/22565683/britney-spears-conservatorship-testimony">Britney Spears</a> and <a href="https://www.vulture.com/2022/03/amanda-bynes-conservatorship-ending.html">Amanda Bynes</a>.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="A1FDf9">
Conservatorships can get ugly, particularly when they’re unwanted and when someone <a href="https://www.vice.com/en/article/epn57n/what-its-like-to-live-under-a-conservatorship-or-guardianship-britney-spears">isn’t even aware</a> that they’re part of such an agreement. They can be used to disenfranchise and abuse people with disabilities, allowing conservators to take near-full control of life decisions, from where the individual lives to what they spend money on.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="uxGcft">
“You are entitled as an adult to make decisions about your finances and your property and your medical care. But all states have laws that recognize that some people have diminished decision-making capacity,” Josephine Gittler, a law professor and the author of <em>Reforming the Guardianship and Conservatorship System: An Introduction</em>, <a href="https://www.vox.com/culture/22565683/britney-spears-conservatorship-testimony">told Vox’s Constance Grady</a>. In Tennessee, where the Tuohy conservatorship was arranged, courts may transfer <a href="https://law.justia.com/codes/tennessee/2021/title-34/chapter-1/section-34-1-101/">“duties” from “a person with a disability”</a> who doesn’t have the ability to make certain decisions to a conservator.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="PT0ePd">
Oher, however, alleges that the Tuohys had him sign papers to enter into a conservatorship despite him having no physical or mental disabilities rendering him incapable of taking care of his own matters. While he believed the papers made him a legal member of the Tuohy family, under the Tuohy conservatorship, he does not have the power to manage his financial affairs.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="LKOhEb">
Sean Tuohy has said that everyone in his family earned about $14,000 each from the movie, while <a href="https://www.espn.com/nfl/story/_/id/38190720/blind-side-subject-michael-oher-alleges-adoption-was-lie-family-took-all-film-proceeds">ESPN</a> has reported that the Tuohys and their two birth children each made $225,000, in addition to 2.5 percent of the film’s “defined net proceeds.” Tuohy also said the conservatorship was originally created to allow Oher to play football at the University of Mississippi, and that he would be willing to end the conservatorship once and for all.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="iy7May">
The legal filing also states that Oher unknowingly signed away the rights to his life story to 20th Century Fox in 2007 when he was 16, according to the <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2023/08/14/sports/football/michael-oher-blind-side-lawsuit.html">New York Times</a>. In the petition, Oher stated that he doesn’t remember signing the contract and that if he did sign it, no one explained it to him.
</p>
<h3 id="u26nYH">
The many controversies around <em>The Blind Side </em>
</h3>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="1FPn2Z">
The book <em>The Blind Side: Evolution of a Game</em> was written by journalist Michael Lewis and published in 2006. According to the petition, the Tuohys negotiated a movie deal for the story chronicled in the book shortly after the book’s release. It is unclear whether Oher ever negotiated a life rights agreement with the Tuohys ahead of the publication of the book or film.<strong> </strong>
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="OTMOrJ">
<em>The Blind Side</em> film received mixed reviews and also soon found itself at the center of controversy. Critics argued that the portrayal of Oher played into Uncle Tom stereotypes about Black people as submissive to white authority. Many also took issue with the film’s portrayal of the Tuohys as white saviors whose personal charity helped an impoverished Black youth overcome challenges and find his footing and potential.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="V93vwq">
Meanwhile, Oher wrote in his memoir,<em> I Beat the Odds: From Homelessness to the Blind Side and Beyond,</em> the film portrayed him as “dumb” instead of as a kid “who had never had consistent academic instruction.”
</p>
<figure class="e-image">
<img alt=" " src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/Iq1-HnT1sSdBHMwzDy69-VpNR1U=/800x0/filters:no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/24852809/GettyImages_97522735.jpg"/> <cite>Jason Merritt/Getty Images</cite>
<figcaption>
Actress Sandra Bullock, winner Best Actress award for <em>The Blind Side </em>in 2010, poses with her award. She played Leigh Anne Tuohy.
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="4OWuzH">
Oher has publicly said that the film negatively impacted his career. In 2015, he told <a href="https://www.espn.com/nfl/story/_/id/13100161/michael-oher-carolina-panthers-says-hit-movie-blind-side-hurt-career">ESPN</a> that people make assumptions about him based on how he was poorly portrayed in the film. “People look at me, and they take things away from me because of a movie,” Oher said. “They don’t really see the skills and the kind of player I am. That’s why I get downgraded so much, because of something off the field … That’s why I don’t like that movie.’’
