VAERS data reveals no increased risk of neuroautoimmune adverse events from COVID-19 vaccines -
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+Neuroautoimmune disorders, such as multiple sclerosis and Guillain-Barre syndrome, have been documented in relation to various vaccines in the past. This paper uses passive reporting information from the CDC/FDA9s VAERS system to analyse whether neuroautoimmune presentations are reported at a relatively higher or lower rate, vis-a-vis other adverse effects, for COVID-19 vaccines than for other vaccines. Through computing the reporting odds ratios for a range of symptoms and comparator vaccines, a clear indication in favour of the safety of COVID-19 vaccines emerges, with reports of neuroautoimmune adverse events in relation to other adverse events being over 70% less likely for COVID-19 than for comparator vaccines (ROR: 0.292, p < 0.0001). In comparison with other vaccines given as part of routine care in adulthood, COVID-19 vaccines have the lowest reporting odds ratio of neuroautoimmune adverse effects (median ROR: 0.246).
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Similar Rates of AKI during the First Two Waves of COVID-19 in Northern Italy: a single-center study -
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+Introduction: Two waves of COVID-19 cases have overwhelmed most European countries during 2020. It is unclear if the incidence of acute kidney injury (AKI) has changed during the COVID-19 outbreaks. This study aims to evaluate the differences in incidence, risk factors and outcome of AKI in patients with SARS-CoV-2 infection during the first and second wave of COVID-19. Method: We reviewed the health medical records of 792 consecutive patients with COVID-19 hospitalized at the University Hospital of Modena, Italy, from February 25 to December 14, 2020. Results: AKI was diagnosed in 122 (15.4%) patients. Incidence of AKI remained steady rate during wave-1 (15.9%) and wave-2 (14.7%) (P=0.89). AKI patients were older (P=<0.001) and had a more severe respiratory impairment (PO2/FO2) (P=≤0.001) than their non-AKI counterparts. AKI led to a longer hospital stay (P=0.001), complicated with a higher rate of ICU admission. COVID-19-related AKI was associate with 59.7% of deaths during wave-1 and 70.6% during wave-2. At the end of the period of observation, 24% (wave-1) and 46.7% (wave-2) of survivors were discharged with a not fully recovered kidney function. Risk factors for AKI in patients with COVID-19 were diuretics (HR=5.3; 95%CI, 1.2-23.3; P=0.025) and cardiovascular disease (HR, 2.23; 95%CI, 1.05-5.1; P=0.036). Conclusion: The incidence of AKI (about 15%) remained unchanged during 2020, regardless of the trend of COVID-19. AKI occurred in patients with severe COVID-19 symptoms and was associated with a higher incidence of deaths than non-AKI patients. The risk factors of COVID-19-related AKI were diuretic therapy and cardiovascular disease.
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Understanding microvascular thrombosis in COVID-19 via massive single-cell imaging of circulating platelets -
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+A characteristic clinical feature of COVID-19 is the frequent incidence of microvascular thrombosis. In fact, COVID-19 autopsy reports have shown widespread thrombotic microangiopathy characterized by extensive diffuse microthrombi within peripheral capillaries and arterioles in lungs, hearts, and other organs, resulting in multiorgan failure. However, the underlying process of COVID-19-associated microvascular thrombosis remains elusive due to the lack of tools to statistically examine platelet aggregation (i.e., the initiation of microthrombus formation) in detail. Here we present a method for massive image-based profiling, temporal monitoring, and big data analysis of circulating platelets and platelet aggregates in the blood of COVID-19 patients at single-cell resolution, to provide previously unattainable insights into the disease. In fact, our analysis of the image data from 110 hospitalized patients shows the anomalous presence of excessive platelet aggregates in nearly 90% of all COVID-19 patients. Furthermore, results indicate strong links between the concentration of platelet aggregates and the severity, mortality, and respiratory condition of patients with COVID-19. Finally, high-dimensional analysis based on deep learning shows that the disease behaves as systemic thrombosis.
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Effect of control measures on the pattern of COVID-19 Epidemics in Japan -
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+Background. COVID-19 has spread worldwide since its emergence in 2019. In contrast to many other countries with epidemics, Japan differed in that it avoided lockdowns and instead asked people for self-control. A travel campaign was conducted with a sizable budget, but the number of PCR tests was severely limited. These choices may have influenced the course of the epidemic. Methods. The increase or decrease in the classes of SARS-CoV-2 variants was estimated by analyzing the published sequences with an objective multivariate analysis. This approach observes the samples in multiple directions, digesting complex differences into simpler forms. The results were compared over time with the number of confirmed cases, PCR tests, and overseas visitors. The kinetics of infection were analyzed using the logarithmic growth rate. Results. The declared states of emergency failed to alter the movement of the growth rate. Three epidemic peaks were caused by domestically mutated variants. In other countries, there are few cases in which multiple variants have peaked. However, due to the relaxation of immigration restrictions, several infective variants have been imported from abroad and are currently competing for expansion, creating the fourth peak. By April 2021, these foreign variants exceeded 80%. The chaotic situation in Japan will continue for some time, in part because no effort has been made to identify asymptomatic carriers, and details of the vaccination program are undecided.
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Maintaining trust in a pandemic: Blood collection agency messaging to donors and the public during the early days of COVID-19 -
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+COVID-19 has posed unprecedented challenges to health systems around the world, including blood collection agencies (BCAs). Many countries, such as Canada and Australia, that rely on non-remunerated voluntary donors, saw an initial drop in donors in the early days of the pandemic followed by a return to sufficient levels of the blood supply. BCA messaging plays a key role in communicating the needs of the blood operator, promoting and encouraging donation, educating, and connecting with the public and donors. This paper reports on discourse analysis (Bloor and Bloor, 2013) of BCA messaging in Canada and Australia from March 1-July 31, 2020 to understand how BCAs constructed donation to encourage donation during this period and what this can tell us about public trust and blood operators. Drawing on multiple sources of online content and print media, our analysis identified four dominant messages during the study period: 1) blood donation is safe; 2) blood donation is designated an essential activity; 3) blood is needed; and 4) blood donation is a response to the pandemic. In Canada and Australia, our analysis suggests that: 1) implicit within constructions of blood donation as safe is the message that BCAs can be trusted; 2) messages that construct blood donation as essential and needed implicitly ask donors to trust BCAs in order to share in the commitment of meeting patient needs; and 3) the pandemic has made possible the construction of blood donation as both an exceptional and commonplace activity. For BCAs, our analysis supports donor communications that are transparent and responsive to public concerns, and the local context, to support public trust. Beyond BCAs, health organizations and leaders cannot underestimate the importance of building and maintaining public trust as countries continue to struggle with containment of the virus and encourage vaccine uptake.
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Ceylon cinnamon and its major compound Cinnamaldehyde can limit overshooting inflammatory signaling and angiogenesis in vitro: implications for COVID-19 treatment -
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+Overshooting immune reactions can occur during inflammatory responses that accompany severe infections, such as COVID-19. Cytokines, damage-associated molecular patterns (DAMPs), and reactive oxygen and nitrogen species can generate positive feedback loops of inflammation, leading to long-term complications such as vascular endothelialitis, thrombosis, endothelial dysfunction, neurological impairments, and chronic fatigue. Dexamethasone can limit inflammation by inhibiting the activation of pro-inflammatory transcription factors. High dose dexamethasone, however, has undesirable side effects. Here, we show that Ceylon cinnamon and its major compound cinnamaldehyde can mitigate inflammatory signaling in vitro. Cinnamaldehyde interferes with the dimerization of toll-like receptor 4 (TLR4), which can be activated by DAMPs like HSP60 and HMGB1. Our results suggest that supplementary treatment with Ceylon cinnamon may allow administration of lower doses of dexamethasone to avoid high dose steroid side effects. Moreover, preliminary results indicate that Ceylon cinnamon modulates angiogenesis, which is a reactive phenomenon in COVID-19.
