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<h1 data-aos="fade-down" id="covid-19-sentry">Covid-19 Sentry</h1>
<h1 data-aos="fade-right" data-aos-anchor-placement="top-bottom" id="contents">Contents</h1>
<ul>
<li><a href="#from-preprints">From Preprints</a></li>
<li><a href="#from-clinical-trials">From Clinical Trials</a></li>
<li><a href="#from-pubmed">From PubMed</a></li>
<li><a href="#from-patent-search">From Patent Search</a></li>
</ul>
<h1 data-aos="fade-right" id="from-preprints">From Preprints</h1>
<ul>
<li><strong>Infectivity and immune escape of the new SARS-CoV-2 variant of interest Lambda</strong> -
<div>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
Background: The newly described SARS-CoV-2 lineage C.37 was recently classified as a variant of interest by the WHO (Lambda variant) based on its high circulation rates in South American countries and the presence of critical mutations in the spike protein. The impact of such mutations in infectivity and immune escape from neutralizing antibodies are entirely unknown. Methods: We performed a pseudotyped virus neutralization assay and determined the impact of the Lambda variant on infectivity and immune escape using plasma samples from healthcare workers (HCW) from two centers in Santiago, Chile who received the two-doses scheme of the inactivated virus vaccine CoronaVac. Results: We observed an increased infectivity mediated by the Lambda spike protein that was even higher than that of the D614G (lineage B) or the Alpha and Gamma variants. Compared to the Wild type (lineage A), neutralization was decreased by 3.05-fold for the Lambda variant while it was 2.33-fold for the Gamma variant and 2.03-fold for the Alpha variant. Conclusions: Our results indicate that mutations present in the spike protein of the Lambda variant of interest confer increased infectivity and immune escape from neutralizing antibodies elicited by CoronaVac. These data reinforce the idea that massive vaccination campaigns in countries with high SARS-CoV-2 circulation must be accompanied by strict genomic surveillance allowing the identification of new isolates carrying spike mutations and immunology studies aimed to determine the impact of these mutations in immune escape and vaccines breakthrough.
</p>
</div>
<div class="article-link article-html-link">
🖺 Full Text HTML: <a href="https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2021.06.28.21259673v1" target="_blank">Infectivity and immune escape of the new SARS-CoV-2 variant of interest Lambda</a>
</div></li>
<li><strong>Post COVID-19 sequelae: A prospective observational study from Northern India</strong> -
<div>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
Background: Long COVID, or post-COVID-19 sequelae, is being seen in a growing number of patients reporting a constellation of symptoms, both pulmonary and extrapulmonary. Studies on COVID-19 recovered patients are scarce. Thus, there is a need to add granularity to our existing knowledge about the course and long-term effects of the infection. Aim: To describe the clinical details and risk factors of post-COVID sequelae in the North Indian population. Method: This prospective observational study was conducted at a tertiary healthcare centre in Northern India between October 2020 to February 2021. Patients aged &gt;18 years with a confirmed COVID-19 disease were recruited after at least two weeks of diagnosis and interviewed for any post-COVID-19 symptoms. Results: Of 1234 patients recruited, who were followed up for a median duration of 91 days (IQR: 45-181 days), 495 (40.11%) patients had symptoms. In 223 (18.1%) patients, the symptoms resolved within four weeks, 150 (12.1%) patients had symptoms till twelve weeks, and 122 (9.9%) patients had symptoms beyond twelve weeks of diagnosis of COVID-19. Most common long COVID-19 symptoms included myalgia (10.9%), fatigue (5.5%), shortness of breath (6.1%), cough (2.1%), disturbed sleep (1.4%), mood disturbances (0.48%) and anxiety (0.6%). The major determinants of developing post-COVID-19 symptoms in the patients were hypothyroidism and the severity of the disease. Conclusion: Most often, patients complain of myalgias, fatigue, dyspnoea, cough and disturbed sleep. Patients who are hypothyroid or have recovered from moderate to severe COVID-19 are at higher risk of developing post-COVID sequelae. Therefore, a multidisciplinary approach is required to diagnose and manage COVID-19 recovered patients.
