++Using publicly available data, we quantify the impact of mask adherence and mask mandates on COVID-19 outcomes. We show that mask mandates are associated with a statistically significant decrease in daily new cases (-3.24 per 100K), deaths (-0.19 per 100K), and the proportion of hospital admissions (-2.47%) due to COVID-19 between February 1 and September 27, 2020. These effects are large, corresponding to 13% of the highest recorded number of cases, 20% of deaths, and 7% of admission proportion. We also find that mask mandates are linked to a 23.4 percentage point increase in mask adherence in four diverse states, and that mask adherence is associated with improved COVID-19 outcomes. Lastly, using a large novel survey in 68 countries, we find that community mask adherence and attitudes towards masks are associated with a reduction in COVID-19 cases and deaths. Our results have relevant policy implications, indicating the need to maintain and encourage mask-wearing. +
++Background: Healthcare workers9 (HCWs9) travel-related anxiety needs to be assessed in light of the emergence of SARS-CoV-2 mutations. Methods: An online, cross-sectional questionnaire among HCWs between December 21, 2020 to January 7, 2021. The outcome variables were HCWs9 knowledge and awareness of the SARS-CoV-2 B.1.1.7 lineage, and its associated travel worry and Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD-7) score. Results: A total of 1,058 HCWs completed the survey; 66.5% were female, 59.0% were nurses. 9.0% indicated they had been previously diagnosed with COVID-19 themselves. Regarding the B.1.1.7 lineage, almost all (97.3%) were aware of its emergence, 73.8% were aware that it is more infectious, 78.0% thought it causes more severe disease, and only 50.0% knew that current COVID-19 vaccines are effective in preventing it. Despite this, 66.7% of HCWs were not registered to receive the vaccine. HCWs9 most common source of information about the new variant was social media platforms (67%), and this subgroup was significantly more worried about travelling. Nurses were more worried than physicians (P=0.001); additionally, those who had not travelled in the previous 3 months and those who had not received or registered for the COVID-19 vaccine were also significantly more worried (P = 0.037 and P < 0.001, respectively). Conclusions: Most HCWs were aware of the emergence of SARS-CoV-2 B.1.1.7 variant and expressed substantial travel worries. Increased worry levels were found among HCWs who used social media as their main source of information, those with lower levels of COVID-19 vaccine uptake, and those with higher GAD-7 scores. Utilization of official social media platforms could improve accurate information dissemination among HCWs regarding the pandemic9s evolving mutations. Targeted vaccine campaigns are warranted to assure HCWs about the efficacy of COVID-19 vaccines toward SARS-CoV-2 variants. +
++Introduction: Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has caused an unprecedented health crisis around the world, not least because of its heterogeneous clinical presentation and course. The new information on the pandemic emerging daily has made it challenging for healthcare workers (HCWs) to stay current with the latest knowledge, which could influence their attitudes and practices during patient care. Methods: This study is a follow-up evaluation of changes in HCWs9 knowledge, attitudes, and practices as well as anxiety levels regarding COVID-19 since the beginning of the pandemic. Data were collected through an anonymous, predesigned, self-administered questionnaire that was sent online to HCWs in Saudi Arabia. Results: The questionnaire was sent to 1500 HCWs, with a 63.8% response rate (N=957). The majority of respondents were female (83%), and the most common age group was 31-40 years (52.2%). Nurses constituted 86.3% of the respondents. HCWs reported higher anxiety during the COVID-19 pandemic which increased from 4.91±2.84 to 8.6±2.27 on an 11-point Likert scale compared to other viral outbreaks. HCWs believed that their own preparedness as well as that of their hospital9s intensive care unit (ICU) or emergency room (ER) was higher during the COVID-19 pandemic than during the Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus pandemic (2012-2015). About 58% of HCWs attended one or more simulations concerning the management of COVID-19 patients in their ICU/ER, and nearly all had undergone N95 mask fit testing. The mean score of HCWs9 knowledge of COVID-19 was 9.89/12. For most respondents (94.6%), the perception of being at increased risk of infection was the main cause of anxiety related to COVID-19; the mean score of anxiety over COVID-19 increased from 4.91±2.84 before to 8.6±2.27 during the pandemic in Saudi Arabia. Conclusions: HCWs9 anxiety levels regarding COVID-19 have increased since a pandemic was declared. It is vital that healthcare facilities provide more emotional and psychological support for all HCWs. +