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A new combination testing methodology to identify accurate and economical point-of-care testing strategies -
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+Background: Quick, cheap and accurate point-of-care testing is urgently needed to enable frequent, large-scale testing to contain COVID-19. Lateral flow tests for antigen and antibody detection are an obvious candidate for use in community-wide testing, because they are quick and cheap relative to lab-processed tests. However, their low accuracy has limited their adoption. We develop a new methodology to increase the diagnostic accuracy of a combination of cheap, quick and inaccurate index tests with correlated or discordant outcomes, and illustrate its performance on commercially available lateral flow immunoassays (LFIAs) for Sars-CoV-2 antibody detection. Methods and Findings: We analyze laboratory test outcomes of 300 serum samples from health care workers detected with PCR-confirmed SARS-Cov-2 infection at least 21 days prior to sample collection, and 500 pre-pandemic serum samples, from a national seroprevalence survey, tested using eight LFIAs (Abbott, Biosure/Mologic, Orientgene-Menarini, Fortress, Biopanda I, Biopanda II, SureScreen and Wondfo) and Hybrid DABA as reference test. For each of 14 two-test combinations (e.g., Abbott, Fortress) and 16 three-test combinations (e.g., Abbott, Fortress, Biosure/Mologic) used on at least 100 positive and 100 negative samples, we classify an outcome sequence – e.g., (+,-) for (Abbott, Fortress) – as positive if its combination positive predictive value (CPPV) exceeds a given threshold, set between 0 and 1. Our main outcome measures are the sensitivity and specificity of different classification rules for classifying the outcomes of a combination test. We define testing possibility frontiers which represent sensitivity and false positive rates for different thresholds. The envelope of frontiers further enables test selection. The eight index tests individually meet neither the UK Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency9s 98% sensitivity and 98% specificity criterion, nor the US Center for Disease Control9s 99.5% specificity criterion. Among these eight tests, the highest single-test LFIA specificity is 99.4% (with a sensitivity of 65.2%) and the highest single-test LFIA sensitivity is 93.4% (with a specificity of 97.4%). Using our methodology, a two-test combination meets the UK Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency9s criterion, achieving sensitivity of 98.4% and specificity of 98.0%. While two-test combinations meeting the US Center for Disease Control9s 99.5% specificity criterion have sensitivity below 83.6%, a three-test combination delivers a specificity of 99.6% and a sensitivity of 95.8%. Conclusions: Current CDC guidelines suggest combining tests, noting that 9performance of orthogonal testing algorithms has not been systematically evaluated9 and highlighting discordant outcomes. Our methodology combines available LFIAs to meet desired accuracy criteria, by identifying testing possibility frontiers which encompass benchmarks, enabling cost savings. Our methodology applies equally to antigen testing and can greatly expand testing capacity through combining less accurate tests, especially for use cases needing quick, accurate tests, e.g., entry to public spaces such as airports, nursing homes or hospitals.
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Nafamostat-interferon-alpha combination suppresses SARS-CoV-2 infection in vitro and in vivo -
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+SARS-CoV-2 and its vaccine/immune-escaping variants continue to pose a serious threat to public health due to a paucity of effective, rapidly deployable, and widely available treatments. Here we address these challenges by combining Pegasys (IFNa) and nafamostat to effectively suppress SARS-CoV-2 infection in cell culture and hamsters. Our results indicate that Serpin E1 is an important mediator of the antiviral activity of IFNa and that both Serpin E1 and camostat can target the same cellular factor TMPRSS2, which plays a critical role in viral replication. The low doses of the drugs in combination may have several clinical advantages, including fewer adverse events and improved patient outcome. Thus, our study may provide a proactive solution for the ongoing pandemic and potential future coronavirus outbreaks, which is still urgently required in many parts of the world.
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A SARS-CoV-2 spike ferritin nanoparticle vaccine protects against heterologous challenge with B.1.1.7 and B.1.351 virus variants in Syrian golden hamsters -
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+The emergence of SARS-CoV-2 variants of concern (VOC) requires adequate coverage of vaccine protection. We evaluated whether a spike ferritin nanoparticle vaccine (SpFN), adjuvanted with the Army Liposomal Formulation QS21 (ALFQ), conferred protection against the B.1.1.7 and B.1.351 VOCs in Syrian golden hamsters. SpFN-ALFQ was administered as either single or double-vaccination (0 and 4 week) regimens, using a high (10 g) or low (0.2 g) immunogen dose. Animals were intranasally challenged at week 11. Binding antibody responses were comparable between high- and low-dose groups. Neutralizing antibody titers were equivalent against WA1, B.1.1.7, and B.1.351 variants following two high dose two vaccinations. SpFN-ALFQ vaccination protected against SARS-CoV-2-induced disease and viral replication following intranasal B.1.1.7 or B.1.351 challenge, as evidenced by reduced weight loss, lung pathology, and lung and nasal turbinate viral burden. These data support the development of SpFN-ALFQ as a broadly protective, next-generation SARS-CoV-2 vaccine.
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SARS-CoV-2 Viral Replication in a High Throughput Human Primary Epithelial Airway Organ Model -
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+COVID-19 emerged as a worldwide pandemic early in 2020, and at this writing has caused over 170 million cases and 3.7 million deaths worldwide, and almost 600,000 deaths in the United States. The rapid development of several safe and highly efficacious vaccines stands as one of the most extraordinary achievements in modern medicine, but the identification and administration of efficacious therapeutics to treat patients suffering from COVID-19 has been far less successful. A major factor limiting progress in the development of effective treatments has been a lack of suitable preclinical models for the disease, currently reliant upon various animal models and in vitro culture of immortalized cell lines. Here we report the first successful demonstration of SARS-CoV-2 infection and viral replication in a human primary cell-based organ-on-chip, leveraging a recently developed tissue culture platform known as PREDICT96. This successful demonstration of SARS-CoV-2 infection in human primary airway epithelial cells derived from a living donor represents a powerful new pathway for disease modeling and an avenue for screening therapeutic candidates in a high throughput platform.
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INCIDENCE OF THROMBOTIC EVENTS IN A COMMERCIALLY-INSURED US POPULATION -
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+Objective: To estimate the US incidence of thrombotic events and related rare diagnoses. Design: Claims-based retrospective cohort study of incidence. Setting: US commercial health insurance administrative claims database. Participants: Adults 25-65 years of age between 2015 and 2019 with a minimum of 12 consecutive thrombosis-free months of continuous enrollment beginning 2014 were selected. Main Outcomes: Age (10 year intervals) and sex stratum specific incidence rates per 100,000 person-years were determined for: venous thromboembolism (VTE), cerebral venous thrombosis (CVT), and any major thrombosis. Incidence also was estimated for immune thrombocytopenic purpura (ITP), hemolytic-uremic syndrome (HUS), and heparin-induced thrombocytopenia (HIT). Results: Among approximately 15 million enrollees per year (half female/male), incidence of any thrombotic event (DVT, PE, CVT, or other thrombosis) was 247.89 per 100,000 person-years (95% CI: 245.96, 249.84). Incidence of VTE was 213.79 with ICD codes alone (95% CI: 211.99, 215.59) and 127.18 (95% CI: 125.80, 128.58) when also requiring a filled anticoagulation prescription. Incidence rates were 6.37 for CVT (95% CI: 6.07, 6.69), 26.06 for ITP (95% CI: 25.44, 26.78), 0.94 for HUS (95% CI: 0.82, 1.06), and 4.82 for HIT (95% CI: 4.56, 5.10). The co-occurrence of CVT with either ITP or HIT (diagnoses within 14 days of one another) was 0.090 (95% CI: 0.06, 0.13). Incidence tended to increase with age and was higher for women under 55. Incidence for CVT, HUS, and CVT with ITP or HIT was higher for women in all age groups. Conclusions: These results are the first US estimates for incidence of thrombotic and rare events in a large, commercially-insured US population. Findings provide a critically important reference for determining excess morbidity associated with COVID-19 and more generally for vaccine pharmacovigilance.
