Unraveling antiviral efficacy of multifunctional immunomodulatory triterpenoids against SARS-COV-2 targeting virus-specific enzymes -
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+The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2) may be over, but its variants continue to emerge, and patients with mild symptoms having long COVID is still under investigation. SARS-CoV-2 infection leading to elevated cytokine levels and suppressed immune responses set off cytokine storm, fatal systemic inflammation, tissue damage, and multi-organ failure. Thus, drug molecules targeting the SARS-CoV-2 virus-specific proteins or capable of suppressing the host inflammatory responses to viral infection would provide an effective antiviral therapy against emerging variants of concern. Evolutionarily conserved papain-like protease (PLpro) and main protease (Mpro) play an indispensable role in the virus life cycle and immune evasion. Direct-acting antivirals targeting both these viral proteases represent an attractive antiviral strategy that is also expected to reduce viral inflammation. The present study has evaluated the antiviral and anti-inflammatory potential of natural triterpenoids: azadirachtin, withanolide_A, and isoginkgetin. These molecules inhibit the Mpro and PLpro proteolytic activities with half-maximal inhibitory concentrations (IC50) values ranging from 1.42 to 32.7 M. Isothermal titration calorimetry (ITC) analysis validated the binding of these compounds to Mpro and PLpro. As expected, the two compounds, withanolide_A and azadirachtin exhibit potent anti-SARS-CoV-2 activity in cell-based assays, with half-maximum effective concentration (EC50) values of 21.73 M and 31.19 M, respectively. The anti-inflammatory role of azadirachtin and withanolide_A when assessed using HEK293T cells were found to significantly reduce the levels of CXCL10, TNF, IL6, and IL8 cytokines, which are elevated in severe cases of COVID-19. Interestingly, azadirachtin and withanolide_A were also found to rescue the decreased type-I interferon response (IFN-1). The results of this study clearly highlight the role of triterpenoids as effective antiviral molecules that target SARS-CoV-2 specific enzymes and also host immune pathways involved in virus mediated inflammation.
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DEFEN-CE: Social Dialogue in Defence of Vulnerable Groupsin Post?COVID-19 Labour Markets. Report on Czechia and Slovakia -
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+This report is part of the EC-funded research project DEFEN-CE: Social Dialogue in Defence of Vulnerable Groups in Post-COVID-19 Labour Markets (VS/2021/0196). It scrutinizes how social partners influenced COVID-19-related policy responses towards vulnerable groups in the labour market, and whether this experience created opportunities for strengthening social dialogue in general. The empirical focus is on Czechia and Slovakia as representatives of embedded neoliberal countries. This means liberalizing labour market policies during their economic transition starting in the 1990s, but at the same time, anchoring some institutional mechanisms of policy-making, including social dialogue at the national level. The analysis is based on new empirical data in two dimensions: âą primary data on policy measures relevant for the vulnerable groups in the labour market, categorized in a standard database of the most important COVID-19 measures relevant for vulnerable groups. âą 19 original semi-structured interviews with employer organizations, trade unions, governments, and NGOs in Czechia and Slovakia, implemented in 2022-2023.
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DEFEN-CE: Social Dialogue in Defence of Vulnerable Groups in Post-COVID-19 Labour Markets. Report on Turkey -
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+This report is part of an EU-wide project on the social dialogue regarding labour relations during the Covid-19 pandemic. More specifically the report aims to answer the following questions: 1. What public policy and social dialogue measures targeting the selected vulnerable groups were implemented for employment and social protection during the COVID-19 pandemic 2020-2022? 2. To what extent and how did social dialogue play a role in the implementation of social and employment rights of selected vulnerable groups in the COVID-19 pandemic between 2020 and 2022? 3. What lessons and opportunities does the COVID-19 pandemic yield for strengthening social dialogue in the studied countries? In the report, secondary and primary data sources are combined. Labour market and industrial relations analysis largely rely on existing literature. Social policies during the Covid-19 pandemic are based on the Turkish DEFEN-CE Database, which combines multiple sources such as international reports, official documents, reports from trade unions and employersâ organizations, and academic literature. To understand the role of social partners in the defense of vulnerable groups, the report uses 9 semi-structured interviews. 3 Trade Union and 3 Employer Associations from different confederations representing workers and employers across different sectors and sizes are selected to provide a broad range of opinions. Additionally, two NGOs that were quite active during the pandemic and the Turkish Medical Association as one of the most vocal groups and the representative of healthcare sector workers were chosen for interviews. No government officials, either at the local or national level, were willing or able to participate in the interviews. All interviews were analysed using qualitative content analysis based on a DEFEN-CE coding scheme.
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Evolutionary arms race between SARS-CoV-2 and interferon signaling via dynamic interaction with autophagy. -
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+SARS-CoV-2 emerged, and is evolving to efficiently infect humans worldwide. SARS-CoV-2 evades early innate recognition, interferon signaling activated only in bystander cells. This balance of innate activation and viral evasion has important consequences, but the pathways involved are incompletely understood. Here we find that autophagy genes regulate innate immune signaling, impacting the basal set point of interferons, and thus permissivity to infection. Mechanistically, autophagy genes negatively regulate MAVS, and this low basal level of MAVS is efficiently antagonized by SARS-CoV-2 ORF9b, blocking interferon activation in infected cells. However, upon loss of autophagy increased MAVS overcomes ORF9b-mediated antagonism suppressing infection. This has led to the evolution of SARS-CoV-2 variants to express higher levels of ORF9b, allowing SARS-CoV-2 to replicate under conditions of increased MAVS signaling. Altogether, we find a critical role of autophagy in the regulation of innate immunity and uncover an evolutionary trajectory of SARS-CoV-2 ORF9b to overcome host defenses.
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The Impact of SIV-Induced Immunodeficiency on Clinical Manifestation, Immune Response, and Viral Dynamics in SARS-CoV-2 Coinfection -
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+Persistent and uncontrolled SARS-CoV-2 replication in immunocompromised individuals has been observed and may be a contributing source of novel viral variants that continue to drive the pandemic. Importantly, the effects of immunodeficiency associated with chronic HIV infection on COVID-19 disease and viral persistence have not been directly addressed in a controlled setting. Here we conducted a pilot study wherein two pigtail macaques (PTM) chronically infected with SIVmac239 were exposed to SARS-CoV-2 and monitored for six weeks for clinical disease, viral replication, and viral evolution, and compared to our previously published cohort of SIV-naive PTM infected with SARS-CoV-2. At the time of SARS-CoV-2 infection, one PTM had minimal to no detectable CD4+ T cells in gut, blood, or bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL), while the other PTM harbored a small population of CD4+ T cells in all compartments. Clinical signs were not observed in either PTM; however, the more immunocompromised PTM exhibited a progressive increase in pulmonary infiltrating monocytes throughout SARS-CoV-2 infection. Single-cell RNA sequencing (scRNAseq) of the infiltrating monocytes revealed a less activated/inert phenotype. Neither SIV-infected PTM mounted detectable anti-SARS-CoV-2 T cell responses in blood or BAL, nor anti-SARS-CoV-2 neutralizing antibodies. Interestingly, despite the diminished cellular and humoral immune responses, SARS-CoV-2 viral kinetics and evolution were indistinguishable from SIV-naive PTM in all sampled mucosal sites (nasal, oral, and rectal), with clearance of virus by 3-4 weeks post infection. SIV-induced immunodeficiency significantly impacted immune responses to SARS-CoV-2 but did not alter disease progression, viral kinetics or evolution in the PTM model. SIV-induced immunodeficiency alone may not be sufficient to drive the emergence of novel viral variants.