++Background: Wrong Covid-19 prevalence measurement can cost lives or economic output. A number of countries offer random Covid-19 tests and report daily positivity rates. However, since virus testing has to be voluntary, all tests done in the field, even if supposedly random, suffer from selection bias, which is not limited to having a representative sample, and thus cannot be corrected by the usual methods. The issue is that people who feel they have symptoms (or other reasons to suspect they have Covid-19), are more likely to volunteer to get tested, and testing stations cannot readily correct this by oversampling. Methods: We used a controlled, incentivized online experiment with over 600 subjects of all ages in a European country. Results: People under 30 with symptoms are 1.532 times more likely to test when there is no waiting time, compared to those without symptoms. This figure increases to 2.882 when there is a short wait of 5-15 minutes; 4.423 with a 15-30 minute wait; 15.5 with a 30-60 minute wait and 38 with a 1-2 hour wait. The ratio for 30-50 year-olds rages between 1.517 for no wait and 16 for a 1-2 hour wait. For over 50-year-olds, the ratio ranges between 1.708 and 11.333. Conclusions: 9Random9 tests in the field inflate infection figures by many times. We suggest ways to correct the bias of the testing stations and a cleaner way to sample the population to avoid the bias altogether. Our methodology is relevant to Covid-19 and to any other epidemic. +
++A novel severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) has now spread to all countries of the world, including Iran. Although new anti-coronavirus antibodies in patients may be identified by immunological methods with sufficient sensitivity and specificity, the conclusive diagnosis of the disease is by the molecular RT-PCR process. We used a population-based seroepidemiological survey to quantify the proportion of the exposed population with SARS-CoV-2 antibodies and evaluated whether the antibodies are a marker of total or partial immunity to the proportion of the population that remains susceptible to the virus. This cross-sectional study was conducted to investigate the seroprevalence of CoVID-19 in Tehran, the capital of Iran, between April and end of October 2020. Specimens of clotted and heparinized blood (2ml) were collected from the patients. The serum and plasma were separated and stored at â80 C until use. We examined serum anti-SARS-CoV-2 IgG and IgM antibodies from 1375 in-patients admitted to our hospitals using ELISA kits. In total, 1375 participants were enrolled in this study, and SARSâCoVâ2 antibodies were detected using IgMâIgG antibody assay in 291 patients. Among the seropositive patients studied, 187 were men (64.3%), and 104 were women (35.7%) (P<0.05). The mean age of the patients was 49 years; the majority (27%) were in age group 31-40 years. Also, the lowest frequency of cases was reported in the age group of 1-10 years (P <0.05). We determined the seroprevalence of SARSâCoVâ2 for IgM or IgG antibodies to be 21.2%. Diabetes mellitus was the most common underlying disease among SARSâCoVâ2 patients [P=0.05; Odd Ratio=1.61(0.90-2.91)]. Conventional serological assays in SARSâCoVâ2 cases, such as the enzyme-linked immunoassay (ELISA) for specific IgM and IgG antibodies, have a high-throughput advantage and minimize false-negative rates that occur with the RT-PCR method. This study determined the seroprevalence of SARS-CoV-2 antibodies to be 21%. Control of diabetes among other cases factors shall play important role in management and control of COVID-19. +
+Dexamethasone for COVID-19 - Condition: Â Covid19
Intervention: Â Drug:Â Dexamethasone
Sponsor:  University of Oklahoma
Not yet recruiting
The (HD)IVACOV Trial (The High-Dose IVermectin Against COVID-19 Trial) - Condition: Â Covid19
Interventions:  Drug: Ivermectin 0.6mg/kg/day;  Drug: Ivermectin 1.0mg/kg/day;  Drug: Placebo;  Drug: Hydroxychloroquine
Sponsor:  Corpometria Institute
Not yet recruiting
APTâą T3X on the COVID-19 Contamination Rate - Condition: Â COVID-19
Interventions:  Drug: Tetracycline hydrochloride 3%;  Drug: Placebo
Sponsors:  University of Nove de Julho;  Santa Casa de Misericórdia de Porto Alegre
Not yet recruiting
A Study of ORTD-1 in Patients Hospitalized With COVID-19 Related Pneumonia - Condition: Â COVID-19
Interventions:  Drug: ORTD-1 low dose;  Drug: ORTD-1 mid dose;  Drug: ORTD-1 high dose;  Other: Vehicle control
Sponsor:  Oryn Therapeutics, LLC
Recruiting
Rapid Diagnosis of COVID-19 by Chemical Analysis of Exhaled Air - Condition: Â Covid19
Intervention: Â Diagnostic Test: Performance evaluation (sensitivity and specificity) for COVID-19 diagnosis of the Vocus PTR-TOF process
Sponsor:  Hospices Civils de Lyon
Not yet recruiting
IMUNORÂź Preparation in the Prevention of COVID-19 - Condition: Â Covid19
Intervention: Â Drug:Â IMUNOR
Sponsor:  University Hospital Ostrava
Not yet recruiting
Clinical Experimentation With Tenofovir Disoproxyl Fumarate and Emtricitabine for COVID-19 - Condition: Â Covid19
Interventions:  Drug: Vitamin C 500 MG Oral Tablet;  Drug: Tenofovir disoproxyl fumarate 300 MG Oral Tablet;  Drug: Tenofovir disoproxyl fumarate 300 MG plus emtricitabine 200 MG Oral Tablet
Sponsors:  Universidade Federal do Ceara;  Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento CientĂfico e TecnolĂłgico;  SĂŁo JosĂ©Â Hospital for Infectious Diseases - HSJ;  Central Laboratory of Public Health of CearĂĄ - Lacen-CE
Recruiting
Safety and Efficacy of Doxycycline and Rivaroxaban in COVID-19 - Condition: Â COVID-19
Interventions:  Drug: Doxycycline Tablets;  Drug: Rivaroxaban 15Mg Tab;  Combination Product: Hydroxychloroquine and Azithromycin
Sponsor:  Yaounde Central Hospital
Recruiting
The Safety and Efficacy of Pyronaridine-artesunate (PyramaxÂź or ArtecomÂź)in COVID-19 Patients - Condition: Â Covid19
Interventions:  Drug: ArtecomŸ (pyronaridine-artesunate);  Drug: Placebo
Sponsor:  Shin Poong Pharmaceutical Co. Ltd.
Not yet recruiting
Study to Evaluate the Safety, Tolerability, and Efficacy of BGE-175 in Participants â„ 60 Years of Age and Hospitalized With Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) That Are Not in Respiratory Failure - Condition: Â Covid19
Interventions: Â Drug:Â BGE-175; Â Other:Â Placebo
Sponsor:  BioAge Labs, Inc.