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Evaluation of saliva molecular point of care for detection of SARS-CoV-2 in ambulatory care -
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+Background: The rapid identification of SARS-CoV-2 infected individuals is a cornerstone in strategies for the control of virus spread. The sensitivity of SARS-CoV-2 RNA detection by RT-PCR is similar in saliva and nasopharyngeal swab. Rapid molecular point-of-care tests in saliva could facilitate, broaden and speed up the diagnosis. Objectives and methods: We conducted a prospective study in two community COVID-19 screening centers to evaluate the performances of a CE-marked RT-LAMP assay (EasyCoV) specifically designed for the detection of SARS-CoV-2 RNA from fresh saliva samples, compared to nasopharyngeal RT-PCR as reference test, saliva RT-PCR and nasopharyngeal antigen testing. Results: Overall, 117 of the 1718 participants (7%) were tested positive with nasopharyngeal RT-PCR. Sensitivities of saliva RT-PCR and nasopharyngeal antigen test were 93% (95% Confidence Interval (95%CI): 86-97) and 85% (95%CI: 77-91), respectively. The sensitivity and specificity of the RT-LAMP assay in saliva were 34% (95%CI: 26-44) and 97% (95%CI: 96-98). The performance was similar in symptomatic and asymptomatic participants and whatever the reference standard considered. Ct values of nasopharyngeal RT-PCR were significantly lower in the 40 true positive subjects with saliva RT-LAMP (Ct 25.9) than in the 48 false negative subjects with saliva RT-LAMP (Ct 28.4) (p=0.028). Conclusion: In the ambulatory setting, the detection of SARS-CoV-2 from crude saliva samples with the RT-LAMP assay had a lower sensitivity than nasopharyngeal RT-PCR, saliva RT-PCR and nasopharyngeal antigen testing.
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The Spectre of SARS-CoV-2 in the Ambient Urban Natural Water in Ahmedabad and Guwahati: A Tale of Two Cities -
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+COVID-19 positive patients can egest live SARS-CoV-2 virus through fecal matter and urine, raising concerns about viral transmission through the fecal-oral route and/or contaminated aerosolized water. These worries are heightened in many low and middle-income nations, where raw sewage is often dumped into surface waterways and open defecation betide. In this manuscript we attempt to discern the presence of SARS-CoV-2 genetic material (ORF-1ab, N and S genes) in two urban cities of India viz., Ahmedabad, in western India with ~12 WWTPs and Guwahati, in the northeast of the country with no such plants. 100% and 20% of the surface water samples had detectable SARSCoV-2 RNA load in Ahmedabad and Gandhinagar, respectively. N-gene>S-gene>ORF-1ab-gene were readily detected in the surface water of Ahmedabad, whereas, no such significant trend was found in the case of Guwahati. The high concentration of gene (ORF-1ab 800 copies/L for Sabarmati river, Ahmedabad and S-gene 565 copies/L for Bharalu urban river, Guwahati) found in natural waters indicates low sanitation and have various health and ecological consequences that should be investigated further.
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Solidarities, Fairness, and Economic Governance in Advanced Capitalism: The Cases of COVID-19 Responses in Germany and the United States -
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+This paper addresses the theoretical question of how competing models of social and economic solidarity shape patterns of economic governance in periods of economic crisis. Using the COVID-19 pandemic as a signal case, we seek to understand how changes in public opinion in response to similar social and economic shocks are informed by deeper ideational structures among citizens relating to their capacity for empathy, mutual support, and willingness to support and trust public policy interventions. Drawing on scholarly literatures related to moral economies and the social embeddedness of economic relationships, we undertake an empirical study of how the COVID-19 pandemic has shaped patterns of support for social and economic policies. We focus on Germany and the United States, countries with widely divergent modes of integration of capitalist markets and, therefore, potentially different levels of support for particular kinds of policy responses. We trace American and German policy responses since March 2020 across a number of domains, complemented by a systematic analysis of public opinion in the two countries, drawing from fifteen different sources of public-opinion data, in order to assess the pandemic’s effects on public support for individualized and collectively-oriented policy responses.
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COVID-19 prevention and control measures in workplace settings: a rapid review and meta-analysis -
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+Workplaces are high-risk environments for SARS-CoV-2 outbreaks and subsequent community transmission. Identifying, understanding, and implementing effective workplace SARS-CoV-2 infection prevention and control (IPC) measures is critical to protect workers, their families, and communities. A rapid review and meta-analysis were conducted to synthesize evidence assessing the effectiveness of COVID-19 IPC measures implemented in global workplace settings through April 2021. Medline, Embase, PubMed, and Cochrane Library were searched for studies that quantitatively assessed the effectiveness of workplace COVID-19 IPC measures. Included studies comprised varying empirical designs and occupational settings. Measures of interest included surveillance measures, outbreak investigations, personal protective equipment (PPE), changes in work arrangements, and worker education. Sixty-three studies from international healthcare, nursing home, meatpacking, manufacturing, and office settings were included, accounting for ~280,000 employees. Meta-analyses showed that combined measures (0.2% positivity; 95%CI 0-0.4%) were associated with lower post-intervention employee COVID-19 positivity estimates than single measures like asymptomatic PCR testing (1.7%; 95%CI 0.9-2.9%) and universal masking (24%; 95%CI 3.4-55.5%). Modelling studies showed that combinations of (i) timely and widespread contact tracing and case isolation, (ii) facilitating smaller worker cohorts, and (iii) effective use of PPE can reduce workplace transmission. Comprehensive COVID-19 IPC measures incorporating swift contact tracing and case isolation, PPE, and facility zoning, can effectively prevent workplace outbreaks. Masking alone should not be considered as sufficient protection from SARS-CoV-2 outbreaks in workplace environments at high risk of virus transmission.