</p>
</div>
<div class="article-link article-html-link">
🖺 Full Text HTML: <a href="https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2021.06.28.21259658v1" target="_blank">Post COVID-19 sequelae: A prospective observational study from Northern India</a>
</div></li>
<li><strong>Recovery of serum testosterone levels is an accurate predictor of survival from COVID-19 in male patients</strong> -
<div>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
Infection with SARS-CoV-2 portends a broad range of outcomes, from a majority of asymptomatic cases or mild clinical courses to a lethal disease. Robust correlates of severe COVID-19 include old age, male sex, poverty and co-morbidities such as obesity, diabetes or cardiovascular disease. A precise knowledge is still lacking of the molecular and biological mechanisms that may explain the association of severe disease with male sex. Here, we show that testosterone trajectories are highly accurate individual predictors (AUC of ROC = 0.928, p &lt; 0.0001) of survival in male COVID-19 patients. Longitudinal determinations of blood levels of luteinizing hormone (LH) and androstenedione suggest an early modest inhibition of the central LH-androgen biosynthesis axis in a majority of patients, followed by either full recovery in survivors or a peripheral failure in lethal cases. Moreover, failure to reinstate physiological testosterone levels was associated with evidence of impaired T helper differentiation and decrease of non-classical monocytes. The strong association of recovery or failure to reinstate testosterone levels with survival or death from COVID-19 in male patients is suggestive of a significant role of testosterone status in the immune responses to COVID-19.
</p>
</div>
<div class="article-link article-html-link">
🖺 Full Text HTML: <a href="https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2021.06.29.21259693v1" target="_blank">Recovery of serum testosterone levels is an accurate predictor of survival from COVID-19 in male patients</a>
</div></li>
<li><strong>COVID-19 Has Long Term Effects on Chemosensory Functions</strong> -
<div>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
Importance: A number of studies have revealed either self-reported chemosensory alterations in large groups or objective quantified chemosensory impairments in smaller populations of patients diagnosed with COVID-19. However, due to the great variability in published results regarding COVID-19-induced chemosensory impairments and their follow-up, prognosis for chemosensory functions in patients with such complaints remains unclear. Objective: To describe the various chemosensory alterations associated with COVID-19 and their prevalence and evolution at 3 to 7 months after infection. Design, Setting, and Participants: A follow-up study of 704 health care workers with a RT-PCR confirmed SARS-CoV-2 infection between 28/2/2020 and 14/6/2020 was conducted 3 to 7 months after onset of symptoms. Data were collected with an online questionnaire. Participant had to be ≥18 years old without respiratory illness in the 2 weeks prior to questionnaire completion. Main outcomes and measures: Outcomes included differences in reported chemosensory self-assessment of olfactory, gustatory, and trigeminal functions across time points and Chemosensory Perception Test scores from an easy-to-use at-home self-administered chemosensory test. Results: Among the 704 health care worker participants, 593 (84.2%) were women, the mean (SD) age was 42 (12) years and the questionnaire was answered on average 4.8 (0.8) months after COVID-19. During COVID-19, a decrease in olfactory, gustatory, and trigeminal sensitivities were reported by 81.3%, 81.5% and 48.0% respectively. Three to seven months later, reduced sensitivity was still reported by 52.0%, 41.9% and 23.3% respectively. Chemosensory Perception Test scores indicate that 19.5% of participants had objective olfactory impairment. Conclusions and relevance: A significant proportion of COVID-19 cases have persistent chemosensory impairments at 3 to 7 months after their infection but the majority of those who had completely lost their olfactory, gustatory and trigeminal sensitivity have improved. Given the possible neurological underpinnings of this observation and the important number of individuals infected with SARS-CoV-2, further longitudinal studies are needed to better characterize this phenotype and to report eventual post-COVID-19 neurological sequelae.