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The SHOW COVID-19 cohort: methods and rationale for examining the statewide impact of COVID-19 on the social determinants of health -
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+Background: National and large city mortality and morbidity data emerged during the early years of the COVID-19 pandemic, yet statewide data to assess the impact COVID-19 had across urban and rural landscapes on subpopulations was lacking. The SHOW COVID-19 cohort was established to provide descriptive and longitudinal data to examine the influence the social determinants of health had on COVID-19 related outcomes. Methods: Participants were recruited from the 5,742 adults in the Survey of the Health of Wisconsin (SHOW) cohort who were all residents of Wisconsin, United States when they joined the cohort between 2008-2019. Online surveys were administered at three timepoints during 2020-2021. Survey topics included COVID-19 exposure, testing and vaccination, COVID-19 impact on economic wellbeing, healthcare access, mental and emotional health, caregiving, diet, lifestyle behaviors, social cohesion, and resilience. Results: A total of 2,304 adults completed at least one COVID-19 online survey, with n=1,090 completing all three survey timepoints. Non-Whites were 2-3 times more likely to report having had COVID-19 compared to Whites, females were more likely than males to experience disruptions in their employment, and those with children in the home were more likely to report moderate to high levels of stress compared to adults without children. Conclusion: Longitudinal, statewide cohorts are important for investigating how the social determinants of health affect health and well-being during the first years of a pandemic and offer insight into future pandemic preparation. The data are available for researchers and cohort is active for continued and future follow-up.
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Becoming A Resilient Scientist Series: An Intervention Program -
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+Compared to the general population, science trainees experience challenges and heightened stressors that often lead to adverse mental health outcomes. With COVID-19, the stressors of social distancing, isolation, truncated lab time, and uncertainty about the future have all likely exacerbated these issues. Now, more than ever, practical and effective interventions are vitally needed to address the core causes of stress among science trainees and increase their resilience. This paper introduces a new resilience program targeted to biomedical trainees and scientists - Becoming a Resilient Scientist Series (BRS), a multi-part workshop complemented by facilitated group discussions all aimed at bolstering resilience, particularly in the context of academic and research environments. To assess the program9s efficacy, participants completed resilience measures and related assessments before and after completing the series. The results demonstrate that BRS significantly enhances trainee resilience (primary outcome) and reduces perceived stress, anxiety, and work-related presenteeism, as well as increased adaptability, self-awareness, and self-efficacy (secondary outcomes). Furthermore, program participants reported a high level of satisfaction, a strong willingness to recommend the program to others, and perceived positive changes in their resilience skills. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first resilience program designed explicitly for biomedical trainees and scientists, tailored to their unique professional culture and work environment.
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Unsupervised identification of significant lineages of SARS-CoV-2 through scalable machine learning methods -
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+Since its emergence in late 2019, SARS-CoV-2 has diversified into a large number of lineages and globally caused multiple waves of infection. Novel lineages have the potential to spread rapidly and internationally if they have higher intrinsic transmissibility and/or can evade host immune responses, as has been seen with the Alpha, Delta, and Omicron variants of concern (VoC). They can also cause increased mortality and morbidity if they have increased virulence, as was seen for Alpha and Delta, but not Omicron. Phylogenetic methods provide the gold standard for representing the global diversity of SARS-CoV-2 and to identify newly emerging lineages. However, these methods are computationally expensive, struggle when datasets get too large, and require manual curation to designate new lineages. These challenges together with the increasing volumes of genomic data available provide a motivation to develop complementary methods that can incorporate all of the genetic data available, without down-sampling, to extract meaningful information rapidly and with minimal curation. Here, we demonstrate the utility of using algorithmic approaches based on word-statistics to represent whole sequences, bringing speed, scalability, and interpretability to the construction of genetic topologies, and while not serving as a substitute for current phylogenetic analyses the proposed methods can be used as a complementary approach to identify and confirm new emerging variants.
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Social Dialogue in Defence of Vulnerable Groups in Post-COVID-19 Labour Markets. EU-Level Report -
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+The COVID-19 pandemic is an unprecedented health crisis that has caused far-reaching life consequences. The impact of COVID-19 and the measures that aimed to protect lives have triggered a social and economic crisis across the globe. This crisis calls for social scientists and researchers to study the shortcomings in social and economic preparedness and responses to the pandemic. The Social Dialogue in Defence of Vulnerable Groups in the Post-COVID-19 Labour Markets project (the DEFEN-CE project), funded by the Directorate-General for Employment, the European Commission, aims to examine institutional strategies and power relations in social protection and policymaking and policy implementation to protect labour markets and workers by analysing the governance of vulnerable groups in (post) COVID-19 labour markets as well as to produce research-based knowledge and expertise on the protection of vulnerable groups at the EU level, in the EU Member States and in the candidate countries. This report emphasises the institutional strategies and power relations among social partners and stakeholders at the EU level and highlights key findings from country case studies. The research questions are threefold. 1) What public policy and social dialogue measures targeting the selected vulnerable groups were implemented for employment and social protection during the COVID-19 pandemic 2020â2022? 2) How and to what extent did social dialogue play a role in the implementation of the social and employment rights of selected vulnerable groups in the COVID-19 pandemic between 2020 and 2022? 3) What lessons and opportunities does the COVID-19 pandemic provide for strengthening social dialogue at the EU level? DEFEN-CE employed a mixed-method approach combining both quantitative and qualitative research methods. The data are comprised of datasets, policy documents, scientific literature, existing statistical data, and semi-structured interviews. In this EU-level research, semi-structured interviews were conducted with 11 respondents: representatives from the European Parliament, trade unions, non-governmental organisations, and a European federation organisation representing domestic employers. It is important to note that the research team invited representatives from the European Commission to participate in the interviews but received no reply. (See the list of respondents in the appendices). DEFEN-CEâs EU-level study aimed to contribute to social dialogue research and the theoretical understanding of vulnerability. Relevant concepts and approaches to deepen our understanding of vulnerability are employed as the foundation for identifying âvulnerable groupsâ in connection to the labour market. Furthermore, the purpose of this study is to identify the lessons learned by pinpointing crucial areas of policy development and implementation and necessary coordination mechanisms among social partners and by showcasing best practices.
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DEFEN-CE: Social Dialogue in Defence of Vulnerable Groups in Post-COVID-19 Labour Markets. Report on Latvia and Lithuania -
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+This is a comparative country report of Latvia and Lithuania for the project DEFEN-CE: Social Dialogue in Defence of Vulnerable Groups in Post-COVID-19 Labour Markets. DEFEN-CE is a research project funded by the Directorate-General for Employment, the European Commission (Grant number: VS/2021/0196). The project investigates the experience of various stakeholders with the design and implementation of COVID-19-related policies relevant to work and employment in EU Member States (Finland, Sweden, Netherlands, Germany, Latvia, Lithuania, Czechia, Slovakia, Italy, and Spain) and two candidate countries, Serbia and Turkey. The aim of the project is to identify the role of social dialogue in facilitating policy implementation that addresses the labour market situation of vulnerable groups in the post-COVID-19 labour markets. With this aim in mind, the report seeks to answer three main research questions from a comparative perspective, emphasising similarities and differences between Latviaâs and Lithuaniaâs pandemic response, industrial relations (with a key focus on social dialogue structures and interactions), policy design, and protection of vulnerable groups. 1. What public policy and social dialogue measures targeting selected vulnerable groups were implemented for employment and social protection during the COVID-19 pandemic between 2020 and 2022? 2. To what extent and how did social dialogue play a role in the implementation of social and employment rights of selected vulnerable groups during the COVID-19 pandemic between 2020 and 2022? 3. What lessons and opportunities does the COVID-19 pandemic yield for strengthening social dialogue in the studied countries? The report mixes analysis and findings based on the construction of country-specific Defence-Databases (one for Latvia and one for Lithuania) and qualitative interviews with national stakeholders. The respective database contains information on almost 60 countries-specific Covid-19 policies that have been gathered from international databases (e.g., Eurofound, Eurostat, and ICTWSS), national and international policy documents and legislation, reports from trade unions and employersâ organisations, and academic literature. The interviews that complement the general information provided from the databases were conducted with representatives from trade unions, employersâ organisations and the government. In total, 10 interviews were done in Latvia, and 10 interviews were done in Lithuania (see Annex 1 and 2). Interview data were analysed based on qualitative content analysis using the DEFEN-CE coding scheme.
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Locating the Processes of Non-State Relief Work during the Covid-19 Lockdown in Delhi: Lessons from the Field Towards an Inclusive Approach to Care and Social Protection - A Policy Brief -
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+This policy brief emanates from an ISST-conducted study titled âLocating the Processes of Non-state Relief Work during the Covid-19 Lockdown in Delhi,â with a focus on informal settlements. Employing qualitative case study methodologies, this research delved into the mechanics of non-state relief work conducted during the pandemic in Delhi. Four slum communitiesâYamuna Khadar, Sanjay Camp, Seelampur, and Bawana JJ colonyâwere purposively selected as case study sites due to their varied characteristics. Data was collected via in-depth semi-structured interviews with key actors actively engaged in relief efforts from December 2020 to June 2021. The study illuminated the complex dynamics of relief efforts within the realm of the care economy. It unveiled the intricate interplay between gaps in the stateâs social protection systems, the endeavours of non-state entities, and the vulnerabilities faced by families residing in informal settlements. These dynamics collectively brought forth the immediate socio-economic challenges posed during the national lockdown.