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Ivermectin Treatment Efficacy in Covid-19 High Risk Patients - Condition: COVID-19 Intervention: Drug: Ivermectin 0.4mg/kg/day for 5 days Sponsor: Clinical Research Centre, Malaysia Not yet recruiting
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Efficacy and Safety of XAV-19 for the Treatment of Moderate-to-severe COVID-19 - Condition: COVID-19 Interventions: Drug: XAV-19; Drug: Placebo Sponsor: Xenothera SAS Recruiting
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Clinical Trial With N-acetylcysteine and Bromhexine for COVID-19 - Condition: COVID-19 Interventions: Drug: Vitamin C; Drug: N-acetylcysteine (NAC); Drug: NAC + Bromhexine (BMX) Sponsors: Universidade Federal do Ceara; Paulista School of Medicine-EPM, UNIFESP; Health Surveillance Secretariat - SVS; Central Laboratory of Public Health of Ceara - LACEN-CE; Leonardo da Vinci Hospital - HLV; São José Hospital for Infectious Diseases - HSJ; Ceará Health Secretariat - SESA; Municipal Health Secretary - SMS-Fortaleza Not yet recruiting
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Infliximab in the Treatment of Patients With Severe COVID-19 Disease - Condition: COVID-19 Interventions: Drug: Infliximab; Other: Standard of Care Sponsors: Jena University Hospital; German Federal Ministry of Education and Research; Celltrion Not yet recruiting
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A Clinical Trial of Immunobridging and Lot-to-lot Consistency of COVID-19 Vaccine (Ad5-nCoV) in Different Age Groups. - Condition: COVID-19 Interventions: Biological: Recombinant Novel Coronavirus Vaccine (Adenovirus Type 5 Vector) 0.5ml; Biological: Recombinant Novel Coronavirus Vaccine (Adenovirus Type 5 Vector) 0.3ml Sponsors: CanSino Biologics Inc.; Jiangsu Province Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Recruiting
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Safety of an Inactivated SARS-CoV-2 Vaccine for Prevention of COVID-19 in Adults - Condition: COVID-19 Intervention: Biological: Experimental Group Sponsor: Sinovac Research and Development Co., Ltd. Not yet recruiting
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Mineralocorticoid Receptor Antagonist and Pulmonary Fibrosis in COVID-19. - Condition: COVID-19 Pneumonia Interventions: Drug: Canrenoate Potassium; Drug: Normal Saline Sponsor: Pomeranian Medical University Szczecin Recruiting
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Immuno-bridging Study of Inactivated SARS-CoV-2 Vaccine in Healthy Population Aged 3-17 vs Aged 18 Years Old and Above - Conditions: COVID-19 Pneumonia; COVID-19 Intervention: Biological: SARS-CoV-2 Vaccine (Vero Cell), Inactivated Sponsors: China National Biotec Group Company Limited; Beijing Institute of Biological Products Co Ltd. Not yet recruiting
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To Evaluate the Safety and Efficacy of TQ Formula in Covid-19 Participants - Condition: Covid19 Intervention: Drug: Black Seed Oil Cap/Tab Sponsor: Novatek Pharmaceuticals Recruiting
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Intramuscular VIR-7831 (Sotrovimab) for Mild/Moderate COVID-19 - Condition: Covid19 Intervention: Biological: VIR-7831 Sponsors: Vir Biotechnology, Inc.; GlaxoSmithKline Not yet recruiting
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Study to Evaluate the Safety, Immunogenicity, and Efficacy of Nanocovax Vaccine Against COVID-19 - Conditions: SARS-CoV-2 Infection; COVID-19 Interventions: Biological: Nanocovax; Biological: Placebo Sponsor: Nanogen Pharmaceutical Biotechnology Joint Stock Company Recruiting
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Augmentation of Immune Response to COVID-19 mRNA Vaccination Through OMT With Lymphatic Pumps - Condition: Covid19 Intervention: Other: Osteopathic Manipulative Treatment (OMT) Sponsors: Western University of Health Sciences; American College of Osteopathic Physicians; American Osteopathic Foundation; Osteopathic Physicians and Surgeons of California; Xavier-Nichols Foundation Recruiting
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Nervous System Symptoms Associated With COVID 19 - Condition: Covid19 Interventions: Other: NEURO +; Other: NEURO - Sponsor: University Hospital, Toulouse Completed
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Seawater Nasal Wash to Relieve COVID-19 Nasal Symptoms and Reduce SARS-CoV-2 Viral Load. - Condition: SARS-CoV2 Infection (COVID-19) Intervention: Device: Device: Physiomer undiluted seawater nasal spray Sponsors: Laboratoire de la Mer; EVAMED Not yet recruiting
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Open Label, Single-Center Study Utilizing BIOZEK COVID-19 Antigen Rapid Test - Condition: Covid-19 Testing Intervention: Diagnostic Test: Biozek Covid-19 Antigen Rapid Test (Saliva) Sponsor: Mach-E B.V. Recruiting
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From PubMed
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Humoral Response after SARS-Cov-2 mRNA Vaccine in a Cohort of Hemodialysis Patients and Kidney Transplant Recipients - Background Kidney transplant recipients and patients receiving hemodialysis are immunocompromised populations that are prioritized for COVID-19 vaccination but were excluded from clinical trials of SARS-CoV-2 mRNA vaccines. Antibody titers and rates of seroconversion following vaccination are lower among patients with chronic kidney disease and those taking immunosuppressants compared with controls. Data are lacking regarding their humoral response to vaccination to prevent COVID-19. Methods…
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Targeting highly pathogenic coronavirus-induced apoptosis reduces viral pathogenesis and disease severity - Infection by highly pathogenic coronaviruses results in substantial apoptosis. However, the physiological relevance of apoptosis in the pathogenesis of coronavirus infections is unknown. Here, with a combination of in vitro, ex vivo, and in vivo models, we demonstrated that protein kinase R-like endoplasmic reticulum kinase (PERK) signaling mediated the proapoptotic signals in Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV) infection, which converged in the intrinsic apoptosis pathway….
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Higher Levels of Harsh Parenting During the COVID-19 Lockdown in the Netherlands - Previous studies on the impact of COVID-19 indicate that pandemic-related distress increases risks for child maltreatment, although data on the scope of this problem are still scarce. Here, we assessed whether parents with toddlers (n = 206) more often used harsh discipline during the lockdown in the Netherlands compared to a matched parent sample collected prior to the pandemic (n = 1,030). Parents were matched on background characteristics using propensity score matching. We found that harsh…
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Humoral and cellular immune responses against SARS-CoV-2 variants and human coronaviruses after single BNT162b2 vaccination - CONCLUSION: These results call into question whether neutralizing antibodies significantly contribute to protection against COVID-19 upon single vaccination and suggest that cellular immunity is central for the early defenses against COVID-19.
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Structural Basis and Function of the N Terminus of SARS-CoV-2 Nonstructural Protein 1 - Nonstructural protein 1 (Nsp1) of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronaviruses (SARS-CoVs) is an important pathogenic factor that inhibits host protein translation by means of its C terminus. However, its N-terminal function remains elusive. Here, we determined the crystal structure of the N terminus (amino acids [aa] 11 to 125) of SARS-CoV-2 Nsp1 at a 1.25-Å resolution. Further functional assays showed that the N terminus of SARS-CoVs Nsp1 alone loses the ability to colocalize with ribosomes…
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alpha(V) beta(6) Integrin: An Intriguing Target for COVID-19 and Related Diseases - The outbreak of SARS-CoV-2 has been an extraordinary event that constituted a global health emergency. As the novel coronavirus is continuing to spread over the world, the need for therapeutic agents to control this pandemic is increasing. α(V) β(6) Integrin may be an intriguing target not only for the inhibition of SARS-CoV-2 entry, but also for the diagnosis/treatment of COVID-19 related fibrosis, an emerging type of fibrotic disease which will probably affect a significant part of the…
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A comprehensive review of the therapeutic potential of curcumin nanoformulations - Today, due to the prevalence of various diseases such as the novel coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2), diabetes, central nervous system diseases, cancer, cardiovascular disorders, and so on, extensive studies have been conducted on therapeutic properties of natural and synthetic agents. A literature review on herbal medicine and commercial products in the global market showed that curcumin (Cur) has many therapeutic benefits compared to other natural ingredients. Despite the unique properties of Cur, its…