Not yet recruiting
Antiseptic Mouth Rinses to Reduce Salivary Viral Load in COVID-19 Patients - Condition: Â Covid19
Interventions:  Drug: Betadine© bucal 100 mg/ml;  Drug: OximenŸ 3%;  Drug: Clorhexidine Dental PHB©;  Drug: Vitis Xtra Forte©;  Drug: Distilled Water
Sponsors:  FundaciĂłn para el Fomento de la InvestigaciĂłn Sanitaria y BiomĂ©dica de la Comunitat Valenciana;  Hospital Universitario FundaciĂłn JimĂ©nez DĂaz;  Hospital Universitario General de Villalba;  Hospital Universitario Infanta Elena;  Hospital Universitario Virgen de la Arrixaca;  Hospital ClĂnico Universitario de Valencia;  Dentaid SL
Completed
RU Anti-SARS-CoV-2 (COVID-19) mAbs in Healthy Volunteers - Condition: Â Covid19
Intervention:  Biological: C144-LS and C-135-LS
Sponsor:  Rockefeller University
Recruiting
Pilot Study of Cefditoren Pivoxil in COVID-19 Patients With Mild to Moderate Pneumonia - Condition: Â COVID-19Â Pneumonia
Intervention:  Drug: Cefditoren pivoxil 400mg
Sponsor:  Meiji Pharma Spain S.A.
Recruiting
The Influence of Covid-19 on the Audio-vestibular System - Condition: Â Covid19
Intervention:  Diagnostic Test: Audio-Vestibular evaluation
Sponsor:  HaEmek Medical Center, Israel
Not yet recruiting
Study of COVID-19 Outbreak in Hospital Departments of Bamako, Mali - Condition: Â Covid19
Interventions:  Diagnostic Test: SARS-CoV-2 screening by molecular biology;  Diagnostic Test: Serological screening
Sponsor:  Institut National de la Santé Et de la Recherche Médicale, France
Not yet recruiting
Clinical Characteristics and Outcomes of Patients with COVID-19 Infection: The Results of the SARS-RAS Study of the Italian Society of Hypertension - The COVID-19 infection has rapidly spread around the world and a second wave is sweeping in many countries. Different clinical and epidemiological aspects characterize the disease and their understanding is necessary to better face the management of the pandemic in progress. The Italian society of arterial hypertension with the SARS-RAS study has contributed significantly to the knowledge of the interaction between inhibition of the renin-angiotensin system and COVID-19 infection. Furthermore,...
Enisamium is an inhibitor of the SARS-CoV-2 RNA polymerase and shows improvement of recovery in COVID-19 patients in an interim analysis of a clinical trial - Pandemic SARS-CoV-2 causes a mild to severe respiratory disease called Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19). Control of SARS-CoV-2 spread will depend on vaccine-induced or naturally acquired protective herd immunity. Until then, antiviral strategies are needed to manage COVID-19, but approved antiviral treatments, such as remdesivir, can only be delivered intravenously. Enisamium (laboratory code FAV00A, trade name AmizonÂź) is an orally active inhibitor of influenza A and B viruses in cell...
N-terminal domain antigenic mapping reveals a site of vulnerability for SARS-CoV-2 - SARS-CoV-2 entry into host cells is orchestrated by the spike (S) glycoprotein that contains an immunodominant receptor-binding domain (RBD) targeted by the largest fraction of neutralizing antibodies (Abs) in COVID-19 patient plasma. Little is known about neutralizing Abs binding to epitopes outside the RBD and their contribution to protection. Here, we describe 41 human monoclonal Abs (mAbs) derived from memory B cells, which recognize the SARS-CoV-2 S N-terminal domain (NTD) and show that a...
Accurate bulk quantitation of droplet digital PCR - Droplet digital PCR provides superior accuracy in nucleic acid quantitation. The requirement of microfluidics to generate and analyze the emulsions, however, is a barrier to its adoption, particularly in low resource or clinical settings. Here, we report a novel method to prepare ddPCR droplets by vortexing and readout the results by bulk analysis of recovered amplicons. We demonstrate the approach by accurately quantitating SARS-CoV-2 sequences using entirely bulk processing and no...
Tropism of SARS-CoV-2 for Developing Human Cortical Astrocytes - The severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) readily infects a variety of cell types impacting the function of vital organ systems, with particularly severe impact on respiratory function. It proves fatal for one percent of those infected. Neurological symptoms, which range in severity, accompany a significant proportion of COVID-19 cases, indicating a potential vulnerability of neural cell types. To assess whether human cortical cells can be directly infected by SARS-CoV-2,...
Small Molecules to Destabilize the ACE2-RBD Complex: A Molecular Dynamics Study for Potential COVID-19 Therapeutics - The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic has infected millions of people, claimed hundreds of thousands of lives, and made a worldwide health emergency. Understanding the SARS-CoV-2 mechanism of infection is crucial in the development of potential therapeutics and vaccines. The infection process is triggered by direct binding of the SARS-CoV-2 receptor-binding domain (RBD) to the host cell receptor, Angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 (ACE2). Many efforts have been made to design or repurpose therapeutics to...
Synthetic Siglec-9 Agonists Inhibit Neutrophil Activation Associated with COVID-19 - Severe cases of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), caused by infection with SARS-Cov-2, are characterized by a hyperinflammatory immune response that leads to numerous complications. Production of proinflammatory neutrophil extracellular traps (NETs) has been suggested to be a key factor in inducing a hyperinflammatory signaling cascade, allegedly causing both pulmonary tissue damage and peripheral inflammation. Accordingly, therapeutic blockage of neutrophil activation and NETosis, the cell...
Single-Cell RNA Sequencing of Tocilizumab-Treated Peripheral Blood Mononuclear Cells as an in vitro Model of Inflammation - COVID-19 has posed a significant threat to global health. Early data has revealed that IL-6, a key regulatory cytokine, plays an important role in the cytokine storm of COVID-19. Multiple trials are therefore looking at the effects of Tocilizumab, an IL-6 receptor antibody that inhibits IL-6 activity, on treatment of COVID-19, with promising findings. As part of a clinical trial looking at the effects of Tocilizumab treatment on kidney transplant recipients with subclinical rejection, we...