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Moralized Attitudes Toward the Unvaccinated During the Pandemic -
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+Non-compliance with public health advice became an object of moral condemnation during the COVID-19 pandemic. Studies have shown that media framing may affect the strength of moral attitudes and emotional responses. However, the process of attitude moralization by framing and the role emotions have in this process are inadequately understood. In this study, we examine media framesâ impact on emotional reactions to and moral attitudes toward unvaccinated individuals. We conducted a survey experiment (N = 482) where participants were randomly assigned to one of three groups. We presented each group a news story about COVID-19 vaccines with one of the following frames: neutral (control group), episodic, and thematic. After framing, we measured respondentsâ emotions regarding and moral attitudes toward the unvaccinated. We found that compared to the control group, the episodic frame reduced negative emotions and increased positive emotions toward the unvaccinated. Also, the episodic frame mitigated the strength of moral attitudes toward the unvaccinated. The thematic frame had no statistically significant effect on emotions or moral attitudes compared to the control group. The mediation analysis confirmed that negative and positive emotions mediated the difference in moral attitudes toward the unvaccinated.
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Portrait of Mental Health Identified by People with the Post-Covid Syndrome -
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+Aims: The Post-COVID-19 syndrome (PCS) represents an epidemic within the COVID-19 pandemic, with potentially serious consequences for affected individuals, the healthcare system, and society at large. Facing a new and poorly understood health condition, this study aimed to produce a patient-centered understanding of mental health symptom patterns, functional impact, and intervention priorities. Methods: A cross-sectional analysis of the first 414 participants in a longitudinal study recruited over a 5-month from September 2022 to January 2023 was carried out involving people from Quebec who self-identified as having symptoms of PCS. People were asked to name areas of their mental health affected by PCS using the structure of the Patient Generated Index (PGI), an individualized measure suited to eliciting the most frequent and most bothersome symptoms. The PGI was supplemented with a set of patient-reported outcome measures across the rubrics of the Wilson-Cleary model. The text threads from the PGI were grouped into topics using BERTopic analysis. Results: Twenty topics were identified from 818 text threads referring to PCS mental health symptoms nominated using the PGI format. 35% of threads were identified as relating to anxiety, discussed in terms of five topics: generalized/social anxiety, fear/worry, post-traumatic stress, panic, and nervous. 29% of threads were identified as relating to low mood, represented by five topics: depression, discouragement, emotional distress, sadness, and loneliness. A cognitive domain (22% of threads) was covered by four topics referring to concentration, memory, brain fog, and mental fatigue. Topics related to frustration, anger, irritability. and mood swings (7%) were considered as one domain and there were separate topics related to motivation, insomnia, and isolation. Conclusion: This novel method of digital transformation of unstructured text data uncovered different ways in which people think about classical mental health domains. This information could be used to evaluate the extent to which existing measures cover the content identified by people with PCS or to justify the development of a new measure of the mental health impact of PCS.
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Gender inequalities in the disruption of long-term life satisfaction trajectories during the COVID-19 pandemic and the role of time use: evidence from the 1970 British birth cohort -
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+Background. The COVID-19 pandemic has disproportionately impacted women9s mental health, although most evidence has focused on mental illbeing outcomes. Previous research suggests that gendered differences in time-use may explain this disparity, as women generally spend more time doing psychologically taxing activities than men. We investigated gender differences in the long-term trajectories of life satisfaction, how these were impacted during the pandemic, and the role of time-use differences in explaining gender inequalities. Methods. We used data from 6766 (56.2% women) members of the 1970 British Cohort Study (BCS70), a nationally representative birth cohort of people born in Great Britain in 1970, who were alive and residing in the UK between May 2020 and March 2021. Life satisfaction was prospectively assessed between the ages of 26 (1996) and 51 (2021) using a single question with responses ranging from 0 (lowest) to 10 (highest). We analysed life satisfaction trajectories using piecewise latent growth curve models and investigated whether gender differences in the change in the life satisfaction trajectories with the pandemic were explained by self-reported time spent doing different paid and unpaid activities. Findings. Women had consistently higher life satisfaction than men prior to the pandemic (Îintercept,unadjusted=0.213 [95% CI: 0.087, 0.340], p=.001) and experienced a more accelerated decline with the pandemic onset (Îquad2,unadjusted=-0.018 [-0.026, -0.011], p<.001). Time-use differences did not account for the more accelerated decrease in women9s life satisfaction levels with the pandemic (Îquad2,adjusted=-0.016 [-0.031, -0.001], p=.035). Interpretation. Our study shows pronounced gender inequalities in the impact of the pandemic on the long-term life satisfaction trajectories of adults in their 50s, with women losing their historical advantage over men. Self-reported time-use differences did not account for these inequalities, suggesting that they could be linked to other factors including the 9mental load9 (invisible, unrecognised labour disproportionately undertook by women) or the menopausal transition.
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Virtual and remote opioid poisoning education and naloxone distribution programs: a scoping review -
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+The opioid poisoning crisis is a complex and multi-faceted global epidemic with far-reaching public health effects. Opioid Poisoning Education and Naloxone Distribution (OPEND) programs destigmatize and legitimize harm reduction measures while increasing participantsâ ability to administer naloxone and other life-saving interventions in opioid poisoning emergencies. While virtual OPEND programs existed prior to the COVID-19 pandemic and were shown to be effective in improving knowledge of opioid poisoning response, they were not widely implemented and evaluated. The COVID-19 pandemic brought both urgent and sustained interest in virtual health services, including harm reduction interventions and OPEND programs. We aimed to assess the scope of literature related to fully virtual OPEND programming, with or without naloxone distribution, worldwide. A search of the literature was conducted and yielded 7,722 articles, of which 31 studies fit the inclusion criteria. Type and content of the educational component, duration of training, scales used, and key findings were extracted and synthesized. Our search shows that virtual and remote OPEND programs appear effective in increasing knowledge, confidence, and preparedness to respond to opioid poisoning events while improving stigma regarding people who use substances. This effect is shown to be true in a wide variety of populations but is significantly relevant when focused on laypersons. Interventions ranged from the use of videos, websites, telephone calls, and virtual reality simulations. A lack of consensus was found regarding the duration of the activity and the scales used to measure its effectiveness. Despite increasing efforts, access remains an issue, with most interventions addressing White people in urban areas. These findings provide insights for planning, implementation, and evaluation of future virtual and remote OPEND programs.