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A novel class of TMPRSS2 inhibitors potently block SARS-CoV-2 and MERS-CoV viral entry and protect human epithelial lung cells - The host cell serine protease TMPRSS2 is an attractive therapeutic target for COVID-19 drug discovery. This protease activates the Spike protein of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) and of other coronaviruses and is essential for viral spread in the lung. Utilizing rational structure-based drug design (SBDD) coupled to substrate specificity screening of TMPRSS2, we have discovered a novel class of small molecule ketobenzothiazole TMPRSS2 inhibitors with significantly…
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Molecular determinants of disease severity in urinary tract infection - The most common and lethal bacterial pathogens have co-evolved with the host. Pathogens are the aggressors, and the host immune system is responsible for the defence. However, immune responses can also become destructive, and excessive innate immune activation is a major cause of infection-associated morbidity, exemplified by symptomatic urinary tract infections (UTIs), which are caused, in part, by excessive innate immune activation. Severe kidney infections (acute pyelonephritis) are a major…
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Computational screening of dual inhibitors from FDA approved antiviral drugs on SARS-CoV-2 spike protein and the main protease using molecular docking approach - The deadly disease-causing novel coronavirus has recently swept across the world and endangered many human lives. Although, various research on therapeutic measures to solve this pandemic crisis has been published; no favourable results have been achieved. We propose the use of potential FDA-approved dual inhibitors which can inhibit two targets (either on entry-level or the main protease) for the effective treatment of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). We screened 12…
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p-cymene impairs SARS-CoV-2 and Influenza A (H1N1) viral replication: In silico predicted interaction with SARS-CoV-2 nucleocapsid protein and H1N1 nucleoprotein - Therapeutic regimens for the COVID-19 pandemics remain unmet. In this line, repurposing of existing drugs against known or predicted SARS-CoV-2 protein actions have been advanced, while natural products have also been tested. Here, we propose that p-cymene, a natural monoterpene, can act as a potential novel agent for the treatment of SARS-CoV-2-induced COVID-19 and other RNA-virus-induced diseases (influenza, rabies, Ebola). We show by extensive molecular simulations that SARS-CoV-2 C-terminal…
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Dual roles of a novel oncolytic viral vector-based SARS-CoV-2 vaccine: preventing COVID-19 and treating tumor progression - The ongoing coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic is caused by infection with severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). Cancer patients are usually immunocompromised and thus are particularly susceptible to SARS-CoV-2 infection resulting in COVID-19. Although many vaccines against COVID-19 are being preclinically or clinically tested or approved, none have yet been specifically developed for cancer patients or reported as having potential dual functions to prevent…
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FXa cleaves the SARS-CoV-2 spike protein and blocks cell entry to protect against infection with inferior effects in B.1.1.7 variant - The ongoing coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic is caused by infection with severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). Human natural defense mechanisms against SARS-CoV-2 are largely unknown. Serine proteases (SPs) including furin and TMPRSS2 cleave SARS-CoV-2 spike protein, facilitating viral entry. Here, we show that FXa, a SP for blood coagulation, is upregulated in COVID-19 patients compared to non-COVID-19 donors and exerts anti-viral activity. Mechanistically,…
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Type I Interferon Transcriptional Network Regulates Expression of Coinhibitory Receptors in Human T cells - While inhibition of T cell co-inhibitory receptors has revolutionized cancer therapy, the mechanisms governing their expression on human T cells have not been elucidated. Type 1 interferon (IFN-I) modulates T cell immunity in viral infection, autoimmunity, and cancer, and may facilitate induction of T cell exhaustion in chronic viral infection. Here we show that IFN-I regulates co-inhibitory receptor expression on human T cells, inducing PD-1/TIM-3/LAG-3 while surprisingly inhibiting TIGIT…
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Porcine Epidemic Diarrhea Virus Membrane Protein Interacted with IRF7 to Inhibit Type I IFN Production during Viral Infection - Porcine epidemic diarrhea virus (PEDV) is a highly pathogenic porcine enteropathogenic coronavirus causing severe enteritis and lethal watery diarrhea in piglets. PEDV infection suppresses the synthesis of type I IFN, and multiple viral proteins of PEDV have been shown to target the adaptors of innate immune pathways to inhibit type I IFN production. In this study, we identified PEDV membrane (M) protein as a new antagonist of type I IFN production in both human embryonic kidney HEK293T cells…
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From Patent Search
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폐마스크 밀봉 회수기 - 본 발명은 마스크 착용 후 버려지는 일회용 폐마스크를 비닐봉지에 넣은 후 밀봉하여 배출함으로써, 2차 감염을 예방하고 일반 생활폐기물과 선별 분리 배출하여 환경오염을 방지하는 데 그 목적이 있다. - link
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COST EFFECTIVE PORTABLE OXYGEN CONCENTRATOR FOR COVID-19 - - link
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METHOD OF IDENTIFYING SEVERE ACUTE RESPIRATORY SYNDROME CORONA VIRUS 2 (SARS-COV-2) RIBONUCLEIC ACID (RNA) - - link
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Erweiterbare Desinfektionsvorrichtung -
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Erweiterbare Desinfektionsvorrichtung, umfassend: einen Hauptkörper, der eine umgekehrt U-förmige Basisplatte aufweist, wobei die umgekehrt U-förmige Basisplatte mit einer Öffnung versehen ist und jeweils eine Seitenplatte sich von zwei Seiten der umgekehrt U-förmigen Basisplatte nach außen erstreckt; und mindestens eine Desinfektionslampe, die in den auf zwei Seiten des Hauptkörpers befindlichen Seitenplatten angeordnet ist und eine Lichtemissionseinheit, eine Erfassungseinheit, eine Steuereinheit und eine Stromversorgungseinheit umfasst.
Einfache Sterilisationsvorrichtung, mit einem Hauptkörper (11), der in Längsrichtung einen ersten Plattenabschnitt (111) und in Querrichtung einen zweiten Plattenabschnitt (112) aufweist, wobei der erste Plattenabschnitt (111) und der zweite Plattenabschnitt (112) L-förmig miteinander verbunden sind; und einer Sterilisationslampe (12), die an dem Hauptkörper (11) angeordnet ist und eine Lichtemissionseinheit (121), eine Sensoreinheit (122), eine Steuereinheit (123) und eine Stromeinheit (124) aufweist.
Klemmarme aufweisende Desinfektionsvorrichtung, umfassend: einen Hauptkörper; eine Desinfektionslampe, die im Hauptkörper angeordnet ist und eine Lichtemissionseinheit, eine Erfassungseinheit, eine Steuereinheit und eine Stromversorgungseinheit umfasst; einen Klemmabschnitt, der auf einer Seite des Hauptkörpers angeordnet ist, wobei der Klemmabschnitt zwei gegenüberliegende Greifbacken umfasst, wobei mindestens eine der beiden Greifbacken mit einer Schwenkachse versehen ist, wobei ein Klemmraum durch passgenaues Schließen der beiden Greifbacken entsteht und die beiden Greifbacken jeweils mit einem Durchgangsloch versehen sind; einen Befestigungsabschnitt, der durch die Durchgangslöcher der beiden Greifbacken hindurchgeführt ist;und ein Schild, das auf einer Seite des Klemmabschnitts angeordnet und mit einem Aufnahmeloch versehen ist.
Aufhängbare Sterilisationsvorrichtung, mit einem Hauptkörper (11); einer Sterilisationslampe (12), die an dem Hauptkörper (11) angeordnet ist und eine Lichtemissionseinheit (121), eine Sensoreinheit (122), eine Steuereinheit (123) und eine Stromeinheit (124) aufweist; einem Klemmabschnitt (13), der an einer Seite des Hautpkörpers (11) angeordnet ist und zwei gegenüberliegend angeordnete Klemmbacken (131) aufweist, wobei mindestens eine der beiden Klemmbacken (131) mit einem Achsbolzen (132) versehen ist, wobei die beiden Klemmbacken (131) beim Schließen einen Klemmraum (134) bilden, und wobei die beiden Klemmbacken (131) jeweils mit einem Durchgangsloch (135) versehen sind; und einem Befestigungselement (14), das durch die Durchgangslöcher (135) der beiden Klemmbacken (131) hindurchgeführt wird.
Sterilisationsvorrichtung zur Verbesserung der Desinfektionswirkung -
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Sterilisationsvorrichtung zur Verbesserung der Desinfektionswirkung, umfassend: einen Hauptkörper, der eine erste Oberfläche, eine von der ersten Oberfläche abgewandte zweite Oberfläche und ein Aufnahmeloch aufweist, wobei die zwei Seiten des Hauptkörpers jeweils mit einem Durchgangsloch versehen sind, wobei die Durchgangslöcher mit dem Aufnahmeloch durchgängig verbunden sind; eine Desinfektionslampe, die auf der zweiten Oberfläche des Hauptkörpers angeordnet ist und eine Lichtemissionseinheit, eine Erfassungseinheit, eine Steuereinheit und eine Stromversorgungseinheit umfasst; und ein Befestigungsteil, das durch die Durchgangslöcher und das Aufnahmeloch des Hauptkörpers hindurchgeführt ist.