Stenoparib, an Inhibitor of Cellular Poly(ADP-Ribose) Polymerase, Blocks Replication of the SARS-CoV-2 and HCoV-NL63 Human Coronaviruses In Vitro - By late 2020, the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), had caused tens of millions of infections and over 1 million deaths worldwide. A protective vaccine and more effective therapeutics are urgently needed. We evaluated a new poly(ADP-ribose) polymerase (PARP) inhibitor, stenoparib, that recently advanced to phase II clinical trials for treatment of ovarian cancer, for activity against human respiratory...
Engineering a Reliable and Convenient SARS-CoV-2 Replicon System for Analysis of Viral RNA Synthesis and Screening of Antiviral Inhibitors - The etiologic agent of COVID-19 is highly contagious and has caused a severe global pandemic. Until now, there has been no simple and reliable system available in a lower-biosafety-grade laboratory for SARS-CoV-2 virologic research and inhibitor screening. In this study, we reported a replicon system which consists of four plasmids expressing the required segments of SARS-CoV-2. Our study revealed that the features for viral RNA synthesis and responses to antivirus drugs of the replicon are...
Ipomoeassin-F inhibits the in vitro biogenesis of the SARS-CoV-2 spike protein and its host cell membrane receptor - In order to produce proteins essential for their propagation, many pathogenic human viruses, including SARS-CoV-2 the causative agent of COVID-19 respiratory disease, commandeer host biosynthetic machineries and mechanisms. Three major structural proteins, the spike, envelope and membrane proteins, are amongst several SARS-CoV-2 components synthesised at the endoplasmic reticulum (ER) of infected human cells prior to the assembly of new viral particles. Hence, the inhibition of membrane protein...
Clinical impact of COVID-19 on patients with cancer treated with immune checkpoint inhibition - BACKGROUND: Patients with cancer who are infected with severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) are more likely to develop severe illness and die compared with those without cancer. The impact of immune checkpoint inhibition (ICI) on the severity of COVID-19 illness is unknown. The aim of this study was to investigate whether ICI confers an additional risk for severe COVID-19 in patients with cancer.
Nucleocapsid and Spike Proteins of the Coronavirus SARS-CoV-2 Induce IL6 in Monocytes and Macrophages-Potential Implications for Cytokine Storm Syndrome - The pandemic of the new coronavirus SARS-CoV-2 (severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2) has led to the deaths of more than 1.5 million people worldwide. SARS-CoV-2 causes COVID-19, which exhibits wide variation in the course of disease in different people, ranging from asymptomatic and mild courses to very severe courses that can result in respiratory failure and death. Despite the rapid progression of knowledge, we still do not know how individual cells of the immune system interact...
Cheminformatics-Based Identification of Potential Novel Anti-SARS-CoV-2 Natural Compounds of African Origin - The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic caused by the severe acute respiratory syndrome virus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) has impacted negatively on public health and socioeconomic status, globally. Although, there are currently no specific drugs approved, several existing drugs are being repurposed, but their successful outcomes are not guaranteed. Therefore, the search for novel therapeutics remains a priority. We screened for inhibitors of the SARS-CoV-2 main protease and the receptor-binding...
Hydroxychloroquine-mediated inhibition of SARS-CoV-2 entry is attenuated by TMPRSS2 - Hydroxychloroquine, used to treat malaria and some autoimmune disorders, potently inhibits viral infection of SARS coronavirus (SARS-CoV-1) and SARS-CoV-2 in cell-culture studies. However, human clinical trials of hydroxychloroquine failed to establish its usefulness as treatment for COVID-19. This compound is known to interfere with endosomal acidification necessary to the proteolytic activity of cathepsins. Following receptor binding and endocytosis, cathepsin L can cleave the SARS-CoV-1 and...
COVID-19 CLASSIFICATION RECOGNITION METHOD BASED ON CT IMAGES OF LUNGS - - link
A traditional Chinese medicine composition for COVID-19 and/or influenza and preparation method thereof - - link
Covid 19 - Chewing Gum - - link
STOCHASTIC MODEL METHOD TO DETERMINE THE PROBABILITY OF TRANSMISSION OF NOVEL COVID-19 - The present invention is directed to a stochastic model method to assess the risk of spreading the disease and determine the probability of transmission of severe acute respiratory syndrome corona virus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). - link
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Die Erfindung betrifft ein FahrzeuglĂŒftungssystem (1) zum BelĂŒften einer Fahrgastzelle (2) eines Fahrzeugs (3), mit einem Umluftpfad (5). Die Erfindung ist gekennzeichnet durch eine wenigstens abschnittsweise in einen Umluftansaugbereich (4) des Umluftpads (5) hineinreichende Sterilisationseinrichtung (6), wobei die Sterilisationseinrichtung (6) dazu eingerichtet ist von einem aus der Fahrgastzelle (2) entnommenen Luftstrom getragene Schadstoffe zu inaktivieren und/oder abzutöten.