</p>
</div>
<div class="article-link article-html-link">
🖺 Full Text HTML: <a href="https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2021.06.28.21259639v1" target="_blank">COVID-19 Has Long Term Effects on Chemosensory Functions</a>
</div></li>
<li><strong>Dimeric IgA is a specific biomarker of recent SARS-CoV-2 infection</strong> -
<div>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
Current tests for SARS-CoV-2 antibodies (IgG, IgM, IgA) cannot differentiate recent and past infections. We describe a point of care, lateral flow assay for SARS-CoV-2 dIgA based on the highly selective binding of dIgA to a chimeric form of secretory component (CSC), that distinguishes dIgA from monomeric IgA. Detection of specific dIgA uses a complex of biotinylated SARS-CoV-2 receptor binding domain and streptavidin-colloidal gold. SARS-CoV-2-specific dIgA was measured both in 112 cross-sectional samples and a longitudinal panel of 362 plasma samples from 45 patients with PCR-confirmed SARS-CoV-2 infection, and 193 discrete pre-COVID-19 or PCR-negative patient samples. The assay demonstrated 100% sensitivity from 11 days post-symptom onset, and a specificity of 98.2%. With an estimated half-life of 6.3 days, dIgA provides a unique biomarker for the detection of recent SARS-CoV-2 infections with potential to enhance diagnosis and management of COVID-19 at point-of-care.
</p>
</div>
<div class="article-link article-html-link">
🖺 Full Text HTML: <a href="https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2021.06.28.21259671v1" target="_blank">Dimeric IgA is a specific biomarker of recent SARS-CoV-2 infection</a>
</div></li>
<li><strong>Host cellular RNA helicases regulate SARS-CoV-2 infection</strong> -
<div>
Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) has largest RNA genome of approximately 30kb among RNA viruses. The DDX DEAD-box RNA helicase is a multifunctional protein involved in all aspects of RNA metabolism. Therefore, host RNA helicases may regulate and maintain such large viral RNA genome. In this study, I investigated the potential role of several host cellular RNA helicases in SARS-CoV-2 infection. Notably, DDX21 knockdown markedly accumulated intracellular viral RNA and viral production, as well as viral infectivity of SARS-CoV-2, indicating that DDX21 strongly restricts the SARS-CoV-2 infection. As well, MOV10 RNA helicase also suppressed the SARS-CoV-2 infection. In contrast, DDX1, DDX5, and DDX6 RNA helicases were required for SARS-CoV-2 replication. Indeed, SARS-CoV-2 infection dispersed the P-body formation of DDX6 and MOV10 RNA helicases as well as XRN1 exonuclease, while the viral infection did not induce stress granule formation. Accordingly, the SARS-CoV-2 nucleocapsid (N) protein interacted with DDX6, DDX21, and MOV10 and disrupted the P-body formation, suggesting that SARS-CoV-2 N hijacks DDX6 to utilize own viral replication and overcomes their anti-viral effect of DDX21 and MOV10 through as interaction with host cellular RNA helicase. Altogether, host cellular RNA helicases seem to regulate the SARS-CoV-2 infection.
</div>
<div class="article-link article-html-link">
🖺 Full Text HTML: <a href="https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2021.06.29.450452v1" target="_blank">Host cellular RNA helicases regulate SARS-CoV-2 infection</a>
</div></li>
<li><strong>Varenicline Prevents SARS-CoV-2 Infection In Vitro and in Rhesus Macaques</strong> -
<div>
Background SARS-CoV-2 infections have resulted in a global pandemic, but an antiviral therapy for this novel strain of coronavirus does not currently exist. The objective of our study was to investigate the antiviral potential of the nicotinic acetylcholine receptor (nACHR) agonist varenicline tartrate against SARS-CoV-2. Methods We assessed antiviral activity using in vitro human cell assays and we assessed in vivo efficacy in a rhesus macaque model. Results In vitro studies found that varenicline tartrate, over a range of concentrations, reduced the infectivity of SARS-CoV-2 wildtype, alpha, and beta variants in Calu-3 cells and Caco-2 cells, with maintenance of cell viability. In vivo studies found that varenicline tartrate, administered as a nasal spray to rhesus macaques, reduced SARS-CoV-2 wildtype viral load and inhibited viral replication in the nasal mucosa and upper airway. Conclusion Although the study reported here was exploratory, we have confirmed that the nAChR agonist varenicline has the potential to interact with and inhibit SARS-CoV-2 infection and replication.