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A Multicenter, Adaptive, Randomized, doublE-blinded, Placebo-controlled Study in Participants With Long COVID-19: The REVIVE Trial - Conditions: Long COVID-19 Syndrome; Chronic Fatigue Syndrome Interventions: Drug: Fluvoxamine Maleate 100 MG; Drug: Placebo; Drug: Metformin Extended Release Oral Tablet Sponsors: Cardresearch Recruiting
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Clinical Evaluation of the Panbioâą COVID-19/Flu A&B Panel - Conditions: COVID-19; Influenza A; Influenza B Interventions: Diagnostic Test: Panbioâą Sponsors: Abbott Rapid Dx Not yet recruiting
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Connecting Friends and Health Workers to Boost COVID-19 Vaccination in Latino Communities - Conditions: COVID-19; Vaccine Interventions: Behavioral: REDES; Behavioral: Control Sponsors: Johns Hopkins University; National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities (NIMHD); Rutgers University Recruiting
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Influence of Hypoxic, Normobaric and Hypobaric Training on the Immunometabolism of Post-covid-19 Athletes - Conditions: Normobaric Hypoxia; Hypoventilation; Normoxia Interventions: Other: Repeated sprint Sponsors: Faculdade de Motricidade Humana; University of Sao Paulo; Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de NĂvel Superior. Not yet recruiting
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The Safety and Tolerability of A8G6 COVID-19 Neutralization Antibody Combined With Nasal Spray - Conditions: SARS-CoV-2; Prevention Interventions: Biological: A8G6 SARS-CoV-2 Neutralization Antibody combination nasal spray; Other: A8G6 SARS-CoV-2 Neutralization Antibody nasal excipient Sponsors: The Second Affiliated Hospital of Chongqing Medical University Recruiting
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Building Engagement Using Financial Incentives Trial - Colorectal Cancer Screening - Conditions: Health Behavior; Colorectal Cancer; Influenza; COVID-19; Vaccine Hesitancy; Vaccine-Preventable Diseases; Healthcare Patient Acceptance Interventions: Behavioral: Financial incentive for colorectal cancer screening; Behavioral: Financial incentive for flu shot; Behavioral: Financial incentive for COVID-19 shot Sponsors: Tulane University; National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI) Recruiting
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Clinical Evaluation of the Panbioâą COVID-19/Flu A&B Panel to Support Home Use - Conditions: COVID-19; Influenza A; Influenza Type B Interventions: Diagnostic Test: Panbioâą COVID-19/Flu A&B Panel Sponsors: Abbott Rapid Dx Recruiting
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Effects of Rehabilitation Combined With a Maintenance Program Compared to Rehabilitation Alone in Post-COVID-19 - Conditions: Post-COVID-19 Syndrome Interventions: Procedure: Rehabilitation combined to a digital maintenance program; Procedure: Rehabilitation without maintenance program Sponsors: Schön Klinik Berchtesgadener Land; Bavarian State Ministry of Health and Care (Funding); Deutsche Rentenversicherung Bund (German pension insurance) (Design); Betriebskrankenkassen Landesverband Bayern (Bavarian health insurance) (Design) Not yet recruiting
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Child and Adolescent Mental Health Literacy for Primary Schools Teachers. A Multicomponent Intervention - Conditions: Child Mental Health Interventions: Behavioral: Child Mental Health Literacy Program Sponsors: Universidad de Valparaiso Recruiting
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Brief Digital Intervention to Increase COVID-19 Vaccination Among Individuals With Anxiety or Depression - Conditions: Misinformation; Vaccine Hesitancy; Anxiety; Depression; COVID-19 Interventions: Behavioral: Attitudinal inoculation; Behavioral: Cognitive-behavioral therapy-informed intervention; Behavioral: Conventional public health messaging Sponsors: City University of New York, School of Public Health; University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill Not yet recruiting
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From PubMed
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Engineered Nanovesicles Expressing Bispecific Single Chain Variable Fragments to Protect against SARS-CoV-2 Infection - Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), has resulted in high morbidity and mortality rates worldwide. Although the epidemic has been controlled in many areas and numerous patients have been successfully treated, the risk of reinfection persists due to the low neutralizing antibody titers and weak immune response. To provide long-term immune protection for infected patients, novel bispecific CB6/dendritic cell (DC)-specificâŠ
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Molecular Design of Novel Inhibitor by TargetingIL-6Rα using Combined Pharmacophore and Experimentally Verified Plant Products with Scaffold-Hopping Techniques: A Dual Therapeutic Strategy for COVID-19 and Cancer - The IL-6/IL-6R/gp130 complex serves as a significant indicator of cytokine release syndrome in COVID-19 and chronic inflammation, increasing the risk of cancer. Therefore, we identified IL-6Rα as a potential target to block gp130 interaction. Notably, there has been no reception of approval for an orally available drug to serve this purpose, to date. In this study, we targeted IL-6Rα to inhibit IL-6Rα/gp130 interaction. The selection of the lead candidate L821 involved the amalgamation of threeâŠ
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The matrix metalloproteinase ADAM10 supports hepatitis C virus entry and cell-to-cell spread via its sheddase activity - Hepatitis C virus (HCV) exploits the four entry factors CD81, scavenger receptor class B type I (SR-BI, also known as SCARB1), occludin, and claudin-1 as well as the co-factor epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) to infect human hepatocytes. Here, we report that the disintegrin and matrix metalloproteinase 10 (ADAM10) associates with CD81, SR-BI, and EGFR and acts as HCV host factor. Pharmacological inhibition, siRNA-mediated silencing and genetic ablation of ADAM10 reduced HCV infectionâŠ.
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Structure-based virtual screening, ADMET analysis, and molecular dynamics simulation of Moroccan natural compounds as candidates for the SARS-CoV-2 inhibitors - The lack of treatments and vaccines effective against SARS-CoV-2 has forced us to explore natural compounds that could potentially inhibit this virus. Additionally, Morocco is renowned for its rich plant diversity and traditional medicinal uses, which inspires us to leverage our cultural heritage and the abundance of natural resources in our country for therapeutic purposes. In this study, an extensive investigation was conducted to gather a collection of phytoconstituents extracted fromâŠ
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The double-edged sword of the hippocampus-ventromedial prefrontal cortex resting-state connectivity in stress susceptibility and resilience: A prospective study - The hippocampus has long been considered a pivotal region implicated in both stress susceptibility and resilience. A wealth of evidence from animal and human studies underscores the significance of hippocampal functional connectivity with the ventromedial prefrontal cortex (vmPFC) in these stress-related processes. However, there remains a scarcity of research that explores and contrasts the roles of hippocampus-vmPFC connectivity in stress susceptibility and resilience when facing a real-lifeâŠ
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Influenza A virus replication has a stronger dependency on Raf/MEK/ERK signaling pathway activity than SARS-CoV-2 - The recent COVID-19 pandemic again highlighted the urgent need for broad-spectrum antivirals, both for therapeutic use in acute viral infection and for pandemic preparedness in general. The targeting of host cell factors hijacked by viruses during their replication cycle presents one possible strategy for development of broad-spectrum antivirals. By inhibiting the Raf/MEK/ERK signaling pathway, a central kinase cascade of eukaryotic cells, which is being exploited by numerous viruses ofâŠ
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Coffee as a dietary strategy to prevent SARS-CoV-2 infection - CONCLUSIONS: This study verified moderate coffee consumption, including decaffeination, can provide a new guideline for the prevention of SARS-CoV-2. Based on the results, we also suggest a coffee-drinking plan for people to prevent infection in the post-COVID-19 era.
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Weak SARS-CoV-2-specific responses of TIGIT-expressing CD8+ T cells in people living with HIV after a third dose of a SARS-CoV-2 inactivated vaccine - CONCLUSION: TIGIT expression on CD8+ T cells may hinder the T-cell immune response to a booster dose of an inactivated SARS-CoV-2 vaccine, suggesting weakened resistance to SARS-CoV-2 infection, especially in PLWH. Furthermore, TIGIT may be used as a potential target to increase the production of SARS-CoV-2-specific CD8+ T cells, thereby enhancing the effectiveness of vaccination.