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="qeKMVc">
He also said the film <a href="https://apnews.com/article/fbc8029933464167a2969c7acc274bfc">brought him too much attention</a> when he just wanted to fly under the radar as an offensive lineman and that it incorrectly portrayed him as a kid who didn’t understand football. Oher wrote in his memoir, “Whether it was S.J. moving around ketchup bottles or Leigh Anne explaining to me what blocking is about, I watched those scenes thinking, ‘No, that’s not me at all! I’ve been studying — really studying — the game since I was a kid!’”
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="7DpqSy">
Oher did, however, see some positives in the film, particularly its message about perseverance and in how it portrayed the Tuohy family. “They’re my family and without them I wouldn’t be here,” he <a href="https://www.smh.com.au/sport/super-bowl-50-the-blind-side-michael-oher-feels-wanted-at-carolina-panthers-ahead-of-showpiece-20160129-gmgmep.html">said in 2016</a>. “They taught me a lot of things, showed me a lot of different things. It shows that if you help somebody and give somebody a chance and don’t judge people, look where they can get to.”
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="OgTrwP">
It’s that trust and respect that he held for the Tuohys that has made the news of the ongoing conservatorship all the more shocking and painful. And it’s the white savior trope that may have allowed the Tuohys to use their assumed benevolence to move through the world unchecked.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="jZOZdq">
As sociologist Matthew Hughey recounts in his book <a href="https://tupress.temple.edu/books/the-white-savior-film"><em>The White Savior Film</em></a><em>,</em> the white savior trope derives from old ideas such as “manifest destiny” (the idea that white settlers in America were destined and ordained to expand westward and cultivate America), and the “White man’s burden” (the duty of white colonizers to manage the affairs of those whom they colonize) — beliefs that motivated white people to save the “dysfunctional and dark ‘other.’”
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="Zfsdbw">
In <em>Screen Saviors: Hollywood Fictions of Whiteness</em>, Hernán Vera and Andrew Gordon explain that white savior narratives often feature a white figure who “saves blacks from slavery or oppression, rescues people of color from poverty or disease, or leads Indians in battle for their dignity and survival.”
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="oQ5epw">
Examples abound, from the 1990 western <em>Dances With Wolves</em> to the 2000 urban-set film <em>Finding Forrester</em> to 2011’s <em>The Help</em>. In these movies, white paternalism is portrayed as necessary to better American society and save people of color from themselves. The trope <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/10646175.2017.1327378">erases and romanticizes racism</a>, and raises questions about the dangerous power white people are able to wield when they’re viewed as saviors. Many of these films, like <em>The Blind Side</em>, have faced their own reckonings.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="PjAw65">
The tropes don’t just exist on the page or on the big screen. They happen in real life; as <a href="https://www.npr.org/2011/02/08/133590180/beyond-the-blind-side-michael-oher-rewrites-his-own-story">NPR</a> noted in 2011, with the film’s success, the Tuohy family was “elevated to near sainthood.” Oher’s petition and the public outcry over his conservatorship are challenging that image.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="ZqwWpF">
For his part, Oher has tried to make peace with the Hollywood storyline of <em>The Blind Side</em> by recognizing the film’s positive impact and his role in the narrative. In 2015, he told the <a href="https://apnews.com/article/fbc8029933464167a2969c7acc274bfc">AP</a>, “You’d be surprised how many letters I’ve gotten, people have adopted kids or how many lives have changed. I’m definitely excited about that because coming from poverty in the inner city where I come from, so many people look up to me. They say ‘if I can do it, they can do it.’”