</div>
<div class="article-link article-html-link">
🖺 Full Text HTML: <a href="https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2021.06.29.450426v1" target="_blank">Varenicline Prevents SARS-CoV-2 Infection In Vitro and in Rhesus Macaques</a>
</div></li>
<li><strong>The SARS-CoV-2 host cell membrane fusion protein TMPRSS2 is a tumor suppressor and its downregulation correlates with increased antitumor immunity and immunotherapy response in lung adenocarcinoma</strong> -
<div>
Background TMPRSS2 is a host cell membrane fusion protein for SARS-CoV-2 invading human host cells. It also has an association with cancer, particularly prostate cancer. However, its association with lung cancer remains insufficiently explored. Thus, an in-depth investigation into the association between TMPRSS2 and lung cancer is significant, considering that lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer death and that the lungs are the primary organ SARS-CoV-2 attacks. Methods Using five lung adenocarcinoma (LUAD) genomics datasets, we explored associations between TMPRSS2 expression and immune signatures, cancer-associated pathways, tumor progression phenotypes, and clinical prognosis in LUAD by the bioinformatics approach. Furthermore, we validated the findings from the bioinformatics analysis by performing in vitro experiments with the human LUAD cell line A549 and in vivo experiments with mouse tumor models. We also validated our findings in LUAD patients from Jiangsu Cancer Hospital, China. Results TMPRSS2 expression levels were negatively correlated with the enrichment levels of CD8+ T and NK cells and immune cytolytic activity in LUAD, which represent antitumor immune signatures. Meanwhile, TMPRSS2 expression levels were negatively correlated with the enrichment levels of CD4+ regulatory T cells and myeloid-derived suppressor cells and PD-L1 expression levels in LUAD, which represent antitumor immunosuppressive signatures. However, TMPRSS2 expression levels showed a significant positive correlation with the ratios of immune-stimulatory/immune-inhibitory signatures (CD8+ T cells/PD-L1) in LUAD. It indicated that TMPRSS2 levels had a stronger negative correlation with immune-inhibitory signatures than with immune-stimulatory signatures. TMPRSS2 downregulation correlated with elevated activities of many oncogenic pathways in LUAD, including cell cycle, mismatch repair, p53, and extracellular matrix (ECM) signaling. TMPRSS2 downregulation correlated with increased proliferation, stemness, genomic instability, tumor advancement, and worse survival in LUAD. In vitro and in vivo experiments validated the association of TMPRSS2 deficiency with increased tumor cell proliferation and invasion and antitumor immunity in LUAD. Moreover, in vivo experiments demonstrated that TMPRSS2-knockdown tumors were more sensitive to BMS-1, an inhibitor of PD-1/PD-L1. Conclusions TMPRSS2 is a tumor suppressor, while its downregulation is a positive biomarker of immunotherapy in LUAD. Our data provide a connection between lung cancer and pneumonia caused by SARS-CoV-2 infection.
</div>
<div class="article-link article-html-link">
🖺 Full Text HTML: <a href="https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2021.06.30.450490v1" target="_blank">The SARS-CoV-2 host cell membrane fusion protein TMPRSS2 is a tumor suppressor and its downregulation correlates with increased antitumor immunity and immunotherapy response in lung adenocarcinoma</a>
</div></li>
<li><strong>Large scale screening discovers clofoctol as an inhibitor of SARS-CoV-2 replication that reduces COVID-19-like pathology</strong> -
<div>
The fastest way to implement a treatment against a new rapidly emerging viral disease consists in screening the potential antiviral activity of drugs approved for human use. This has the advantage of shortening regulatory preclinical development steps. Here, we screened a library of drug compounds, already registered in one or several geographical areas, to identify those exhibiting antiviral activity against SARS-CoV-2 with relevant potency. Of the 1,942 compounds tested, 21 exhibited a substantial antiviral activity in Vero-81 cells. Among them, clofoctol, an antibacterial drug used for the treatment of bacterial respiratory tract infections, was further investigated due to its favorable safety profile and its pharmacokinetic properties. Notably, the peak concentration of clofoctol that can be achieved in human lungs is more than 20 times higher than its IC95 measured against SARS-CoV-2 in human pulmonary cells. Mechanistically, this compound inhibits SARS-CoV-2 at a post-entry step by specifically blocking translation initiation of viral RNA. Lastly, therapeutic treatment of human ACE2 receptor transgenic mice decreased viral load, reduced inflammatory gene expression and improved pulmonary pathology. Altogether, these data strongly support clofoctol as a therapeutic candidate for the treatment of COVID-19 patients.