The use of human serum albumin (HSA) and Cannabigerol (CBG) as active ingredients in a composition for use in the treatment of Coronavirus (Covid-19) and its symptoms - - link
The use of human serum albumin (HSA) and Cannabigerol (CBG) as active ingredients in a composition for use in the treatment of Coronavirus (Covid-19) and its symptoms - - link
"AYURVEDIC PROPRIETARY MEDICINE FOR TREATMENT OF SEVERWE ACUTE RESPIRATORY SYNDROME CORONAVIRUS 2 (SARS-COV-2." - AbstractAyurvedic Proprietary Medicine for treatment of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2(SARS-CoV-2)In one of the aspect of the present invention it is provided that Polyherbal combinations called Coufex (syrup) is prepared as Ayurvedic Proprietary Medicine , Aqueous Extracts Mixing with Sugar Syrup form the following herbal aqueous extract coriandrum sativum was used for the formulation of protek.Further another Polyherbal combination protek as syrup is prepared by the combining an aqueous extract of the medicinal herbs including Emblica officinalis, Terminalia chebula, Terminalia belerica, Aegle marmelos, Zingiber officinale, Ocimum sanctum, Adatoda zeylanica, Piper lingum, Andrographis panivulata, Coriandrum sativum, Tinospora cordiofolia, cuminum cyminum,piper nigrum was used for the formulation of Coufex. - link
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Mund-Nasen-Bedeckung (1), wobei die Mund-Nasen-Bedeckung (1) mindestens an einem Ohr eines TrÀgers magnetisch befestigbar ist.
Haptens, hapten conjugates, compositions thereof and method for their preparation and use - A method for performing a multiplexed diagnostic assay, such as for two or more different targets in a sample, is described. One embodiment comprised contacting the sample with two or more specific binding moieties that bind specifically to two or more different targets. The two or more specific binding moieties are conjugated to different haptens, and at least one of the haptens is an oxazole, a pyrazole, a thiazole, a nitroaryl compound other than dinitrophenyl, a benzofurazan, a triterpene, a urea, a thiourea, a rotenoid, a coumarin, a cyclolignan, a heterobiaryl, an azo aryl, or a benzodiazepine. The sample is contacted with two or more different anti-hapten antibodies that can be detected separately. The two or more different anti-hapten antibodies may be conjugated to different detectable labels. - link
Janet Yellenâs Confirmation Hearing Provides a Glimpse Into the Biden Era - Three topics are set to dominate the Administrationâs economic agenda: the pandemic, spending and taxes, and China. - link
Alexey Navalnyâs Fearless Return to Russia - The Russian dissidentâs superpower is his ability to show people what they have always known about the Putin regime but had the option of pretending away. - link
Obituary for a Failed Presidency - In the end, Donald Trump was everything his haters fearedâa chaos candidate who became a chaos President. - link
The New COVID-19 Variant Sends Britain into a Crisis - Scientists believe that the new strain will cause death tolls to continue to climb. âThings are going to get really bad,â a senior lecturer in mathematical biology said. - link
âA Broken Landâ: Biden and the True Costs of Unity - In launching his Presidency around the pursuit of unity, Biden will immediately face the hard political calculations of making it concrete. - link
++What happens when the former leader of the free world gets deplatformed? Weâre going to find out. +
++Donald Trump is out of the White House. And heâs been kicked off of the worldâs biggest tech platforms. Now what? +
++We donât yet have any idea what Trump really plans to do now that heâs a private citizen (he probably doesnât either). We also donât know what will happen to Trumpâs reach and power without access to Twitter and the rest of his social media bullhorns. +
++In the past, weâve seen big â but compared to Trump, comparatively tiny â right-wing figures diminish considerably once theyâve been deplatformed. But none of them used to be the leader of the free world. +
++âTrump is going to be an interesting case because he is so prominent,â says Renee DiResta, a researcher at the Stanford Internet Observatory. âHeâs not a fringe figure popular within a passionate-yet-small audience. He [was] the president of the United States.â +
++So it may be useful to look at the experiences of some of the fringe figures who have had their social media plugs pulled over the last few years, like Milo Yiannopoulos and Alex Jones â who, not coincidentally, helped set the stage for Trump and the post-truth world he created for the last four years. For now, though, we can only make guesses about what happens to Trump without a platform. +
++A few things we are certain about right now: Trump is unlikely to command an audience â at least, directly â on mainstream social media services for a long time. +
++Although Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey posted a mournful thread last week about his companyâs decision to boot Trump in the aftermath of the Capitol riot, Twitter says the ban is permanent. (A Twitter comms rep did suggest to me, perhaps cheekily, that Trump could try the companyâs appeals page.) +
++Mark Zuckerberg hasnât said Trump would be banned from Facebook and Instagram forever; instead, he has said the ban would last at least âuntil the peaceful transition of power is complete.â But informed people Iâve talked to at the company say there wonât be any change now that Joe Biden is the 46th president, and they canât imagine a scenario where something does change. +
++YouTube, which waited several days after its Big Tech peers to ban Trump, and initially announced a ban that would run through the inauguration, has in theory given Trump the most hope: On Tuesday, the company said it would extend the ban another week instead of indefinitely banning him. But itâs hard to imagine YouTube breaking from the rest of its peers and letting Trump back in. +
++More to the point, while Trumpâs campaign spent heavily on YouTube, and he used it to broadcast his farewell address (via the official White House account, which YouTube said was okay), Donald Trump has yet to show any real interest in the video site. The same goes for Snapchat â which has officially banned Trump. TikTok, meanwhile, didnât officially ban Trump, but it pulled lots of Trump-related content off the service (which, despite Trumpâs efforts to ban it, is still very much alive in the US). +
++We also know that, in the past, deplatforming particular figures from social media does indeed appear to have decreased their overall presence and power. +
++Both Yiannopoulos (a self-styled provocateur banned from Twitter after a string of racist tweets in 2016; Facebook followed up in 2019) and Jones (a conspiracy theorist best known for arguing that the Sandy Hook school shootings were were a hoax and who was banned from most of mainstream social media in 2018) downplayed the consequences of getting kicked off social media, but both have clearly suffered. +