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Intranasal G5-BGG/pDNA vaccine elicits protective systemic and mucosal immunity against SARS-CoV-2 by transfecting mucosal dendritic cells - Infectious disease pandemics, including the coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic, have heightened the demand for vaccines that provide both disease protection and transmission inhibition. Although parenteral vaccines induce robust systemic immunity, their effectiveness in respiratory mucosae is limited. Considering the crucial role of nasal-associated lymphoid tissue (NALT) in mucosal immune responses, in this study, the intranasal complex composed of G5-BGG and antigen-expressing plasmid DNAâŠ
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Colloidal aggregation confounds cell-based Covid-19 antiviral screens - Colloidal aggregation is one of the largest contributors to false-positives in early drug discovery and chemical biology. Much work has focused on its impact on pure-protein screens; here we consider aggregations role in cell-based infectivity assays in Covid-19 drug repurposing. We began by investigating the potential aggregation of 41 drug candidates reported as SARs-CoV-2 entry inhibitors. Of these, 17 formed colloidal-particles by dynamic light scattering and exhibited detergent-dependentâŠ
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Application of Luteolin in Neoplasms and Nonneoplastic Diseases - Researchers are amazed at the multitude of biological effects of 3â,4â,5,7-tetrahydroxyflavone, more commonly known as luteolin, as it simultaneously has antioxidant and pro-oxidant, as well as antimicrobial, anti-inflammatory, and cancer-preventive, properties. The anticancer properties of luteolin constitute a mosaic of pathways due to which this flavonoid influences cancer cells. Not only is it able to induce apoptosis and inhibit cancer cell proliferation, but it also suppresses angiogenesisâŠ
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HSP90AB1 Is a Host Factor Required for Transmissible Gastroenteritis Virus Infection - Transmissible gastroenteritis virus (TGEV) is an important swine enteric coronavirus causing viral diarrhea in pigs of all ages. Currently, the development of antiviral agents targeting host proteins to combat viral infection has received great attention. The heat shock protein 90 (HSP90) is a critical host factor and has important regulatory effects on the infection of various viruses. However, its roles in porcine coronavirus infection remain unclear. In this study, the effect of HSP90 on TGEVâŠ
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Therapeutic Effect and Safety Evaluation of Naringin on Klebsiella pneumoniae in Mice - Critically ill patients with Corona Virus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) often develop secondary bacterial infections that pose a significant threat to patient life safety, making the development of drugs to prevent bacterial infections in the lungs critical to clinical care. Naringin (NAR) is one of the significant natural flavonoids rich in Pummelo Peel (Hua Ju Hong), with anti-inflammatory, antimicrobial, and antioxidant activities, and is commonly used in treating respiratory tract infectiousâŠ
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Interaction of Methylene Blue with Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 Envelope Revealed by Molecular Modeling - Methylene blue has multiple antiviral properties against Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome-related Coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The ability of methylene blue to inhibit different stages of the virus life cycle, both in light-independent and photodynamic processes, is used in clinical practice. At the same time, the molecular aspects of the interactions of methylene blue with molecular components of coronaviruses are not fully understood. Here, we use Brownian dynamics to identify methylene blueâŠ
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Genetic Predisposition to Elevated Levels of Circulating ADAM17 Is Associated with the Risk of Severe COVID-19 - High levels of ADAM17 activity have emerged as an important mediator in severe COVID-19. This study aims to characterize eventual causal relationships between ADAM17 and COVID-19. Using Mendelian randomization analyses, we examined the causal effects of circulating ADAM17 on COVID-19 outcomes using summary statistics from large, genome-wide association studies of ADAM17 (up to 35,559 individuals) from the Icelandic Cancer Project and deCODE genetics, as well as critically ill COVID-19 patientsâŠ
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From Patent Search
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What Kind of Trouble Is Eric Adams In? - New York Cityâs mayor has downplayed the federal investigation into his campaign fund-raising, but, by dodging questions and obfuscating, heâs invited even more public scrutiny. - link
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What Comes After Panda Diplomacy? - Biden meets with President Xi as U.S.-China relations get less warm and fuzzy. - link
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Journalistic Independence Isnât a Human-Resources Exercise - A free and independent press is vital to preserve, but doing so requires the people running media companies to take that idea out of mothballs. - link
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The Left Comes for Biden on Israel - As the Israel-Hamas war divides the Democrats, what does it mean that young activists are protesting the President, not Xi Jinping or Donald Trump? - link
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How Qatar Became the Worldâs Go-To Hostage Negotiator - The Gulf state is trying to help Hamas and Israel come to a deal. How did it become one of the worldâs most prominent hostage-situation mediators? - link
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From Vox
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Eli Rothâs Thanksgiving is finally here. Was it worth the 16-year wait? -
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+The masked killer of Eli Rothâs Thanksgiving. | Tristar
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+Patrick Dempsey and TikToker Addison Rae star in an overbaked entry into the holiday horror genre.
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+Eli Rothâs new film Thanksgiving bills itself as a tongue-in-cheek slasher about a killer stalking the streets of Plymouth, Massachusetts, the birthplace of the holiday. The filmâs tagline â âThis Thanksgiving, there will be NO LEFTOVERS!â â suggests a campy, silly time at the movies. Unfortunately thereâs an uneven tonal quality to this film that reminds us to be grateful for directors who can commit to the bit.
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+Roth (Hostel) always loves a good gorefest, and this one is no different â but he tends to hover just around the edges of social satire, which in this case seems to leave him unsure how seriously to take his own film. With a subject thatâs both as inherently fraught (Colonial history! Indigenous genocide!) and inherently silly (Awkward family dinners! Turkeys!) as Thanksgiving, the plan should probably be: Not very!
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+Instead, Thanksgiving gets caught between competing impulses: It wants to satirize society, and also wants to be a classic campy slasher, and also wants to be sort of operatically, dramatically arty about it all. The result â although highly anticipated, finally arriving to theaters 16 years after it first entered the imaginations of horror fans everywhere â winds up seeming like a bunch of different films, through which an inexplicable Patrick Dempsey, lately Peopleâs Sexiest Man, wanders dazedly like a lost crew member from another movie set.
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+Thanksgivingâs origin story lies with Robert Rodriguezâs 2007 cult favorite Grindhouse. A tribute to the gory, sleazy pulp aesthetic of â70s grindhouse cinema, Grindhouse is actually two different horror films originally released together on a double billing, as classic films of the genre often did: Rodriguezâs horror comedy Planet Terror and Quentin Tarantinoâs revenge pastiche Death Proof.
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+Around and between both films, a number of guest directors contributed pulpy parody trailers for imaginary â70s-style horror flicks. These trailers were every bit as popular with fans as the full-length films â so popular, in fact, that several of them, including Rodriguezâs Machete and Jason Eisenerâs Hobo with a Shotgun, have gone on to become full-length films in their own right. One fan favorite was Eli Rothâs trailer for a fictional film called Thanksgiving that sounds pretty familiar.
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+The original Grindhouse trailer delivers the typical vibe of a â70s exploitation film: Itâs packed with bloody moments, sex, and sleaze. It feels grimy, both because of whatâs happening onscreen and because of the look of the film itself, with its scratched print and dingy filter. This is the basic aesthetic of grindhouse: over-the-top gore mixed with illicit sexual and psychosexual themes, all coated in a layer of grime.
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+Of course, the original trailer was entirely a joke, so even the deadpan scenes of the Thanksgiving massacre are tinged with comedy. The satire is evident throughout, from the âkiller-camâ Halloween homage to the footage of a wholesome Thanksgiving Day parade in historic Plymouth (which strongly resembles the actual Plymouth Thanksgiving parade) to the âholiday seasonâ release of the film ⊠in February. The soundtrack makes squelching noises at you over a font dripping with blood. Whatever this fictional Thanksgiving is, it registers to us both as shocking and entirely unserious.
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+The new Thanksgiving, as we can see just from the trailer, looks and feels much different.
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+Thereâs still plenty of gore, but the tone has more gravitas than over-the-top absurdism, even when itâs giving us several ridiculous moments from the first trailer. The choppy editing and shaky handheld camera work from the original, which helped deliver its low-budget exploitation film aura, are gone, as are the dingy filters and blaring synthesizer sounds. In their place is a chipper Bing Crosby tune about being thankful, and a stylish modern horror film aesthetic that helps slot Thanksgiving right into the current crop of artier horror slashers like Saw X and the recent Halloween trilogy.
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+The film, however, doesnât live up to its peers. The opening sequence is strong and unnerving: a Black Friday mob gradually builds to an out-of-control fever pitch before finally unleashing a genuinely scary consumerist frenzy. But despite this masterful opening setting up a minefield of social commentary (and despite what Roth says about the filmâs social consciousness), the rest of the film mostly sidesteps it in favor of a generic teen slasher revenge plot thatâs just not that interesting. Not even Suitsâs Rick Hoffman, earnestly working his small part as the dad of our final girl, Jessica (Nell Verlaque), can alleviate the bland onscreen character dynamic. When characters start dying, it lacks impact.
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+Thereâs also a missed opportunity for Roth, a native of the area, to explore the extreme seriousness with which the actual Plymouth takes its Thanksgiving festivities. Thereâs a real chance to unpack what it says that a creepy killer in a pilgrim mask (inspired by real-life Plymouth Colony governor John Carver) can so effectively manipulate this celebration. Yet beyond the concept of a scary masked killer distorting a few familiar Thanksgiving tropes, this film doesnât really have much to say. Even the sequences that are more or less taken from the original Grindhouse trailer feel stultifying in context â whether because the film invests too little in its characters to make us care about their fates, or because, despite some fairly creative kills, their straightforward presentation quickly begins to feel rote.