</div>
<div class="article-link article-html-link">
🖺 Full Text HTML: <a href="https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2021.06.30.450483v1" target="_blank">Large scale screening discovers clofoctol as an inhibitor of SARS-CoV-2 replication that reduces COVID-19-like pathology</a>
</div></li>
<li><strong>Flying in the Face of Adversity: A Drosophila-based Virtual CURE Provides Semester-long Authentic Research Opportunity to the Flipped Classroom.</strong> -
<div>
A call for the integration of research experiences into all biology curricula has been a major goal for educational reform efforts nationally. Course-Based Undergraduate Research Experiences (CUREs) have been the predominant method of accomplishing this, but their associated costs and complex design can limit their wide adoption. In 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic forced programs to identify unique ways to still provide authentic research experiences while students were virtual. We report here a full guide for the successful implementation of a semester-long virtual CURE that uses Drosophila behavioral assays to explore the connection between pain and addiction with the use of a “lab-in-a-box” sent home to students. Individual components were piloted across three semesters and launched as a 100-level introductory course with 19 students. We found that this course increased science identity and successfully improved key research competencies as per the Undergraduate Research Student Self-Assessment (URSSA) survey. This course is ideal for flipped classrooms ranging from introductory biology to upper-level neuroscience courses and can be integrated directly into the lecture period without the need for building a new course. Given the low cost, recent comfort with virtual learning environments, and the current proliferation of flipped biology classrooms following the 2020 pandemic, this curriculum could serve as an ideal project-based active-learning tool for equitably increasing access to authentic research experiences.
</div>
<div class="article-link article-html-link">
🖺 Full Text HTML: <a href="https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2021.06.28.450232v1" target="_blank">Flying in the Face of Adversity: A Drosophila-based Virtual CURE Provides Semester-long Authentic Research Opportunity to the Flipped Classroom.</a>
</div></li>
<li><strong>Pathology and immunity after SARS-CoV-2 infection in male ferrets is affected by age and inoculation route</strong> -
<div>
Improving COVID-19 intervention strategies partly relies on animal models to study SARS-CoV-2 disease and immunity. In our pursuit to establish a model for severe COVID-19, we inoculated young and adult male ferrets intranasally or intratracheally with SARS-CoV-2. Intranasal inoculation established an infection in all ferrets, with viral dissemination into the brain and gut. Upon intratracheal inoculation only adult ferrets became infected. However, neither inoculation route induced observable COVID-19 symptoms. Despite this, a persistent inflammation in the nose was prominent in especially young ferrets and follicular hyperplasia in the bronchi developed 21 days post infection. These effects -if sustained- might resemble long-COVID. Respiratory and systemic cellular responses and antibody responses were induced only in animals with an established infection. We conclude that intranasally-infected ferrets resemble asymptomatic COVID-19 and possibly aspects of long-COVID. Combined with the increasing portfolio to measure adaptive immunity, ferrets are a relevant model for SARS-CoV-2 vaccine research.
</div>
<div class="article-link article-html-link">
🖺 Full Text HTML: <a href="https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2021.06.30.450298v1" target="_blank">Pathology and immunity after SARS-CoV-2 infection in male ferrets is affected by age and inoculation route</a>
</div></li>
<li><strong>Classifying COVID-19 variants based on genetic sequences using deep learning models</strong> -
<div>
The COrona VIrus Disease (COVID-19) pandemic led to the occurrence of several variants with time. This has led to an increased importance of understanding sequence data related to COVID-19. In this chapter, we propose an alignment-free k-mer based LSTM (Long Short-Term Memory) deep learning model that can classify 20 different variants of COVID-19. We handle the class imbalance problem by sampling a fixed number of sequences for each class label. We handle the vanishing gradient problem in LSTMs arising from long sequences by dividing the sequence into fixed lengths and obtaining results on individual runs. Our results show that one- vs-all classifiers have test accuracies as high as 92.5% with tuned hyperparameters compared to the multi-class classifier model. Our experiments show higher overall accuracies for B.1.1.214, B.1.177.21, B.1.1.7, B.1.526, and P.1 on the one-vs-all classifiers, suggesting the presence of distinct mutations in these variants. Our results show that embedding vector size and batch sizes have insignificant improvement in accuracies, but changing from 2-mers to 3-mers mostly improves accuracies. We also studied individual runs which show that most accuracies improved after the 20th run, indicating that these sequence positions may have more contributions to distinguishing among different COVID-19 variants.