</p></li>
<li><strong>An act of Congress could grant legal status to thousands of Afghan allies. What’s the holdup?</strong> -
<figure>
<img alt="Coils of razor wire lie across the tarmac at the Kabul airport in Afghanistan, with shreds of clothing and fabric caught in many of them. In the distance, two passenger planes sit on the runway." src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/uQv6Mb-M4sj7MPTT9QQ10QkxSws=/0x0:5333x4000/1310x983/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/72547557/1235106025.0.jpg"/>
<figcaption>
Coils of razor wire lie across the tarmac at the Kabul airport in Afghanistan, left behind after the US military withdrew from the country and Taliban fighters moved in to take control of the airport, on August 31, 2021. | Marcus Yam/Los Angeles Times
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
Two years after Kabul fell, tens of thousands of Afghans are still stuck in limbo in the US.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="8CIFha">
Two years ago, <a href="https://www.vox.com/22626240/taliban-afghanistan-baradar">the Taliban marched into Kabul</a>, the Afghan government collapsed, and the United States, <a href="https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/speeches-remarks/2021/07/08/remarks-by-president-biden-on-the-drawdown-of-u-s-forces-in-afghanistan/">already scheduled to depart on August 31</a>, rushed to evacuate Americans and Afghan allies. <a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/investigations/us-left-78000-afghan-allies-ngo-report-rcna18119">Not everyone who should have gotten on those planes did</a>, but the<a href="https://www.af.mil/News/Article-Display/Article/3144426/one-year-later-historic-afghan-airlift-inspires-pride-and-reflection-across-the/"> US airlifted some 120,000 people</a> in two chaotic weeks.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="2jP46I">
About <a href="https://twitter.com/AP/status/1524111314314014721?s=20">78,000 were Afghans</a>, who arrived in the US as part of <a href="https://www.dhs.gov/allieswelcome">Operation Allies Welcome</a>. They were vetted, screened, and stayed for weeks, sometimes months, <a href="https://www.vox.com/22728486/afghanistan-evacuation-us-military-bases-refugee-resettlement-fort-bliss-fort-pickett">at US military bases</a>, before they were resettled in communities around the country. Most of these arrivals were granted humanitarian parole, a two-year temporary status.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="VG4N2f">
Two years later, the majority of these Afghan arrivals are still on parole, their statuses stuck in limbo. That includes thousands of Afghans who supported US troops, or embassies.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="1xLHwQ">
There is a pretty simple fix to all this: <a href="https://www.congress.gov/bill/117th-congress/senate-bill/4787">the Afghan Adjustment Act (AAA)</a>.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="7kqkNA">
The legislation would give Afghan allies in the US a clear pathway to legal permanent residency. <a href="https://www.uscis.gov/about-us/our-history/history-office-and-library/featured-stories-from-the-uscis-history-office-and-library/refugee-timeline">The US used to pass this kind of legislation with some regularity</a>, and most notably did so in the 1970s for <a href="https://www.congress.gov/bill/95th-congress/house-bill/6771?s=1&amp;r=7">tens of thousands of South Asians after the Vietnam War</a>. The Afghan Adjustment Act <a href="https://www.congress.gov/bill/117th-congress/senate-bill/4787">has strong bipartisan support</a> in both chambers of Congress, and a diverse coalition of backers, <a href="https://www.evacuateourallies.org/advocacy/organizational-endorsements-of-the-afghan-adjustment-act">from Afghan groups to immigration advocates</a> to veterans groups to<strong> </strong><a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/2022/12/18/afghanistan-adjustment-act-military-generals/">former top national security and military officials</a>. The issue has <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2021/08/23/democrats-republicans-afghan-interpreter/">traditionally had broad public support</a>, too.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="JNwG0b">
And yet, the Afghan Adjustment Act is stuck in Congress. <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2022/12/19/politics/afghan-adjustment-act-spending-bill/index.html#:~:text=The%20Afghan%20Adjustment%20Act%20will,committee%20level%2C%20the%20source%20said.">It has been that way for more than a year</a>, leaving Afghans in a constant state of uncertainty.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="6hwxF0">
“It’s a microcosm. It’s a very straightforward thing that the US can do to follow through on a promise it made to Afghans,” said Joseph Azam, board chair of the Afghan-American Foundation. “And so far, the government’s demonstrated a manifest inability to deliver on that promise. Which is kind of the story of Afghanistan for the US.”
</p>
<h3 id="NZXhxE">
Why are so many Afghans still in limbo?
</h3>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="QuGYGH">
Parwana Amiri evacuated from Afghanistan in August 2021, with her husband and three kids. Her husband worked as a interpreter for the United States military. In 2014, he applied for a Special Immigration Visa (SIV), available to those who directly assisted the US military or government. They are still waiting.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="sSsvdP">
She and her family are currently in Maryland, where Amiri has started a catering service. But there is a kind of strangeness in trying to build a business, in trying to put down roots, when you don’t know how long it will last. “We don’t know our future after these two years,” Amiri said. “I know we have two more years in [the] US, but I don’t know after the two years what happens.”