IMPROVEMENTS RELATED TO PARTICLE, INCLUDING SARS-CoV-2, DETECTION AND METHODS THEREFOR - - link
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DEEP LEARNING BASED SYSTEM FOR DETECTION OF COVID-19 DISEASE OF PATIENT AT INFECTION RISK - The present invention relates to Deep learning based system for detection of covid-19 disease of patient at infection risk. The objective of the present invention is to solve the problems in the prior art related to technologies of detection of covid-19 disease using CT scan image processing. - link
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+ 17 June, 2021
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+Daily-Dose
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Does Tech Need a New Narrative? - In Silicon Valley, “disruption” is giving way to “building.” What will be built? - link
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The F.D.A.’s Extraordinary Approval of a Questionable Treatment for Alzheimer’s - It is very rare for the agency to ignore an overwhelmingly negative advisory recommendation. - link
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The Big Stakes and Deep Weirdness of the Last Days of New York City’s Mayoral Race - The future of the country’s largest city is on the line. This week, campaign reporting focussed on a candidate’s refrigerator. - link
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Joe Biden Just Had a Summit with Vladimir Putin and Nothing Crazy Happened - The triumph of Geneva is that it was not Helsinki. - link
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Iran Moves Toward a One-Party State - The Supreme Leader is willing to risk the legitimacy of an election to consolidate monolithic hard-line control. - link
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From Vox
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The public option is now a reality in 3 states -
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+Three states have now approved public health insurance plans that will be sold on the Affordable Care Act’s insurance marketplaces alongside commercial coverage. | Karen Bleier/AFP via Getty Images
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+We’re about to learn a lot about how a public health insurance option actually works in the US.
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+Colorado Gov. Jared Polis on Wednesday signed into law a public health care option, making it the third state in the US to approve the creation of a government-run health insurance plan to be sold alongside commercial coverage on the Affordable Care Act’s insurance marketplaces.
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+More than a decade ago, a federal public option was cut out of the ACA, largely because of objections by centrist Senate Democrats. Now it’s enjoying a revival of sorts. President Joe Biden campaigned on a public option in 2020, and while the chances of his proposal (or something like it) passing at the federal level have faded, Democrats in Congress are seeking input on what a federal public option should look like.
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+But some states aren’t waiting for Congress to act. Their public options may be more limited than what a possible federal version could be, but they are still valuable experiments that will test the concept in the real world.
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+Washington state first approved its public option in 2019 and made it available to consumers for enrollment in 2020. The state now has a year of experience getting the Cascade Care program up and running, and it’s already starting to tinker with the policy design. It’s also offering lessons for Colorado and Nevada (the other state to pass a public option this year, one week before Colorado).
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+As these states have drawn up their plans, one thing has become clear: The potential value of a public option is in keeping health care costs in check by keeping rates lower than those of private insurance plans. But it still remains to be seen whether a public option can expand health coverage to more people.
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+Already, more than half of the uninsured in the US are eligible for either Medicaid enrollment or ACA subsidies for private coverage. Surveys have shown that price concerns often keep them from enrolling — so if these public options can help put a check on rising health care costs, perhaps they can also have an effect on coverage. But that is an open question at this point.
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+“The jury is very much still out on whether the public option will expand enrollment,” Sabrina Corlette, co-director of the Center on Health Insurance Reforms at Georgetown University’s McCourt School of Public Policy, told me.
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+“The unifying theme of these three bills is they try to reduce health care costs for consumers by tackling provider prices,” she said of the public options in Washington, Colorado, and Nevada. “Time will tell whether they also expand coverage as a result of lowering premiums.”
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+With three state-level public options now out in the wild, we’re getting a clearer idea of the traits they share and how they are distinct. Even if nothing happens in Congress, the coming years will be a natural experiment in how to run a public option.
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+What the Washington, Colorado, and Nevada public options have in common
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+None of the states offer a “public” option like the one Congress contemplated in 2009, where the government sets up and administers its own health insurance plan.
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+“None of them are true public options in that sense,” says Katie Keith, who writes about insurance reform for Health Affairs and consulted with states as they developed public option legislation.
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+Instead, she compares them with public-private partnerships. States are contracting with private companies to create new insurance options to be overseen, if not run, by the government. States would face practical challenges to doing a “true” public option — namely, building up the financial reserves they’d need to pay out claims — so they’re taking another approach wherein private insurance companies will run the public option under rules set by the government.
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+This isn’t unprecedented: Medicare and Medicaid already rely on private companies to administer benefits for some of their enrollees.
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+The plans will be sold on the ACA marketplaces, alongside ACA-compliant private insurance. Only people who are eligible for ACA coverage through the individual and small-group market can sign up; these plans aren’t the kind of public option contemplated by some Democrats during the 2020 presidential campaign, which would also have allowed people who have large-group coverage to enroll.
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+All of these states are also trying to save money for both the government and consumers. Nevada, for example, has established very specific goals: The public option should have premiums that are 5 percent lower than a benchmark plan in the short term; over the longer term, the goal is to bring premiums down to 15 percent below comparable private plans on the market. Similarly, Colorado will require public option plans to reduce premiums by 15 percent over three years.
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+Importantly, all three states are pursuing waivers from the federal government. (Washington didn’t originally, as the Trump administration was categorically opposed to state-level public options, but new legislation requires the state to do so.) Those waivers would allow the states to keep any savings achieved for the federal government through lowering premiums (and therefore ACA subsidies). That money can then be used to provide more financial aid to cover people’s premiums or otherwise decrease health care costs.
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+But these states are deploying different strategies to achieve their savings, as well as to make sure doctors and hospitals actually accept the public option so that patients can get the medical care they need.
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+How these three state-level public options are different
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+At first glance, these state public options look very similar. But in the details, they have several important distinctions.
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+How much to pay health care providers is the most important issue for any health insurance plan — those prices dictate the premiums charged to customers — and these states are taking divergent approaches in their calculations.
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+Washington has capped provider payments at 160 percent of Medicare payment rates. Colorado has dictated that provider rates can’t be lower than 155 percent of Medicare; however, if insurers fail to achieve a 15-percent premium reduction, the state insurance commissioner has the authority to mandate lower rates. Nevada has said its public option can’t pay providers less than Medicare, but it otherwise leaves flexibility for the plan to hit its own premium-reduction targets.
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+One challenge in trying to set lower provider rates is that doctors and hospitals might simply choose not to accept the public option plan. That was Washington’s experience in its first year: Some hospitals refused to contract with the public plan, and since an adequate provider network isn’t possible without a hospital, the plan has only been available in 19 of the state’s 39 counties.
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+Washington is trying to correct that issue through recently signed legislation that will, among other things, require hospitals in large systems to participate in at least one public option plan. Nevada and Colorado, having seen Washington’s network-adequacy issues, are setting up their own provider participation requirements from the start.
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+“Nevada and Colorado clearly took a page from Washington’s experience,” Georgetown’s Corlette said.
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+In Nevada, if a provider accepts the state employee health plan, workers’ compensation, or Medicaid, they must accept the public option. Meanwhile, hospitals in Colorado will be required to accept the public option — with the threat looming that if costs don’t come down quickly enough, the state could step in and mandate lower reimbursement rates.
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+For benefits, Colorado and Washington are establishing what’s called a standardized benefit plan through their public options. With standardized benefits, some services (primary care visits and generic prescription drugs, for example) are provided at either no cost or for a small copay, even if the policyholder has yet to meet their deductible. Other common medical services have clearly defined cost-sharing obligations for patients, designed to make it easier for customers to know what they’ll need to pay out of pocket for health care if they sign up for that plan.
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+Nevada, on the other hand, hasn’t said how benefits have to be structured under its public option, nor what the cost-sharing obligations for patients must be.
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+When you look under the hood, there are important differences in how these public options will operate. But they’re all striving toward the same goals: lower health care costs and, hopefully as a result, more coverage. The test now is whether they can achieve their objectives.
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+“It will be interesting to see if additional intervention is needed,” Keith said, “or if this can be successful.”
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“Biden Administration to Congress: build more apartments and houses! -
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+Construction workers roofing an apartment complex in Uniondale, New York, on May 27. | Al Bello/Getty Images
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+“An historic shift in U.S. housing policy.”
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+The Treasury Department is waving a warning flag to Congress and other policymakers about the housing market. Its message? The country is quickly running out of homes, and you need to do something about it.
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+Now, in a memo authored by Deputy Secretary of the TreasuryWally Adeyemo, he makes the case for an increased focus on supply-side interventions. Simply put: We need to build more homes.
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+“Ultimately, the biggest driver of the lack of affordable housing today is a supply constraint that has existed before the COVID pandemic but has been exacerbated by the pandemic,” Adeyemo tells Vox.