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+One could also argue that the sordid, surreal vibe of the original is what gave all of its gore its effectiveness. The minute you take a cheerleader whoâs about to get phallically skewered on a trampoline, as shown in the original trailer, and ask us to take her death seriously, it feels out of place and atonal. This effect increases when goofy murders are juxtaposed with serious scenes of local townsfolk somberly trying to solve the mystery, as though their reality hasnât just been bizarrely distorted and upended.
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+By now, itâs a well-known dictum that weâre living in a new âgolden ageâ of horror. One could argue this is a double-edged term. Even average, perfectly serviceable horror films get viewed through this higher-brow lens now, arguably creating undue audience expectations of even non-âelevatedâ horror storylines. It also creates pressure on filmmakers to contribute to that golden age. But letâs face it: many of the basic, tried and true pleasures of horror are schlock, shock, and crassness. Look at a true classic: the 2007 film Thankskilling, about an evil killer turkey whose tag line is âGobble, gobble, motherfuckers.â Really, sometimes all you need is the bit, without a lot of window dressing. (And before you scoff at Thankskilling, it was successful enough to spawn a sequel, ironically called Thankskilling 3.)
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+Grindhouse was a commercial flop on release, though itâs since become widely regarded as a treasure of the genre. Still, the pressure on Roth to deliver something more than a cheesy low-budget shockfest must have been real. The problem with Thanksgiving isnât necessarily that Roth tried to evolve the film from a cheeky grindhouse pastiche to something more tonally artful, though; itâs that he mistakes âartâ for âseriousness.â A serious approach to a storyline about a Thanksgiving serial killer almost undoes itself at the outset. At the very least, you need a more developed set of characters and a more convincing killer.
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+But do we really need any of that? I would argue: probably not. The squandered potential of Rothâs Black Friday opening, a Dawn of the Dead-style commentary on contemporary consumerism that just sort of fizzles, leads me to believe Roth wants to have his cranberry sauce and eat it too. But you canât have well-done social satire without follow-through, and Roth ultimately isnât aiming his darts where he should be â at the notion of consumerism itself, and at Thanksgiving as a centuries-old tradition that ties the idea of consumption to American identity. He goes through the motions, but heâs mostly too busy trying to bring measured balance to a story that doesnât really need it â and that ultimately makes the whole film feel off-balance.
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+Honestly, he could have just given us a slightly updated evil turkey and weâd have been stuffed.
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Why do we keep tabs on people we canât stand? -
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+Simone Noronha for Vox
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+How to stop checking on your ex â and everyone else you love to hate â on social media.
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+In the early days of the internet, a hater was the worst thing you could be. Spite and sarcasm had no place in a sea of people who watched videos of babies laughing or tended to their virtual farms. Thankfully, as time passed, we as a society have learned to stop lying to ourselves. No one is ever truly out of sight and out of mind today, which is why we shamelessly send bad posts of people we donât like to our friends or have entire group chats dedicated to gathering receipts. Over 70,000 people have uploaded their confessions on TikTok to the tune of the catchy âHaterâs Anthemâ because, as the song itself says, we love the way it feels to be a hater.
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+You, too, might find yourself looking at the social media feeds of people you donât like and getting joy out of that experience. Itâs a common habit, an often harmless way to let off some steam, but continually hate-stalking othersâ accounts can keep us trapped in a cycle of unproductive negativity.
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+Since prehistoric times, humans have thrived on seeking out and obtaining information about the world around us, especially as it pertains to other people. It doesnât matter whether we love or hate them; these emotions activate some of the same circuits in the brain and consequently release the same rush of rewarding feelings. Often, weâre drawn to dislike those who we feel violate social norms â like that annoying microinfluencer who overshares every single detail of their deep-seated trauma â because weâre intrigued by why and how theyâre able to do what they do. These reasons could be even more complicated and varied if we personally know those we keep tabs on.
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+Of course, this kind of social media lurking is completely different from actualbehaviors of criminal stalking and acts of hate. Thereâs a serious distinction between quietly sending a friend someoneâs weird Instagram story and actual bullying and harassment, which should never be condoned. But no matter how harmless this common version of social media stalking could seem at the onset, it can still be detrimental. When weâre feeling particularly down in the dumps, itâs hard to see that what weâre looking at is just a deluge of highly curated information that may not serve our better interests to engage with. The feeling of social comparison that follows forces us to keep up with appearances and overcompensate for what we lack.
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+Despite these real effects, it can be hard to admit that itâs a problem that needs to be addressed, mostly because of how easy it is to hide. âThink about other behaviors like smoking, drinking alcohol, or compulsive shopping. There are often witnesses to this or a trail of evidence, which makes us feel more accountable to other people,â explained Georgina Sturmer, an integrative counselor who has worked with women struggling with addiction. â[Hate-stalking] can be done in private, without fear of being caught or questioned, making it much easier for us to go down a rabbit hole.â
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+As a result, we tend to go down these spirals alone and leave social media stalking sessions feeling ashamed or embarrassed, wondering how we got so invested in othersâ digital lives in the first place. Itâs a complicated behavior that brings up a lot of conflicting emotions. With that in mind, the names of some of the people interviewed for this article have been changed to protect their identities.
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+Recognize the behavior and understand whatâs driving it
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+Like any other addictive behavior, hate-stalking can be a habit we develop to address an unmet need. âItâs easy to go online in an attempt to tackle underlying feelings of loneliness or boredom. Once weâre there, social media contains built-in features that keep us on the hook,â Sturmer said.
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+When we acknowledge that our social media lurking can hinder our happiness, itâs important to get to the root of this behavior. Take Annie, who still keeps tabs on the former bullies who made her high school life a living hell. âIâve kept up with their lives for so long to see if theyâve peaked in high school,â the 29-year-old creative told me in an interview. âSadly, hate-stalking has only made me more self-conscious, especially when I see a former bully thriving. I tend to talk to myself from a place of shame whenever I donât achieve something like them.â
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+Sometimes, there can also be an element of seeking karmic justice, of wanting to know whether someone is suffering as punishment for hurting us in the past. Take Ricaâs former coworker, who Rica said was so threatened by her that she tried to derail her career. â[This person] moved to another company, and I started hate-stalking to see if she would make something of herself after leaving,â the 42-year-old salesperson shared. âI just didnât want to believe that she could ruin my career and not face any consequences. Iâd like to think that the universe is fair.â
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+Coming to terms with our reasons for lurking will require asking and answering some pretty uncomfortable questions. âExamples of this could include: What are you seeking in this encounter? Are you going [to this personâs account] to torture yourself? Is this a manifestation of feelings of loneliness or anger or envy? Or are we curious what other people are doing without us?â said Jaimie Krems, a social psychologist and professor at the University of California Los Angeles.
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+Consider, too, the role social media may have previously played in your relationship with this person: Maybe you were âlikingâ and commenting on their posts, or your catch-up lunches or birthday parties were featured on their feeds a lot. These interactions may have brought the distinct kind of validation that serves as online currency, which might be a reason why we keep coming back to some peopleâs accounts.
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+Limit your exposure
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+At the end of any relationship, weâre often told to unfollow or even block the other person on all social media platforms. But for those who find it hard to cut them off immediately and completely, detaching from a stalkee and their daily activity is nonetheless necessary.
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+Lily, a 22-year-old writer, admitted that checking up on her ex-boyfriend and his new partner two years after the breakup just adds salt to her emotional wounds. âEven if the intention behind it was to feel better about myself, it would always make me feel like shit because, at the end of the day, I used to be that girl beside him, making plans of growing old together,â she said. Seeing anniversary and milestone posts on her feed from her ex is particularly difficult for her: âIt would remind me of how things were like when the breakup was still fresh: crying nonstop, screaming my lungs out in pain, and feeling all this anger and frustration and grief.â
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+Itâs important to track moments when you feel the need to social stalk and assess what factors those instances may have in common. Were you in a specific place that reminded you of them, hanging out with certain people, or doing a particular activity? Maybe this could also be indicative of a larger personal issue we have, like in Annieâs case. âNow, Iâm trying to see if my hate-stalking is a manifestation of my demand avoidance: if Iâm doing this just to ignore what I know I should be doing to make my life better,â she said.
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+Put a plan in motion
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+If weâre not careful, social media stalking can go from a harmless little treat to a negative reflex that bleeds into our daily routines. âAcknowledging the urge as it creeps up on us and giving ourselves a few minutes to pause before acting on it could be helpful,â said Krems. Exercising this self-restraint, even in small increments, can help us think about whether itâs something we really want to do or just a habit our brains and thumbs have grown accustomed to.