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="WD6yqP">
Those two extra years are a result of the Biden administration’s decision to <a href="https://www.cbsnews.com/news/afghan-evacuees-parole-extension-biden-administration/">renew parole for Afghans in the US for another two years</a>, until 2025, which otherwise would have expired this month. It is a reprieve, but an impermanent one. Afghans have work authorization and protection from deportation, but only for now. It depends on — or can be ended — by presidential action. Even with this, Afghans cannot travel, and they cannot bring over their family members, some still at risk <a href="https://www.vox.com/23161802/afghanistan-humanitarian-economic-crisis-taliban-united-states">in a country in complete crisis</a>.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="kk5zOa">
This is the limbo that many Afghans are trapped in. In the aftermath of the Kabul evacuation, the US government estimated about <a href="https://www.dhs.gov/allieswelcome">40 percent of those Afghan arrivals were eligible</a>, or in process, for Special Immigration Visas (SIVs). That program provides a pathway to permanent residency, but it is lengthy and slow-moving. Through 2022, the average SIV processing time was 628 days, though the State Department says it is now at about 314, according to a <a href="https://www.voanews.com/a/visa-program-for-afghans-gains-momentum-many-applicants-trapped-under-taliban-/7129188.html">June report by Voice of America</a>.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="wobqGg">
The Afghans evacuated in 2021 also include journalists, aid workers, human rights activists, and their families, along with others whose lives were endangered in a Taliban-led Afghanistan. Many do not meet the narrow criteria for SIVs. They must instead navigate the even more slow-moving, <a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/news/latino/asylum-seekers-are-limbo-years-immigration-backlog-rcna87228">massively backlogged asylum system</a>.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="ia3LX1">
As <a href="https://www.uscis.gov/sites/default/files/document/outreach-engagements/OnlineAccountOverviewforAfghanNationalsApplyingforRe-Parole.pdf">of May 2023,</a> across all categories of Afghan evacuees, about 2,500 Afghans received asylum, and about 5,600 were approved for green cards — some 8,000 out of around 78,000, <a href="https://www.uscis.gov/sites/default/files/document/outreach-engagements/OnlineAccountOverviewforAfghanNationalsApplyingforRe-Parole.pdf">according to data from United States Citizen and Immigration Services</a>.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="fKLsUY">
The Afghan Adjustment Act is the solution, and it’s not exactly a novel one. “We have examples of it being done in the past, and we really just need to lean into what we already know needs to happen for this Afghan population,” said Srdan Sadikovic, director of US federal advocacy at the International Rescue Committee.<strong> </strong>
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="FiwENI">
The US has passed immigration adjustments periodically throughout history, offering protection to people — <a href="https://guides.loc.gov/latinx-civil-rights/cuban-adjustment-act#:~:text=The%20bipartisan%20Cuban%20Adjustment%20Act,for%20at%20least%20one%20year.">Cubans in 1966</a>, <a href="https://www.govinfo.gov/app/details/COMPS-1382">Nicaraguans and other Central Americans in the 1990s</a> — who would face great risk if they returned to their homelands. The <a href="https://www.congress.gov/bill/95th-congress/house-bill/6771?s=1&amp;r=7">Indo-Chinese Refugee Status Adjustment Act</a>, passed in 1977, granted legal status to Vietnamese and other South Asian refugees evacuated to the US after the fall of Saigon.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="zVpbqy">
The current version of the Afghan Adjustment Act would allow Afghans in the US to become legal permanent residents here, after additional vetting. This had sidelined the legislation in the past, with some Republican lawmakers <a href="https://www.desmoinesregister.com/story/opinion/columnists/iowa-view/2022/11/20/chuck-grassley-afghan-adjustment-act/69658149007/">expressing concerns</a> about the vetting of Afghan evacuees because the Kabul exit was so messy and haphazard. To be clear: All Afghan arrivals went through <a href="https://www.vox.com/22728486/afghanistan-evacuation-us-military-bases-refugee-resettlement-fort-bliss-fort-pickett">thorough vetting and screening before arriving in the US</a>, then waited weeks on US military bases.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="RIRhk1">
The current version of the AAA would also expand the eligibility for SIV recipients, to include members of the Afghan Air Force and the <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2023/04/27/us/politics/female-afghan-soldiers-us.html">Female Tactical Platoon</a>, among others. The legislation would also establish a State Department-led interagency task force to continue the relocation and resettlement of Afghans over the next 10 years — that is, set up potential <a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/investigations/us-left-78000-afghan-allies-ngo-report-rcna18119">processes to keep helping the tens of thousands of people left behind in Afghanistan</a>, or who are currently in third countries.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="Hl7LNK">
These additional pieces may have less of an immediate impact than, say, giving green cards to the thousands of Afghans here, but as Azam says, it at least draws some parameters on the US’s responsibility. “It puts markers down to say, look, it might be really, really, really, really hard to get here. But at least we’re acknowledging that there’s a pathway and there is some process that people can try to go through to get here.”