++A year after he lost Twitter, Yiannopoulos complained that his ability to make a living trolling libs had vanished. Jones is still yelling loudly about wild-eyed conspiracies, but he appears to have lost a significant slice of his audience to the QAnon cult, which is why his most public appearance in years came after the Capitol Hill riot, when he raved (in a viral Twitter video he didnât post) that QAnonâs warped conspiracies were a bridge too far. +
++Just as telling: While Trump used to embrace Jones publicly, over the last year he became publicly affectionate for QAnon, and ended up peddling the cultâs conspiracy theories after he lost his election last fall. +
++And yes, itâs possible that Trump, like Jones and Yiannopoulos, could take up residence on the barely moderated social network Parler (which itself has been deplatformed, at least for now, by Amazon, Apple, and Google). He could also head over to messaging apps like Signal and Telegram, which have been booming in recent days, but those arenât likely to be satisfying replacements for him. +
++Thatâs in part because Signal and Telegram are fundamentally built for individual or group messaging, as opposed to the broadcast blast to millions that Trump loved. And Parler has been marketed as a safe haven for angry conservatives and Trump fans â which means that, in the best-case scenario, Trump could use it to reach his hardcore supporters but not the rest of the world. +
++Which is terrible news for Trump and anyone else who craves attention, said Jared Holt, a visiting research fellow at the Atlantic Councilâs Digital Forensic Research Lab: You canât pick a fight with the libs (or the media, or John Bolton, or anyone else) if theyâre not around to fight. +
++âTrump has really emerged as a deity to his most devoted supporters, and one of the things they like about him so much is that he fights the culture war alongside them,â he says. âLosing the platform where that war happens takes away that thrill.â +
++That lack of conflict also underlines the knock-on effect of deplatforming for Trump: While heâll still command some degree of attention from the press â especially if he appears to be a credible candidate for a second White House run or demonstrates the ability to help Trump-friendly candidates win their local races â a provocation on Parler isnât the same as a tantrum on Twitter. If the tree doesnât fall in the mainstream media forest, itâs easier to pretend it didnât make a sound, and itâs easier to not assign a reporter to write it up. (Also: The person knocking down the tree is no longer the most powerful man in the world.) +
++One flip side to all of this: While deplatforming can reduce Trumpâs overall reach, it could certainly make his remaining followers more ardent. Watching the most powerful technology companies in the world act at the same time, if not in unison, against Donald Trump has, for his followers, likely bolstered his claim that tech companies were working against him â and his followers. +
++In this case, Holt says, âA base of voters thatâs been told that thereâs a global tech industry conspiracy against them will likely be more hardened in their beliefsâ when they see whatâs happened to Trump. âAnd if Trump was right about that, was he right about the election stuff?â +
++Which gets at what we really ought to care about when we make predictions about what happens to Trumpâs reach in his post-Twitter era: What happens to the people he used to reach? Regardless of whether they follow him to a different platform, theyâre still going to hear from ⊠somebody on mainstream social media. And if itâs not Trump, whoâs going to fill that void? +
++
++
+
++Bidenâs first- and second-day executive actions take aim at the coronavirus. +
++President Joe Biden already announced a $400 billion Covid-19 plan as part of his $1.9 trillion economic relief proposal. But while he waits for Congress to act on those proposals, Biden is taking a dozen executive actions to tackle the USâs most pressing public health crisis. +
++Behind the executive actions is Bidenâs âNational Strategy for the Covid-19 Response and Pandemic Preparedness,â announced Thursday. The plan aims to restore public trust, scale up vaccination, expand testing and masking, reopen schools and businesses safely, and more â all with an eye on equity in terms of race, ethnicity, and urban-rural divides. +
++The Biden team emphasized that itâll need Congress â particularly for funding â as well as state, local, and private actors to fully implement the plan. But Biden is doing what he can for now. +
++The bulk of these actions will come on Thursday, Bidenâs second day in office. Heâll leverage the Defense Production Act to try to make more vaccines, tests, and protective equipment such as masks. Heâll establish a pandemic testing board in order to expand testing supplies, access, and the public health workforce. Heâll provide guidance to help schools and businesses reopen safely. Heâs directing the Federal Emergency Management Administration (FEMA) to start establishing community vaccination centers. And thatâs just for starters. +
++Those actions follow on Bidenâs more limited first-day executive actions â requiring masks on federal property, committing the US to rejoin the World Health Organization, and creating (or reestablishing) federal positions and agencies to handle Covid-19 and broader disease outbreak response. +
++Bidenâs first- and second-day actions are on top of the plans his team released last week, including a $400 billion Covid-19 plan that will require Congressâs approval and a national vaccine plan. +
++The steps vary in their significance, from the more symbolic to the more substantial. A mask mandate on federal property wonât affect much of the population, but it signals that the government takes this issue seriously. At the same time, the federal government supporting and building mass vaccination centers could really help get Covid-19 vaccines out to many more Americans â helping end this pandemic sooner, if itâs done correctly. +
++More broadly, the national plan and executive actions mark a clear shift from the previous administration. President Donald Trump generally took a hands-off approach to the pandemic â leaving the bulk of the work on masks, testing, contact tracing, and vaccines on states to figure out. Bidenâs plans and actions signal thatâs going to change, starting immediately. +
++It comes at a crucial time. As Americaâs Covid-19 vaccine campaign continues to falter, the country is experiencing some of the highest numbers of coronavirus cases and deaths in the world. Whether Biden fixes all of this could decide the trajectory of his presidency â and may help prevent potentially tens or hundreds of thousands of more American deaths. +
++For much of the past year, a major complaint from experts was that there was no national plan for Covid-19. To the extent any plan was communicated at all, itâs that Trump and his administration didnât see a larger federal role in response to the pandemic â such as when the Trump administration put forward an outline describing the federal government as merely a âsupplier of last resortâ on testing. +