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+ Erin Scott/Bloomberg via Getty Images
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+Secretary of the Treasury Janet Yellen (left) swears in Wally Adeyemo as deputy secretary of the Treasury on March 26.
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+In the memo, he writes: “Critically, the Biden-Harris Administration is undertaking an historic shift in U.S. housing policy by focusing on supply constraints and the availability of affordable housing units, including multifamily rental units.”
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+The memo outlines a few policies that Treasury believes will help alleviate the problem, all of which it would need Congress’s help to implement:
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+Tax credits that make it “cost-effective to build new units of affordable housing and to rehabilitate existing homes in poor condition”
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+Roughly $94 billion in additional subsidies to “build and preserve rental housing for the lowest-income renters”
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+$40 billion to invest in America’s public housing stock
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+$5 billion incentive program to “reward jurisdictions” that remove exclusionary zoning policies
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+Those policies themselves aren’t new proposals for Biden’s administration. Those four listed above aresome ofthe housing policies in the American Jobs Plan, which Treasury estimates will “generate [the] production or preservation of more than 2 million affordable housing units.” What’s significant about the memo is its focus on supply.Adeyemo is making the case that the federal government cannot remain content with just helping people afford expensive housing — it has to do something to address the cost of housing itself.
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+While this is a good signal of the Treasury’s and the Biden administration’s priorities, the proposed policies are unlikely to do enough to solve the supply crisis — and that’s if Congress gets on board.
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+What Biden’s plan will and won’t do
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+It’s hard to see how Biden’s current plan will substantially tackle the nation’s lack of housing. It’s a good first step, but at this point, federal policymakers remain unsure of how to effectively reduce local zoning measures that have suffocated the housing stock, in particular affordable housing in high-demand regions. So most of the housing plans are focused on measures that try and get at the problem in other ways.
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+Take the multi-billion investment in public housing, for instance. According to a 2019 report by the National Low Income Housing Coalition, there is a $70 billion backlog in public housing maintenance and repairs. So, it’s highly unlikely much of the $40 billion Biden’s team is proposing for public housing would go to increasing the nation’s housing stock. This doesn’t mean it’s not worth doing, it just doesn’t address the problem the memo is ostensibly about.
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+The policy in the memo that is the most likely to produce affordable housing is the investment in tax credits. One such tax credit is the low-income housing tax credit (LIHTC), which, according to 2018 research by the Urban Institute, is responsible for the creation or preservation of roughly 2.3 million housing units. Biden has proposed investing $55 billion in LIHTCs over 5 years.
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+More to the point, there is widespread agreement that the biggest cause of America’s supply crunch is local zoning rules, which have made it illegal to build many types of affordable housing, especially in the most job-rich regions.
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+These rules, things like minimum lot sizes which force developers to build large homes on large plots of land or parking minimums which make it inordinately expensive to build many affordable multi-family units, have driven up the cost in the most high-demand regions. In turn, that has forced many people who live in those regions to seek housing in more affordable places, thereby increasing demand in previously affordable communities and creating cascading supply issues throughout the country.
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+ Mandal Ngan/AFP via Getty Images
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+Joe Biden and Secretary of Housing and Urban Development Marcia Fudge in Tulsa, Oklahoma on June 1. According to a 2019 report by the National Low Income Housing Coalition, there is a $70 billion backlog in public housing maintenance and repairs.
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+The $5 billion that the federal government is seeking to allocate is very small in the face of that problem. A senior Treasury official said that this was a moderate amount of money but that the current goal is primarily to learn from what localities do in response to these funds and see what works to see how the federal government can target the most harmful policies.
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+The official added that the $5 billion will likely be a mix of Sen. Amy Klobuchar’s proposal to provide localities with grant assistance to figure out how to re-do their zoning laws and the original White House proposal that would only grant localities funding once they have removed the harmful zoning laws.
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+There is widespread research on the harm of these policies both to the lives of working-class Americans and the general economy. The problem with eliminating exclusionary zoning laws isn’t technical or academic, it’s political.
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+Some local homeowners seek to block the development of new housing either out of concern for their own property values or a personal dislike of the kinds of people they assume will be able to live in their communities if more affordable housing units are built.
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+Over the last year, homeowners have accumulated over $1.5 trillion in home equity, according to research by CoreLogic. It’s likely that unless these exclusionary zoning laws are removed, the incentive to continue restricting the building of more housing will win out.
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+If the $5 billion measure to tackle exclusionary zoning laws passes, the Biden administration would be going further than any previous administration has in challenging exclusionary zoning — but it’s nowhere near enough to tackle the problem.
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+Memos are all well and good, but the real decision-maker is Congress
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+Historically, Congress hasn’t been interested in intervening on the supply-side. Why? Demand-side policies are fun! Policymakers get to help their constituents afford something without having to do the hard and often politically dicey work of making something cheaper. But it also means that the government often fails to tackle the root of the problem.
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+“One of the worst tendencies in American politics is to restrict supply and subsidize demand,” economist Tyler Cowen wrote in a 2019 Bloomberg column, crediting the phrase to economist Arnold Kling. “The likely result of such policies is high and rising prices, restricted access and often poor quality. If you limit the number of homes and apartments, for example, but give buyers subsidies, that is a formula for exorbitant prices.”
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+This is exactly the problem in the US housing market today. To be fair to Congress, it’s local governments that have restricted supply, while Congress has come behind them trying to subsidize the rising cost of housing and rent. But the national economic impact of these goes beyond the local level: Researchers have estimated that the nation lost a whopping 36 percent in economic growth from 1964 to 2009 due to these policies.
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+It’s a hard problem because many of the demand-side policies are worthwhile ones.
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+ Chris Delmas/AFP via Getty Images
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+Housing construction seen in Los Angeles on November 21, 2020. The Treasury Department is waving a warning flag to Congress and policymakers about the housing crisis.
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+Congress is also considering passing a “down-payment assistance bill [that] would provide $25,000 to first-time homebuyers, but only those who are first-generation homebuyers and economically disadvantaged,” reports HousingWire. If the bill passes, there may be a few more low-income and first-generation Americans who are able to purchase a home. But it will predominantly be a giveaway to existing homeowners, who are on average wealthier than the general public, because it will raise the value of their homes.
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+Adeyemo argues in favor of doing both: “You’ve got to do things to make sure that even in a tight housing market, people of color and low-income people aren’t left out. But the place where we want the most resources at the moment is trying to stick with supply-side constraints. We need to make sure that renters don’t see rents go sky-high and ultimately the benefits of homeownership are accrued to the home-buyer rather than to the institution that owns the home.”
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+“Getting this balance right is going to be important,” he added. “Congress has largely focused on the demand side, providing vouchers, finding down-payment assistance. What we’re trying to signal with this piece is that we also want to work with them on the supply side because it’s often something that people haven’t emphasized.”
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Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand wants to create a new agency to deal with data privacy -
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+Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY) is giving her privacy agency bill another try. | Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images
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+The FTC currently enforces federal privacy laws. Gillibrand doesn’t think it’s enough.
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+Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY) is introducing a revamped version of her Data Protection Act, which would create a new government agency in charge of regulating and enforcing federal privacy laws — the ones we have now as well as any we might get in the future.
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+“Big Tech companies are free to sell individuals’ data to the highest bidder without fear of real consequences, posing a severe threat to modern-day privacy and civil rights,” Gillibrand said in a statement. “A data privacy crisis is looming over the everyday lives of Americans and we need to hold these bad actors accountable.”
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+The bill builds on her 2020 version in ways that seem to reflect the Biden administration’s agenda and the fact that Democrats now have control over both houses of Congress and are therefore more likely to be able to carry out that agenda. It also includes new sections addressing antitrust and civil rights.
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+The Data Protection Act isn’t a privacy bill in and of itself. Rather, it establishes a Data Protection Agency, whose job would be to regulate and enforce federal data privacy laws. The bill also spells out some prohibited data collection and usage practices, including those that are discriminatory or deceptive, and bans re-identifying users from de-identified data.