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="ONQMcT">
Still, the AAA has stalled in Congress. <a href="https://www.congress.gov/bill/117th-congress/senate-bill/4787#:~:text=Introduced%20in%20Senate%20(08%2F07%2F2022)&amp;text=This%20bill%20expands%20eligibility%20for,children)%20and%20addresses%20related%20issues.">The bill was introduced in August 2022</a>, although advocates had been proposing such a plan since the evacuation. A group of <a href="https://www.klobuchar.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/2023/7/klobuchar-graham-coons-moran-blumenthal-murkowski-shaheen-wicker-durbin-tillis-miller-meeks-blumenauer-reintroduce-bipartisan-legislation-to-allow-afghans-allies-in-the-united-states-to-apply-for-permanent-legal-status#:~:text=%E2%80%9CThe%20Afghan%20Adjustment%20Act%20protects,families%20to%20help%20our%20country.">Democratic and Republican co-sponsors in both the House and the Senate</a> reintroduced the bill this July, though lawmakers <a href="https://www.coons.senate.gov/news/press-releases/video-senator-coons-calls-for-passage-of-afghan-adjustment-act-on-senate-floor">failed to bring it for a vote as part of the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA)</a>, the must-pass defense funding bill. There is still a slim chance it could make its way back into the NDAA when Congress returns from recess — but those odds are really, really slim. That leaves an otherwise broadly bipartisan bill still stalled.
</p>
<h3 id="7yTkIv">
A thing the US used to do with some regularity isn’t happening anymore
</h3>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="Iu0cH0">
These adjustment acts are sort of win-win. The AAA would settle immigration status and bring stability to people already in the US. But it would also swiftly clear a backlog in the immigration system.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="hMhqeb">
Which is why versions of adjustment acts have been used as a tool by Congress before, with support from both parties. They make practical and logistical sense — and that is before getting into the moral, political, national security, and humanitarian imperatives.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="CPrI4L">
After the war in Vietnam, both Republicans and Democrats found the political will to grant status to those who had been US allies in Vietnam, in part because of a sense of responsibility. Those, alongside additional efforts to try to bring over US allies were seen as a kind of “moral repair,” said Yael Schacher, director for Americas and Europe at Refugees International. It became a way to mitigate some of the failures in Vietnam.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="QTBj5e">
That sense of responsibility after Vietnam also aligned with the US’s national interests during the Cold War. “The United States wanted to continue representing itself as a country that people fleeing communism wanted to resettle in. This created bipartisan support,” said Jana Lipman, a history professor at Tulane University.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="aIw7ow">
The geopolitics of 2023 are not the same, of course. The Taliban is making itself <a href="https://www.vox.com/world/23543053/taliban-afghanistan-ban-women-ngo-aid-workers">persona non grata on the world stage all on its own</a>, but the US’s treatment of its Afghan allies still undermines the country’s credibility, and could undermine its ability to operate in future conflicts.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="B3Q9z7">
The list of the US’s failures in Afghanistan, under multiple Republican and Democratic administration is <a href="https://www.sigar.mil/">a very, very long one</a>. But, at the most basic level, the United States waged a 20-year war, and enlisted many, many local Afghans in that effort. The US also made promises, especially on things like <a href="https://www.vox.com/22630912/women-afghanistan-taliban-united-states-war">women’s rights</a>. Once the Taliban took over, those who fought alongside the US, and who promoted US policy priorities, were left exposed. The Afghan Adjustment Act is a down payment on some of what America owes Afghanistan.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="tOPrjB">
“It’s not only a humanitarian issue, which it certainly is, but it’s a matter of national security,” said Jennie Murray, president and CEO of the National Immigration Forum.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="fuvpCJ">
These pretty straightforward arguments haven’t yet translated into policy. Some advocates and experts suggested that is because there has been so little bipartisan accountability on the war in Afghanistan as a whole. “It’s a reminder of America’s failings,” said Arash Azizzada, co-founder and co-director of Afghans For a Better Tomorrow.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="SCk7D2">
“I think many are eager to just never talk about this population ever again,” he added, of Afghans. “And it’s easy to ignore as an underresourced and underrepresented and marginalized population.”
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="IMXVK6">
Afghan evacuees have been caught up in America’s larger political debates. No party owns the failures in Afghanistan; but the botched exit happened under President Joe Biden, and Democrats may not necessarily be eager to push that back into the news. The AAA is still an immigration bill, and anti-immigration sentiment within parts of the Republican Party is going to make any such legislation difficult to pass.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="qTzn91">
Case in point: Sen. Tom Cotton (R-AR) <a href="https://www.cotton.senate.gov/news/press-releases/cotton-colleagues-introduce-bill-to-protect-afghan-allies">also recently introduced legislation that would grant</a> Afghan allies a pathway to permanent status. But it also included what some advocates called a “poison pill”: a provision that would limit the president’s authority to grant humanitarian parole. That would make something like the emergency evacuations from Kabul harder to replicate ever again.