++Now Biden is releasing a national plan. Itâs a broad outline, but the general idea is that the federal government should take a more hands-on strategy: providing reliable guidance to the public; proactively supplying states with the resources they need to test, contact trace, and vaccinate; taking a stronger global role on pandemic response; and emphasizing equity in all aspects of the administrationâs work. +
++At the top of the agenda is the overarching goal: 100 million vaccine shots in 100 days. Some experts argue that goal doesnât go far enough, but the Biden administration says itâs faster than the current vaccination rate and only the start of a process that will span months. +
++Bidenâs team repeatedly acknowledged to reporters that theyâll need Congressâs support to get all of this done, including meeting the administrationâs vaccination goal. But Biden is trying to get the ball rolling with a suite of executive actions that, in the administrationâs view, chip away at some of the current gaps in the federal response. +
++Here are some of the major points of Bidenâs executive actions: +
++For more details, the administration has put up fact sheets for its actions on its first and second day. +
++In part, the actions undo some of Trumpâs moves. Thatâs most obviously true for rejoining the WHO. But itâs also true for the Directorate for Global Health Security and Biodefense, which the Trump administration disbanded before the Covid-19 outbreak; Obamaâs administration had set up the team after the 2014-2016 Ebola outbreak in West Africa to help the country prepare for future disease threats. +
++The actions also signal Bidenâs broader agenda on Covid-19. Heâs pushing against the limits of his executive powers to boost the production of vaccines, tests, and other supplies in a fight against Covid-19. Heâs also effectively created a Covid-19 czar role to oversee future efforts. +
++Itâs part of a more involved approach to Covid-19 than Trump took. That also includes potential legislation, which will have to be passed by Congress, pumping $400 billion into Covid-19 efforts â like a boosted vaccine campaign, scaled-up Covid-19 testing, and a new public health workforce of 100,000. +
++Bidenâs executive actions lay some of the groundwork toward actually achieving what heâs promised on Covid-19. The questions now are if he will succeed â and if it will be enough to turn around one of the worldâs worst coronavirus outbreaks. +
++Underlying Bidenâs plans on Covid-19 is a concept that the Trump administration rejected: a larger federal role to fight the coronavirus. +
++To that end, none of what Biden is proposing is new or particularly radical. Theyâre the kinds of things that experts have been putting forward for a year now. Theyâre in many ways what one would expect the federal government to do in response to a disease outbreak â indeed, some of the steps Biden has taken simply revive policies from past administrations. +
++But the Trump administration rejected more aggressive steps on Covid-19. Whether it was protective equipment, testing, or contact tracing, Trump and his team repeatedly insisted that the federal government would only play a supplemental role to the states. Trump never came up with anything resembling a national plan on Covid-19, pushing the states to do the bulk of the heavy lifting. +
++As Trumpâs last days in office counted down, that culminated in a messy vaccine rollout. While there are many factors contributing to Americaâs slow vaccine efforts â including the countryâs size, sprawl, and segmented health care system â a key contributor is the lack of federal involvement. In effect, the Trump administration purchased tens of millions of doses of the vaccines, shipped them to the states, and then left the states to figure out the rest. +
++This was clear in the funding numbers. State organizations asked for $8 billion to build up vaccine infrastructure. The Trump administration provided $340 million. Only in December did Congress finally approve the $8 billion states requested, but experts say that money comes late, given that vaccination efforts are already well underway and the funds couldâve helped in the preparation stages. +
++When asked about the botched vaccine rollout, the Trump administration stuck to its anti-federalist stance â arguing that itâs on states and localities to figure out how they can vaccinate more people. Brett Giroir, an administration leader on Covid-19 efforts, argued, âThe federal government doesnât invade Texas or Montana and provide shots to people.â +
++Characterizing greater federal support for Covid-19 efforts as a federal invasion is absurd, but itâs emblematic of the Trump administrationâs approach to the coronavirus as a whole. +
++Thatâs what Biden is pushing to change. +
++Much of Bidenâs agenda will require congressional approval â particularly parts that require more money â and itâs possible Congress, now barely held by Democrats, could scoff at a high price tag. +
++And a lingering question has been how much of the USâs failure on Covid-19 is on Trump and a lack of federal involvement versus longstanding, broader structural problems (not least the countryâs fragmented style of government and health care systems). Biden may show that weak federal governance was the problem â or he may not. +
++It all begins, though, with Bidenâs executive actions during his first two days. +
+
++Biden is delivering on a key campaign promise on immigration policy. +
++The Department of Homeland Security announced Wednesday night that it would pause deportations of certain noncitizens for 100 days starting on January 22, delivering on one of President Joe Bidenâs key campaign promises on immigration policy. +
++The agency said in a statement that the moratorium will allow it to âreview and reset enforcement prioritiesâ after the Trump administration sought to ensure that no undocumented immigrants â including families and longtime US residents â were safe from deportation. +
++âThe pause will allow DHS to ensure that its resources are dedicated to responding to the most pressing challenges that the United States faces, including immediate operational challenges at the southwest border in the midst of the most serious global public health crisis in a century,â the agency said. +
++Given that immigration enforcement agencies have limited resources, presidents typically identify what classes of immigrants should be prioritized for deportation. Under former President Barack Obama, that included people who posed a threat to national security, immigrants convicted of serious crimes, and recent border crossers. +
++Trump essentially eliminated those priorities. The moratorium is supposed to give Biden a chance to reevaluate where the immigration agencies should dedicate resources. +