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+Other long-term examples that could help kill this habit include losing ourselves in something else â maybe a hobby, a piece of media, or even another person. âLately, Iâve found that crocheting and going on TikTok instead helps me,â Lily said. It can also help to open up to someone we trust so we can process what we feel rather than forcing ourselves to seek out information that confirms our destructive beliefs.
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+In extreme cases, like those that require a total digital detox, we could find ourselves making excuses instead of taking steps to curb our behavior. In this case, Sturmer invites us to examine why this may be the case: âPerhaps you donât want to put boundaries in place because you say you really need social media for other purposes. Ask yourself if this is really true, and try to seek out ways to get only the information that you needelsewhere.â
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+Accept that itâs a normal part of life
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+Contrary to popular belief, keeping tabs on the social media of people you donât like isnât always this shameful activity that signals the beginning of a depressive episode or unhealthy obsession; when taken at face value, itâs just another means to acquire new knowledge â and if we find exactly what weâre looking for, it could significantly improve our outlook. âI found out that my former coworker didnât get into the company she wanted and was forced into retirement,â Rica said. âItâs amusing to see her trying to convince everyone that sheâs happy with how her life looks now.â
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+On other occasions, it can even serve as a means to strengthen or start relationships. âThereâs a possibility that shared hate might actually bring us together more than shared love. If we both hate the same person, perhaps we have underlying similarities that could make us great cooperators,â said Krems. âThis coalitional hate-stalking can feel good because weâre both discovering information and bonding together, which could have great payoffs for our well-being.â
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+While this may seem like a reach to some, letâs face it: No matter how much we claim to have moved on, the right mixture of boredom and curiosity could compel us to check up on a certain person. The schadenfreude that can come with that doesnât mean weâre irredeemable or evil human beings. Our feelings toward the events in our lives, and the people we meet, are valid and varied. As long as our social media check-ins arenât an obsessive and organized effort to ruin someone elseâs life or to hurt ourselves, we donât need to beat ourselves up when we go down the same olâ spiral.
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+âNot liking someone and wishing them ill, should we be doing that? Thatâs a question that depends on our morality,â Krems said. âBut does almost everyone do that? I think the answer is yes.â
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Why are so few people getting the latest Covid-19 vaccine? -
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+Jeff Kowalsky/AFP via Getty Images
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+What good is a miraculous vaccine if nobody wants to take it?
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+The Covid-19 vaccines were hailed as a miracle upon their arrival. They were delivered earlier than anyone thought possible and proved exceptionally effective in preventing hospitalizations and deaths. More than 80 percent of all Americans, and more than 90 percent of adults, received at least one dose of the vaccines, remarkable penetration in a country where less than half of people get their flu shot every year.
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+But so far this year, just 7 percent of adults have received a dose of the new vaccine formulation that became available in September â compared to 28 percent who have gotten a flu shot.
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+This raises a question that would have seemed unthinkable three years ago: What if we make a miraculous vaccine and nobody wants it?
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+Ever since that first shot, the publicâs interest in subsequent Covid-19 vaccines has been steadily dropping. Less than 70 percent of the US finished their initial two-dose vaccine series. Less than 20 percent of the country received last yearâs bivalent booster shot.
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+Experts say the publicâs disinterest in the latest Covid shots is likely a combination of poor messaging from authorities, a diminishing fear about a virus that three years ago was wholly unknown, and the political polarization of the pandemic itself. But whatever the reasons, that vaccine ambivalence still poses a health threat.
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+Elderly people and very young infants continue to have a higher chance than the rest of the population that they will be hospitalized with Covid-19. Vaccination rates have fallen off for the former group, who are also most likely to die from an infection, and they were never strong to begin with for the latter; 95 percent of children under 4 are unvaccinated. About half of seniors being hospitalized for Covid-19 these days have never gotten a vaccine, experts say, affirming that the unvaccinated continue to be hit much harder by the virus.
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+Infectious disease experts saw 2023 as a pivotal year for the countryâs transition out of the pandemic. It would test whether the US health system could marshal a strong response to the winter Covid-cold-and-flu season, specifically through a successful vaccination campaign. The dismal start to that campaign may force a difficult question upon the public health community: If Americans donât care about getting vaccinated against Covid-19 anymore, what do we do now?
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+Why Americans arenât getting their Covid-19 shots
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+Part of the story is simply human nature. Covid-19 arrived in 2020 behaving strangely (with so much asymptomatic transmission) and incurring a deadly toll (the first iteration of the virus was notably more virulent than the flu). Much of the economy shut down and people were confined to their homes. It was a scary time and vaccines offered hope for a future in which not only would you be less likely to get seriously ill but that life could get back to normal. When shots went out to hospitals, pharmacies, and vaccination clinics in December of 2020, Americans were eager to get them.
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+But three years and multiple new vaccine formulations later, the novelty is gone.
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+Americans arenât as worried about Covid-19 now. About two-thirds of US adults said they were not concerned about getting seriously ill from Covid-19 in a September survey from the KFF health policy think tank. That figure was about the same for the flu and RSV, suggesting Americans have come to view the novel coronavirus as a similar health risk to other cold-weather illnesses that have been circulating for a long time.
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+âPeople arenât scared of this virus anymore,â Paul Offit, director of the Vaccine Education Center at the Childrenâs Hospital of Philadelphia, told me.
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+As evidence, he recounted that he had ridden the subway with â100 screaming, masklessâ football fans heading to the Eagles-Cowboys game. âNo one on that subway car had a mask on,â he said. âWe are close to winter, and this is in theory a winter virus.â
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+Familiarity is one part of that change in attitudes. Another is political polarization: Republicans, both the rank-and-file and their political leaders, have grown more and more hostile toward the Covid-19 vaccines, with a general skepticism toward government mandates spilling into conspiracy theories and disinformation. (Offit marveled at that turn of events: These vaccines are âthe most amazing medical and scientific accomplishmentâ of his lifetime and âthe greatest accomplishment of the Trump administration.â And yet.)
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+Only 25 percent of Republicans said in KFFâs September poll that they would get the latest version of the Covid-19 vaccine this fall or winter. Another 40 percent of the party said they had received an earlier dose but would not get the new shot and 36 percent said they had never been vaccinated at all. To compare, 45 percent of independents said they would get the new shot and 69 percent of Democrats said they would. While reality does not exactly match up to those responses, the gap between Republicans and the rest shows partisanship is driving vaccine attitudes.
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+There are worrying signs of a more general resurgence in vaccine skepticism: 3 percent of US schoolchildren reported a vaccine exemption for the coming school year, the highest share on record according to the CDC. Ten states have an exemption rate above 5 percent; only two did three years ago.
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+But while that uptick is worrying, it is clear, as Gounder noted, that Covid is a special case for Americans. Flu vaccination rates last season were in line with rates from before the pandemic: Lower than youâd like (57 percent for kids, 46 percent for adults) but historically unremarkable. Flu vaccinations this year are on track with last yearâs pace, according to the CDC.
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+People were already accustomed to the annual flu vaccination campaign before the pandemic and they seem to be mostly sticking to old habits. So why do so many seem so immune to the public health communityâs plea that they get a Covid-19 shot at the same time?
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+The other factor may be that Americans have become inured to such public health messaging after years of living through a public health emergency.
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+Partly, the vaccines are a victim of their own success. The initial clinical trials reported incredible results not only in stopping severe disease (the primary public health goal) but in stopping any illness at all. The gobsmacked headlines may have led the public to expect to never get sick at all, and public health messages failed to break through with the reality check that while you may still feel sick, it is much less likely youâll end up in the hospital â and that should count as a win. When reality didnât meet expectations, seeds of doubt and distrust were sown.
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+For the later shots, Gounder said the public health messaging itself, which generally encourages everyone to get another Covid-19 shot, may be part of the problem. People are more familiar with the virus now â and that means many have a general idea of how it works. They may know, for example, that age and chronic health conditions are the best indicators of oneâs risk of serious illness or death from an infection.
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+Other countries, such as the United Kingdom, have targeted their recommendations to people over 65 and people at a heightened risk because of their health, as well as the people who live with and care for those at-risk folks.