</p>
<h3 id="3dShBi">
The AAA is the bare minimum the US owes to Afghanistan
</h3>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="eMNl5W">
The AAA would streamline the legal status for the thousands of evacuees in America right now. But it also begins to remedy the other uncomfortable reality of the US occupation of Afghanistan: all of the thousands left behind.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="Bif6gR">
<a href="https://www.linkedin.com/posts/andrew-sullivan-a2a97755_152000-siv-applicants-left-behind-in-afghanistan-activity-7057537230168281088-a-9M/">The State Department estimated this spring</a> that about 150,000 SIV applicants are still in Afghanistan. The AAA would expand eligibility for SIVs, but there are thousands of other Afghans at risk who don’t meet the SIV definition. That includes some former Afghan government officials, aid workers, activists, women leaders, journalists, and all the people tied to them. <a href="https://www.vox.com/23161802/afghanistan-humanitarian-economic-crisis-taliban-united-states">Afghanistan’s economy is also in freefall</a>, a humanitarian catastrophe spurred, in part, by the US’s withdrawal.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="nJG5SQ">
Granting permanent status to Afghans through AAA would allow them to potentially bring family members to the US. Evacuations from Afghanistan have still happened, <a href="https://www.politico.com/news/2022/08/14/afghanistan-800-evacuated-taliban-00051525">but at a trickle</a>. Tens of thousands of people have fled to other countries — like Pakistan, or Iran — where they are also stuck in limbo. A recent report from Refugees International found <a href="https://www.refugeesinternational.org/reports-briefs/they-left-us-without-any-support-afghans-in-pakistan-waiting-for-solutions/">some 600,000 </a>Afghans have fled to Pakistan since the Taliban takeover. About <a href="https://www.refugeesinternational.org/reports-briefs/they-left-us-without-any-support-afghans-in-pakistan-waiting-for-solutions/">20,000 of them are likely eligible for US programs</a>, but they can’t move forward with their applications because the US and Pakistan are at odds on how to process these applications.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="1tS8Hd">
After Vietnam, and the initial adjustment act, the US adopted programs to try to bring over more South Asian allies, including <a href="https://1997-2001.state.gov/global/prm/fs_000118_eap.html#:~:text=Since%201979%2C%20the%20Orderly%20Departure,boat%20or%20overland%20through%20Cambodia.">1979’s Orderly Departure Program</a>. It required diplomacy and political will. (Vietnam, too, wanted international legitimacy, <a href="https://www.vox.com/23161802/afghanistan-humanitarian-economic-crisis-taliban-united-states">something the Taliban seems unmotivated by so far</a>.) These programs stopped and stalled at some points in the 1980s, but lasted well into the mid-1990s, and the Orderly Departure Program <a href="https://1997-2001.state.gov/global/prm/fs_000118_eap.html#:~:text=Since%201979%2C%20the%20Orderly%20Departure,boat%20or%20overland%20through%20Cambodia.">ultimately admitted more than 500,000 Vietnamese</a> to the United States.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="t5QBh0">
Afghanistan is also going to require investment. “There’s just a lot to be done,” said Schacher, of Refugees International. “Unless we just say, ‘We’re abandoning all these people, and we’re not going to do what we did after Vietnam.’”
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="WcmI8E">
The US needs to grapple with these difficult questions. That is also what makes the Afghan Adjustment Act so frustrating to its backers. It should be the easy part.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="fQZgva">
“Our nation’s moral obligations to Afghans didn’t end when the last plane took off from Kabul,” said Krish O’Mara Vignarajah, president and CEO of Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Service. “It’s how we act now that will define our legacy for generations to come. This is a can that Congress can’t kick down the road again.”