++According to a memo from Acting DHS Secretary David Pekoske, the moratorium will apply to any noncitizen in the US who has been ordered deported by an immigration judge, unless they arrived after November 1, or if they voluntarily gave up their right to stay in the US with full knowledge of the consequences and the opportunity to obtain legal representation. +
++Noncitizens can still be deported if they have engaged in terrorism or espionage or are suspected of doing so, or if they otherwise pose a threat to national security. The head of US Immigration and Customs Enforcement can also intervene in an individual case to order their deportation. +
++Itâs not clear how broadly the Biden administration intends to apply those carve-outs, but they leave much up to agency discretion. Some immigration attorneys have expressed concern that people who relinquish their right to remain in the US often do so under duress from ICE officials and could be unfairly excluded from deportation relief. +
++The memo also outlines the Biden administrationâs preliminary enforcement priorities, which seem to reflect the presidentâs promises on the campaign trail that he would only deport people who have been convicted of a felony and explicitly not people with a DUI. Obama, by contrast, had deported immigrants with DUIs and minor offenses. +
++Bidenâs position on a moratorium on deportations evolved over the course of his campaign. In November 2019, he snapped at an immigration activist who asked him at a South Carolina town hall whether he would support the policy. He said that he would prioritize deportations only of those who have committed a felony or a serious crime, telling the activist to âvote for Trumpâ if that wasnât good enough. +
++Under pressure from immigrant advocates, he eventually pledged to implement the moratorium last February. It was a signal that Biden, who had once struggled to answer criticism of record-high deportations while he served as vice president, would not simply revert to the status quo on immigration enforcement under Obama. +
++âThis 100 day pause is a sigh of relief for so many people,â Lynn Tramonte, director of the immigrant advocacy group Ohio Immigrant Alliance, said in a statement. âAfter four brutal years of cruel and truly incomprehensible deportations, the US Government seems ready to inject some common sense into the enforcement of civil immigration laws.â +
++
++
+Data | Beginnerâs pluck: winning at the Gabba with the least experience - After the end of the fourth Test, India's bowlers -- Siraj, Natarajan, Thakur, Sundar, and Saini -- had a combined average Test match experience of 1.6 matches
Victorious Team India arrives home after series win against Australia - Members of the triumphant Indian cricket contingent, including stand-in skipper Ajinkya Rahane and coach Ravi Shastri, returned to the country on Thur
Dhoni comparisons amazing but Pant wants a name for himself in Indian cricket - âYou feel amazing when you are compared to someone like MS Dhoni and you compare me with him,â Rishabh Pant said after landing in New Delhi from Australia
India have left me with egg on my face, says Michael Vaughan after wrong prediction - Vaughan had earlier predicted that India will be whitewashed 4-0 in the Test series
Real Madrid sent packing from Copa del Rey by tiny Alcoyano - Third-division club Alcoyano defeated Real Madrid 2-1.
BJPâs Odisha farmer rally protests halt in paddy procurement - Farmers from 37 Assembly segments participate in massive demonstration against âfully manmade crisisâ
Vice-President Venkaiah Naidu urges Centre to consider Telanganaâs request for vaccine testing, certification lab in Hyderabad - Request will be examined from all angles, Health Minister Dr. Harsh Vardhan assures.
Coronavirus | Health Minister assures people on safety, efficacy of COVID-19 vaccines - The Minister urged everyone to counter the âvested campaigns of untruth and misinformationâ.
Telangana announces decision to implement 10% quota for economically weaker sections - Telangana Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao said an official meeting, presided by him, will discuss the issue in a couple of days and issue orders
HC allows MTP for seven minors in six months - Girls supposed to be victims of sexual assaults during lockdown
Coronavirus: Hungary first in EU to approve Russian vaccine - Its health authorities give preliminary approval to the Russian-developed Sputnik V coronavirus jab.
UK and EU in row over bloc's diplomatic status - The EU's top representative in London is not being given the same privileges as other ambassadors.
Italian coastguard recover huge whale carcass - They were led to the dead mammal by a young whale calf in distress.
Madrid explosion leaves three dead - At least three people have died in a suspected gas blast that destroyed four floors of a building.
Alcoyano 2-1 Real Madrid: Third division side cause huge upset - European giants Real Madrid are handed a humiliating Copa del Rey last-32 defeat by third division side Alcoyano.
Ars online IT roundtable today: Whatâs the future of the data center? - Join Sean Gallagher, Dell's Ivan Nekrasov, and me today, January 21, at 3:15pm Eastern! - link
Three rows, 37mpg, and under $34,000? The 2021 Kia Sorento Hybrid - We think the Sorento Hybrid will be in high demand. - link
Treasury nominee Yellen is looking to curtail use of cryptocurrency - Yellen argues many cryptocurrencies are used "mainly for illicit financing." - link
New metamaterial merges magnetic memory and physical changes - A mix of actuator and bit-level memory. - link
Twitchâs Trump ban sustained after leaving office - Video-streaming account launched in 2019, faced first suspension in 2020. - link
+You order it from the Cat-alogue +
+ submitted by /u/Bagabus
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+Didn't know you still need it. +
+ submitted by /u/jobanchahall
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+Your mother's pregnancy. +
+ submitted by /u/bruhbruhbruhbruh12
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+Where you put the cucumber. +
+ submitted by /u/OldOdds
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+So the lion starts rushing towards the dog with menace. The dog notices and starts to panic but as he's about to run he sees some bones next to him and gets an idea and says loudly "mmm...that was some good lion meat!". +
++The lion abruptly stops and says " woah! This guy seems tougher then he looks, I better leave while I can". +
++Over by the tree top, a monkey witnessed everything. Evidently, the monkey realizes the he can benefit from this situation by telling the lion and getting something in return. So the monkey proceeds to tell the lion what really happened and the lion says angrily "get on my back, we'll get him together". +
++So they start rushing back to the dog. The dog sees them and realized what happened and starts to panic even more. He then gets another idea and shouts "where the hell is that monkey! I told him to bring me another lion an hour ago..." +
+ submitted by /u/IdeaCafe
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