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+The United States has to date instead erred toward simplicity with its vaccine messaging and recommendations: Everyone older than 6 months is recommended for yet another shot. Experts acknowledge there is an argument for that strategy. But as Covid-19 has become a more familiar illness and people have a better understanding of it, there may be a better argument for a more nuanced approach.
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+At this point, people have likely lived through an infection of their own and have firsthand experience with Covid-19. The initial vaccination campaign was crucial because people had no immunity to Covid-19 at all; the population was naive. But the public health reality has changed three years later: Most people have either been vaccinated or infected or both.
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+So when the official vaccine guidance remains largely unchanged, and the messages public health authorities are sending fail to acknowledge the varying risks or that people do possess some immunity, they may end up being ignored.
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+âI understand some of the skepticism,â Gounder said. âWhen you tell everyone youâre all at risk, get your shot, it doesnât correspond with your lived reality.â
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+What the future may hold for Covid-19 vaccines
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+There are short-term steps the US could be taking to bolster Covid-19 vaccine uptake, particularly for the most vulnerable. Additional funding for nursing homes to hold vaccination campaigns, for example: Only 17 percent of nursing home residents are up to date on their shots. Experts also stressed the importance of communicating to people that the very young can get seriously ill with Covid-19; even if they donât die, the health complications can be serious. Gounder said sheâd like to see that messaging start with more of a focus on pregnant women, who can pass some immunity to their unborn child.
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+But there is a larger question brewing when only 10 percent of the US population is showing much urgency about getting a Covid-19 vaccine: How are we going to keep doing this?
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+Pfizer said in September that it expected about one in four Americans to get the latest shot. Though there is still time, current vaccination rates are well short of that goal. It is an open question how the for-profit pharmaceutical manufacturers who produce these vaccines will respond to what the market is telling them.
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+Gounder said it is difficult to imagine a cessation of Covid-19 vaccinations entirely. The public health case for immunizing the elderly in particular is strong. But drug makers may scale back their production, especially if the governmentâs recommendations become more targeted.
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+The federal government is putting a lot of money behind pharmaâs pursuit of a universal Covid vaccine, but until those efforts bear fruit (if they ever do), there may also be less interest in producing new formulations of the vaccine after uptake for this seasonâs new shot was so paltry.
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+The known unknowns for the future, which could spur another round of investment and interest in updated Covid-19 vaccines, are biological. The virus has been evolving and will continue to evolve and could, in theory, reach a point where the current vaccines are ineffectual.
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+The other question mark is inside of us. The reason many people still enjoy protection from serious illness is because our bodyâs T-cells are familiar with the virus and can activate when they detect it. They may not be able to stop an infection entirely (that is the role of antibodies, which are quicker to fade) but they can stamp out the virus before a person becomes too sick.
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+What we donât know today is how long our T cellsâ memory will last, and how durable that immunity really is. The only way to find out is for more time to pass.
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From The Hindu: Sports
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Ranil calls Jay Shah, âregretsâ comments targeting him - Former WC-winning skipper Arjuna Ranatunga recently alleged that Jay Shah was ârunningâ and âruiningâ Sri Lanka Cricket
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I just try and bowl stump to stump: Shami on his World Cup success - He grabbed seven wickets in the semifinal against New Zealand in Mumbai on Tuesday.
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Messiâs Argentina loses 1st match since World Cup title, falling to Uruguay; Colombia beats Brazil - Uruguay beat Argentina 2-0 in a World Cup qualifying match, its biggest victory so far under new coach Marcelo Bielsa.
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SA vs AUS | No real weaknesses in Indian team: Hazlewood after fiery powerplay spell against SA - It will be a repeat of the 2003 World Cup final which a batting-heavy Australia won in a lopsided contest
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A big test awaits Ruhaan in LGB Formula 4 class - Bengaluruâs Ruhaan, gunning for his maiden national championship title in this category, is confident of tackling the threat from the terrific trio of Arya Singh, Tijil Rao and T.S. Diljith from Team Dark Don.
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From The Hindu: National News
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PM Modi warns against deepfakes; calls on media to educate people on misinformation - With the proliferation of deepfakes in recent past, Prime Minister Narendra Modi called on the media to educate people of its potential misuse of artificial intelligence
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H.D. Kumaraswamy accuses Bescom of penalising him extra in âpower theftâ case under political pressure - The former CM paid off a penalty of âč68,526 to Bangalore Electricity Supply Company on November 17
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Karnataka pushes deadline for fixing HSRPÂ number plate to February 17, 2024 - The Hindu on November 15 first reported about the decision by the Transport Department to extend the deadline given the limited number of installations of HSRP so far in Karnataka
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Minister wants all gram panchayats in Belagavi district to have their own tankers - Minister tells officials to tackle drinking water scarcity in Belagavi district
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Kerala suspected Maoists encounter | Intensified vehicle checks continue at T.N.-Karnataka border - Vehicles, both personal and commercial entering Tamil Nadu from Karnataka and exiting, are being checked round-the-clock at three places in Erode district, on the inter-State border
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From BBC: Europe
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Swimming rivers and faking illness to escape Ukraineâs draft - After Russiaâs invasion, most Ukrainian men were banned from leaving, but many are escaping abroad.
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Berlin on edge for Erdogan after fierce Israel criticism - Israelâs war with Hamas takes centre stage as Turkeyâs leader meets Chancellor Olaf Scholz in Berlin.
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Italy bans lab-grown meat in nod to farmers - The government has hailed the new law, which came as a farmersâ group scuffled with two MPs.
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Spainâs Pedro SĂĄnchez wins new term as PM after amnesty deal - After weeks of haggling, the Socialist leader clinches a vote in parliament with a four-seat majority.
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Iceland: Helicopter footage shows giant cracks in earth - BBC correspondent flies with the Icelandic Coast Guard over the Reykjanes Peninsula, where the volcanic activity has been concentrated.
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From Ars Technica
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Ransomware group reports victim it breached to SEC regulators - Group tells SEC that the victim is in violation for not reporting it was hacked. - link
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With each iteration, this supercar gets betterâthe McLaren 750S, tested - How do you improve on the McLaren 720S? More power, less weight, sharper handling. - link
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UnitedHealth uses AI model with 90% error rate to deny care, lawsuit alleges - For the largest health insurer in the US, AIâs error rate is like a feature, not a bug. - link
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âMake It Realâ AI prototype wows devs by turning drawings into working software - Designer: âI think I need to go lie down.â - link
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SpaceX delays launch of its giant Starship rocket to swap out a part - SpaceX is now targeting Saturday for the second full-scale Starship test flight. - link
A newlywed farmer and his wife were visited by her mother, who immediately demanded an inspection of the place. While they were walking through the barn, the farmerâs mule suddenly reared up and kicked the mother-in-law, unfortunately killing her instantly. -
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+At the funeral service, the farmer stood near the casket and greeted folks as they walked by. The pastor noticed that whenever a woman would whisper something to the farmer, he would nod his head âyesâ and say something. Whenever a man walked by and whispered to the farmer, he would shake his head ânoâ and mumble a reply.
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+Curious, the pastor later asked the farmer what that was all about. The farmer replied, âThe women would say, âWhat a terrible tragedy,â and I would nod my head and say, âYes, it was.â The men would ask, âYou wanna sell that mule?â and I would shake my head and say, âCanât. Itâs all booked up for a year.ââ
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+is preparing for his first sermon. He goes to the elder bishop for advice, who tells him âTake a glass of vodka up with you, and every time you start to feel nervous, take a sip. Everyone will just think itâs water and itâll help calm you down.â
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+The young priest follows the wise elders advice and delivers a truly impassioned sermon. When he gets back to his office, he finds a note from the bishop with some tips for the future.
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+Sip the vodka, donât chug it.
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+There are 10 commandments, not 12
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+There were 12 disciples, not 10
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+We do not refer to the Lord Jesus Christ as the late great JC
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+We do not refer to the holy Trinity as Daddy, Jr, and Spook
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+When Balaam was hit by a rock and knocked off his donkey, we do not say he was stoned off his ass
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+David slew Goliath, not beat the ever loving shit out of him
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+Jesus said âTake, Eat, this is my bodyâ, not âEat meâ
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+Finally, there will be a taffy pulling contest at St. Peterâs next week.
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