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="UJBDrw">
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="2rHe1G">
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="Fq20oF">
</p></li>
</ul>
<h1 data-aos="fade-right" id="from-the-hindu-sports">From The Hindu: Sports</h1>
<ul>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>England reach first World Cup final despite Kerr stunner</strong> - England, who fell at the semi-final stage in the previous two World Cups, face Spain on Sunday.</p></li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Knee injury ends Prithvi Shaw’s Northamptonshire stint</strong> - Shaw scored a mammoth 244 off 153 balls against Somerset on August 9 and followed it up with an 125 off 76 balls in the match against Durham on August 13 during the One-Day Cup 2023</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>Pakistan pacer Wahab Riaz announces retirement from international cricket</strong> - 38-year-old left-arm pacer Wahab Riaz wants to focus on T20 leagues</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>Djokovic plays first match in U.S. since 2021; loses in doubles</strong> - The Serb returned to the country after 2 years, missing events because of COVID-19 vaccine restrictions</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>Messi magic continues as Inter Miami reach Leagues Cup final</strong> - Lionel Messi scored from distance against Philadelphia Union, and the win means that Miami will play in their first ever CONCACAF Champions League next year</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>Data | Indian judicial data hides more than it reveals in bail cases</strong> - Bail outcomes were not known in 80% of cases, and the underlying offence in 77%</p></li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>India losing credibility globally as one of its States burns amidst ongoing G20 summit: Shashi Tharoor</strong> - Questioning the attitude of the government on Manipur violence, Mr. Tharoor wondered how a government that was not ready to acknowledge the reality on the ground could “bring a solution” for the problem</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>PM Modi did not think Manipur important enough to visit: Sharad Pawar</strong> - Sharad Pawar said that the PM did not consider the issue in Manipur important and was instead addressing election rallies in Madhya Pradesh</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>Training on dairy production</strong> -</p></li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Nilgiris MP A. Raja stops en route to Coimbatore airport, sends accident victim to hospital in his car</strong> - The incident took place on August 15, 2023; Mr. Raja saw an injured two-wheeler rider near the Kaniyur toll plaza and had him lifted into his car and taken to the hospital; the MP then went to the Coimbatore airport in another vehicle</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>Ukrainian prisoners of war say they were tortured at Russian prison</strong> - Former prisoners of war tell the BBC they were abused by Russian guards inside a detention facility.</p></li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Ukraine war: Ship leaves Odesa amid Russia Black Sea attack fears</strong> - It comes as Kyiv said Russian strikes damaged grain facilities in a river port 260km southwest of Odesa.</p></li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>The Killers apologise for offending fans in Georgia with Russian ‘brother’ remark</strong> - Fans booed frontman Brandon Flowers for asking them to welcome a fan from neighbouring Russia.</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>Suspected spies for Russia held in major UK security investigation</strong> - Three Bulgarian nationals suspected of spying in the UK for Russia face trial for “fake passports”.</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>At least 35 die in inferno at petrol station in Dagestan southern Russia</strong> - Fire engulfs an area of 600 sq m (6,460 sq ft) in Makhachkala, in the southern region of Dagestan.</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>Let the review begin—SpaceX takes another step toward launching Starship again</strong> - This milestone was on paper, not in the hustle and bustle of Starbase. - <a href="https://arstechnica.com/?p=1961113">link</a></p></li>
<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>FDA issues safety alert on pregnancy tests after bust on illegal medical lab</strong> - Universal Meditech was behind an illegal lab discovered in Reedley, California. - <a href="https://arstechnica.com/?p=1961109">link</a></p></li>
<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Maui truthers are so dumb they’re using a Falcon 9 photo as wildfire evidence</strong> - You can always count on conspiracy theorists to make a tragedy worse. - <a href="https://arstechnica.com/?p=1961055">link</a></p></li>
<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Ongoing scam tricks kids playing Roblox and Fortnite</strong> - The scams are often disguised as promotions, and they can all be linked to one network. - <a href="https://arstechnica.com/?p=1961085">link</a></p></li>
<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>ISPs complain that listing every fee is too hard, urge FCC to scrap new rule</strong> - Broadband industry fights requirement to “list all recurring monthly fees.” - <a href="https://arstechnica.com/?p=1961031">link</a></p></li>
</ul>
<h1 data-aos="fade-right" id="from-jokes-subreddit">From Jokes Subreddit</h1>
<ul>
<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>My girlfriend is from India. She likes to tease me by sending a pic of herself clothed, and then one of her nude.</strong> - <!-- SC_OFF --></p>
<div class="md">
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
She calls it sari, not sari.
</p>
</div>
<!-- SC_ON -->
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"> submitted by <a href="https://www.reddit.com/user/TaurusX3"> /u/TaurusX3 </a> <br/> <span><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/Jokes/comments/15rzxk5/my_girlfriend_is_from_india_she_likes_to_tease_me/">[link]</a></span> <span><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/Jokes/comments/15rzxk5/my_girlfriend_is_from_india_she_likes_to_tease_me/">[comments]</a></span></p></li>
<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>A Roman centurion goes to the movie theater. When the movie’s over, he asks for a refund.</strong> - <!-- SC_OFF --></p>
<div class="md">
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
“No one told me that my movie was going to be a pornographic one,” the centurion tells the ticket-taker.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
The ticket-taker says, “Sir, look at the marquee. It says right here what kind of movies we play here.”