</div>
<div class="article-link article-html-link">
🖺 Full Text HTML: <a href="https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2021.06.29.450335v1" target="_blank">Classifying COVID-19 variants based on genetic sequences using deep learning models</a>
</div></li>
<li><strong>Epitope order Matters in multi-epitope-based peptide (MEBP) vaccine design: An in silico study</strong> -
<div>
With different countries facing multiple waves, with some SARS-CoV-2 variants more deadly and virulent, the COVID-19 pandemic is becoming more dangerous by the day and the world is facing an even more dreadful extended pandemic with exponential positive cases and increasing death rates. There is an urgent need for more efficient and faster methods of vaccine development against SARS-CoV-2. Compared to experimental protocols, the opportunities to innovate are very high in immunoinformatics/in silico approaches especially with the recent adoption of structural bioinformatics in peptide vaccine design. In recent times, multi-epitope-based peptide vaccine candidates (MEBPVCs) have shown extraordinarily high humoral and cellular responses to immunization. Most of the publications claim that respective reported MEBPVC(s) assembled using a set of in silico predicted epitopes, to be the computationally validated potent vaccine candidate(s) ready for experimental validation. However, in this article, for a given set of predicted epitopes, it is shown that the published MEBPVC is one among the many possible variants and there is high likelihood of finding more potent MEBPVCs than the published candidate. To test the same, a methodology is developed where novel MEBP variants are derived by changing the epitope order of the published MEBPVC. Further, to overcome the limitations of current qualitative methods of assessment of MEBPVC, to enable quantitative comparison, ranking, and the discovery of more potent MEBPVCs, novel predictors, Percent Epitope Accessibility (PEA), Receptor specific MEBP vaccine potency(RMVP), MEBP vaccine potency(MVP) are introduced. The MEBP variants indeed showed varied MVP scores indicating varied immunogenicity. When the MEBP variants were ranked in descending order of their MVP scores, the published MEBPVC had the least MVP score. Further, the MEBP variants with IDs, SPVC_387 and SPVC_206, had the highest MVP scores indicating these variants to be more potent MEBPVCs than the published MEBPVC and hence should be prioritized for experimental testing and validation. Through this method, more vaccine candidates will be available for experimental validation and testing. This study also opens the opportunity to develop new software tools for designing more potent MEBPVCs in less time. The computationally validated top-ranked MEBPVCs must be experimentally tested, validated, and verified. The differences and deviations between experimental results and computational predictions provide an opportunity for improving and developing more efficient algorithms and reliable scoring schemes and software.
</div>
<div class="article-link article-html-link">
🖺 Full Text HTML: <a href="https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2021.06.29.450372v1" target="_blank">Epitope order Matters in multi-epitope-based peptide (MEBP) vaccine design: An in silico study</a>
</div></li>
<li><strong>Filthy Animals: Integrating the Behavioral Immune System and Disgust into A Model of Prophylactic Dehumanization</strong> -
<div>
The behavioral immune system (BIS) is an evolved psychological mechanism that motivates prophylactic avoidance of disease vectors by eliciting disgust. When felt toward social groups, disgust can dampen empathy and promote dehumanization. Therefore, we investigated whether the BIS facilitates the dehumanization of groups associated with disease by inspiring disgust toward them. An initial content analysis found that Nazi propaganda predominantly dehumanized Jews by portraying them as disease vectors or contaminants. This inspired three correlational studies supporting a Prophylactic Dehumanization Model in which the BIS predicted disgust toward disease-relevant outgroups, and this disgust in turn accounted for the dehumanization of these groups. In a final study, we found this process of prophylactic dehumanization had a downstream effect on increasing anti-immigrant attitudes during the COVID-19 pandemic. However, consistent with the evolutionary logic of a functionally-flexible BIS, this effect only occurred when the threat of COVID-19 was salient. The implications of these results for the study of dehumanization and evolutionary theories of xenophobia are discussed.