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+The agency would also, in this new version, review the privacy implications of any mergers that include transferring the data of at least 50,000 users — think Facebook and Instagram, but also those of data brokers like Oracle’s acquisition of BlueKai. That review would then be sent to the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and the Department of Justice to be used in determining whether to allow the mergers to go through.
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+The Data Protection Agency would also have its own Office of Civil Rights that ensures data is not collected or used in a way that discriminates against protected classes. Facebook allowing users to place housing ads that exclude certain races and ethnicities is one example of this, but there are myriadways that data you didn’t even know you were providing can be used against you — and there’s no one agency responsible for overseeing those violations.
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+Currently, enforcing federal privacy laws generally falls to the FTC and state attorneys general. This bill would take that out of the FTC’s purview, and opinions are divided on whether this is a good idea. Some believe the power should stay with an established agency that can be expanded to better take it on. The FTC recently said it needed more people and new units to properly tackle privacy issues. The agency currently only has about 40 people dedicated to privacy matters out of its roughly 1,100 full-time employees. Washington Rep. Suzan DelBene’s privacy bill, introduced in March, would give the FTC significantly more money and employees, which she told Recode she believes is a better way to regulate privacy than a new agency.
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+“There’s nothing wrong with the FTC that can’t be corrected with stronger legal authority and more resources,” Cameron Kerry, a fellow at the Brookings Institution’s Center for Technology Innovation, told Recode last March. “I think it’s got experience. You don’t just stand up a new agency. I think there are advantages to having an agency doing this that also has competition authority.”
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+But others point out that many countries have data protection authorities, and a dedicated body is needed considering the huge companies and ecosystem it would be regulating — data collection is, in many ways, the backbone of the internet and mobile apps. The FTC, many argue, has fallen short on data privacy and is frequently called “toothless” for levying fines against Big Tech companies that are essentially slaps on the wrist — first offenses often don’t even merit a fine. Even the enormous $5 billion fine the FTC handed down to Facebook for privacy violations didn’t seem to make a dent in the company’s bottom line, and only happened because Facebook violated a 2012 settlement that didn’t require it to pay a fine at all.
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+And Gillibrand isn’t the only lawmaker who wants an agency like this: California Reps. Anna Eshoo and Zoe Lofgren’s Online Privacy Act called for a Digital Privacy Agency, and that bill could also make a reappearance this Congress. Ohio Sen. Sherrod Brown’s draft version of his Data Accountability and Transparency Act included a provision establishing an independent agency, and his office told Recode he intends to introduce his bill this Congress. He’s a co-sponsor of Gillibrand’s bill. Meanwhile, California will soon have its own Privacy Protection Agency.
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+It’s also not yet known where data privacy will fall on the FTC’s docket, now that Lina Khan is the agency’s chair. Khan rose to prominence as a Big Tech critic and antitrust expert, and her appointment reflects that the Biden administration wants to prioritize those antitrust matters, as do lawmakers in both parties and bothhouses of Congress. Khan was a co-author of the House Democrats’ massive antitrust report, which blamed Big Tech’s perceived anti-competitive practices for eroding user privacy. Data privacy will likely be a part of her agenda, but it may not be the focus.
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+Perhaps the biggest issue with this bill is not the bill itself but what the agency it creates would be able to do. While the US does have data privacy laws, almost everyone — including the companies the laws target — agrees that existing regulations aren’t enough and don’t reflect the online-centric way many people live their lives now. They just don’t agree on how to address that problem, so federal privacy bills have historically gone nowhere. And that’s something this bill can’t fix.
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From The Hindu: Sports
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Rafael Nadal pulls out of Wimbledon and Tokyo Olympics - “I have decided not to participate at this year’s Championships at Wimbledon and the Olympic Games in Tokyo,” Nadal said on Twitter.
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WTC Final: Kohli eyes legacy, Williamson prize for consistency in battle of equals - There is very little to choose between the two teams even though playing New Zealand in conditions that aid seam and swing isn’t the easiest of tasks.
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U.S. Open tennis tournament to allow 100% fan capacity in 2021 - The U.S. Tennis Association announced that all tickets for courts and grounds passes will go on sale in July.
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Federer fails to make Halle Open quarterfinals for 1st time - 20-year-old Félix Auger-Aliassime is 19 years younger than the Swiss great
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If we can play freely, we will get the desired result: Rahane - We have a bowling attack which can do well in all types of pitch and weather conditions, says Rahane
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From The Hindu: National News
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Mehul Choksi planned escape, concealed evidence as he knew about impending enquiries: CBI - The CBI in its supplementary charge sheet has invoked Section 201 of the IPC among other charges which pertain to the destruction of evidence by a suspect as part of criminal conspiracy
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5 aircraft of IndiGo, GO FIRST damaged at Ahmedabad airport due to thunderstorm - Five aircraft of IndiGo and GO FIRST have been damaged at the Ahmedabad airport due to an unexpected thunderstorm, aviation industry sources said on
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‘People need to be assured that vaccines are protective even against delta variant,’ says Dr. Srinath Reddy - If a nasal or orally administered mucosal vaccine proves safe and efficacious, that will be a boon for child vaccination, says Public Health Foundation of India (PHFI) president.
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Camel rally by supporters of Ramesh Jarkiholi seeking inclusion in Karnataka Cabinet - They sent a memorandum to the Chief Minister through the office of the Deputy Commissioner
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Covid-19 | Sundargarh Municipality asks owners to get vaccinated before opening shops - District Collector says business shops may not be allowed to open without vaccination.
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From BBC: Europe
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Italy cable car: Outrage as video of the crash shown on TV - Italy’s public broadcaster showed the footage of last month’s cable car crash that killed 14 people.
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German hunt for gunman who killed two in Espelkamp - It is not clear why the man, now on the run, shot a man and a woman in the town of Espelkamp.
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Girls to break centuries-old German male choir school tradition - The Regensburger Domspatzen boys’ church choir will open its school to girls next year.
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Turow: Vast Polish coal mine infuriates the neighbours - The EU’s top court has ordered Poland to halt mining at Turow, which affects water levels across the border.
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Biden and Putin praise Geneva summit talks but discord remains - The US and Russia agree to nuclear arms control talks but progress at the Geneva summit is limited.
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From Ars Technica
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Ohio Republicans close to imposing near-total ban on municipal broadband - Bill’s 10Mbps standard could make 98% of Ohio ineligible for municipal networks. - link
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A new HTTP spec proposes elimination of obnoxious “cookie banners” - Explicit privacy communication mechanism can simplify UI and limit user fatigue. - link
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Apple‘s Tim Cook: Sideloading is “not in the best interests of the user” - The interview also touched on privacy, AR, health, and future products. - link
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Ten-year hactivist fugitive Commander X arrested in Mexico - “We do not forgive. We do not forget.” But neither do the feds. - link
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Facebook begins tying social media use to ads served inside its VR ecosystem - Announcement doubles down on Facebook account requirement for Oculus hardware. - link
The military is cutting staff and decide to get rid of three generals. One from the Army, the Airforce, and the Marines. -
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+All of them are old, grizzled men who had seen their fair share of war, so the Pentagon comes up with a unique bonus system for their service. They can choose two points of their bodies and for every inch between them they would get 10k.
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+First up was the Army general. He chose to measure between the tips of his middle fingers with his arms spread wide. Second was the Air Force, who chose the top of his head to the soles of his feet. Then came the Marine General.
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+“I want you to measure from the tip of my dick to my balls.”
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+The men running the measuring laughed and then asked him, seriously, where he wanted to measure.
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+“I am being serious. Now start measuring.”
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+The men tried to dissuade him but he was adamant. Finally, resigned, one of the men takes the measuring tape and goes to take the measurement. When the general removed his pants the man jumped up in alarm.
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Erin Scott/Bloomberg via Getty Images
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Mandal Ngan/AFP via Getty Images
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Chris Delmas/AFP via Getty Images
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