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
Looking back up at the marquee, the centurion responds “You lie! There are most certainly not 30 movies!”
</p>
</div>
<!-- SC_ON -->
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"> submitted by <a href="https://www.reddit.com/user/Burmy87"> /u/Burmy87 </a> <br/> <span><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/Jokes/comments/15s6eeo/a_roman_centurion_goes_to_the_movie_theater_when/">[link]</a></span> <span><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/Jokes/comments/15s6eeo/a_roman_centurion_goes_to_the_movie_theater_when/">[comments]</a></span></p></li>
<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>An exam was taking place in Oxford’s oldest and most traditional college…</strong> - <!-- SC_OFF --></p>
<div class="md">
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
The ancient hall was packed with students in deep concentration.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
Halfway through, a student stood up, banged his desk and loudly demanded a pint of beer.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
The head examiner, furious at the disruption, asked him to ‘explain yourself at once’.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
The student cited section 7.b of a long forgotten 13th century charter which stated students must receive a pint of ale at the mid-point of all exams.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
After finding a copy of the charter and seeing the student was right, the examiner begrudgingly dispatched an assistant to fetch a beer.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
As the student smugly sipped on his pint, the head examiner suddenly announced, “You are expelled from this college, effective immediately!”
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
“Why?”, asked the student.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
“For entering an exam hall without your sword.”
</p>
</div>
<!-- SC_ON -->
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"> submitted by <a href="https://www.reddit.com/user/farcarcus"> /u/farcarcus </a> <br/> <span><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/Jokes/comments/15sf4ul/an_exam_was_taking_place_in_oxfords_oldest_and/">[link]</a></span> <span><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/Jokes/comments/15sf4ul/an_exam_was_taking_place_in_oxfords_oldest_and/">[comments]</a></span></p></li>
<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>The teacher fell asleep in class and a little naughty boy walked up to him…</strong> - <!-- SC_OFF --></p>
<div class="md">
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
Little boy: “Teacher are you … sleeping in class?”
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
Teacher : “No I am not sleeping in class.”
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
Little boy : “What were you doing sir ?”
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
Teacher : " I was talking to God."
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
The next day the naughty boy fell asleep in class and the same teacher walks up to him…
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
Teacher : “young man, you are sleeping in my class.”
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
Little boy : “No not me sir,I am not sleeping.”
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
Angry teacher: “What were you doing.??”
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
Little boy : “I was talking to God.”
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
Angry teacher: “What did He say??”
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
Little boy : “God said He never spoke to you yesterday…”
</p>
</div>
<!-- SC_ON -->
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"> submitted by <a href="https://www.reddit.com/user/orgasmic2021"> /u/orgasmic2021 </a> <br/> <span><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/Jokes/comments/15rtt5f/the_teacher_fell_asleep_in_class_and_a_little/">[link]</a></span> <span><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/Jokes/comments/15rtt5f/the_teacher_fell_asleep_in_class_and_a_little/">[comments]</a></span></p></li>
<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Maid asked to Increase her Pay and how she uses his Husband</strong> - <!-- SC_OFF --></p>
<div class="md">
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
The wife asked “Why do you think you deserve a pay increase?”
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
The Maid said: “There are three reasons. The first is that I iron better than you.”
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
The Wife asked: “Who said that?”
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
The Maid said: “Your husband.”
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
Wife: “Oh.”
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
Then Maid said: “The second reason is that I am a better cook than you.”
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
The Wife asked: “Who said that?”
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
Again Maid said: “Your husband.”
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
Wife: “Oh.”
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
Then Maid said: “The third reason is that I am better at sex than you.”
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
The Wife questioned: “Did my husband say that as well?”
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
Then Maid answered: “No, the gardener did.”
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
Finally Wife: “So how much do you want?”
</p>
</div>
<!-- SC_ON -->
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"> submitted by <a href="https://www.reddit.com/user/ForeignChocolate6795"> /u/ForeignChocolate6795 </a> <br/> <span><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/Jokes/comments/15s35zo/maid_asked_to_increase_her_pay_and_how_she_uses/">[link]</a></span> <span><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/Jokes/comments/15s35zo/maid_asked_to_increase_her_pay_and_how_she_uses/">[comments]</a></span></p></li>
</ul>
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