</div>
<div class="article-link article-html-link">
🖺 Full Text HTML: <a href="https://psyarxiv.com/egxt6/" target="_blank">Filthy Animals: Integrating the Behavioral Immune System and Disgust into A Model of Prophylactic Dehumanization</a>
</div></li>
<li><strong>Highly-Neutralizing COVID-19-Convalescent-Plasmas Potently Block SARS-CoV-2 Replication and Pneumonia in Syrian Hamsters.</strong> -
<div>
Despite various attempts to treat SARS-CoV-2-infected patients with COVID-19-convalescent plasmas, neither appropriate approach nor clinical utility has been established. We examined the efficacy of administration of highly-neutralizing COVID-19-convalescent plasma (hn-plasmas) and such plasma-derived IgG administration using the Syrian hamster COVID-19 model. Two hn-plasmas, which were in the best 1% of 340 neutralizing-activity-determined convalescent plasma samples, were intraperitoneally administered to SARS-CoV-2-infected hamsters, resulting in significant reduction of viral titers in lungs by up to 32-fold as compared to the viral titers in hamsters receiving control non-neutralizing plasma, while with two moderately neutralizing plasmas (mn-plasmas) administered, viral titer reduction was by up to 6-fold. IgG fractions purified from the two hn-plasmas also reduced viral titers in lungs than those from the two mn-plasmas. The severity of lung lesions seen in hamsters receiving hn-plasmas was minimal to moderate as assessed using micro-computerized tomography, which histological examination confirmed. Western blotting revealed that all four COVID-19-convalescent-plasmas variably contained antibodies against SARS-CoV-2 components including the receptor-binding domain and S1 domain. The present data strongly suggest that administering potent-neutralizing-activity-confirmed COVID-19-convalescent plasmas would be efficacious in treating patients with COVID-19.
</div>
<div class="article-link article-html-link">
🖺 Full Text HTML: <a href="https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2021.06.29.450453v1" target="_blank">Highly-Neutralizing COVID-19-Convalescent-Plasmas Potently Block SARS-CoV-2 Replication and Pneumonia in Syrian Hamsters.</a>
</div></li>
</ul>
<h1 data-aos="fade-right" id="from-clinical-trials">From Clinical Trials</h1>
<ul>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Cognitive and Psychological Disorders After Severe COVID-19 Infection</strong> - <b>Condition</b>:   COVID 19<br/><b>Interventions</b>:   Diagnostic Test: Cognitive assessment;   Diagnostic Test: Imaging;   Diagnostic Test: Routine care;   Other: Psychiatric evaluation<br/><b>Sponsors</b>:   Central Hospital, Nancy, France;   Centre Hospitalier Universitaire de Besancon;   University Hospital, Strasbourg, France;   Centre Hospitalier Régional Metz-Thionville;   Centre hospitalier Epinal;   Hopitaux Civils de Colmar<br/><b>Not yet recruiting</b></p></li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Phase 1 Study to Assess Safety, Tolerability, PD, PK, Immunogenicity of IV NTR-441 Solution in Healthy Volunteers and COVID-19 Patients</strong> - <b>Condition</b>:   Covid19<br/><b>Interventions</b>:   Drug: NTR-441;   Drug: Placebo<br/><b>Sponsor</b>:   Neutrolis<br/><b>Recruiting</b></p></li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>MP1032 Treatment in Patients With Moderate to Severe COVID-19</strong> - <b>Condition</b>:   COVID-19<br/><b>Interventions</b>:   Drug: MP1032;   Drug: Placebo<br/><b>Sponsors</b>:   MetrioPharm AG;   Syneos Health, LLC<br/><b>Not yet recruiting</b></p></li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Study of Codivir in Patients With COVID-19</strong> - <b>Condition</b>:   Covid19<br/><b>Interventions</b>:   Drug: Covidir injections;   Diagnostic Test: One Step Test;   Diagnostic Test: IgM and IgG dosage;   Diagnostic Test: RT-PCR SARS-CoV-2;   Diagnostic Test: Screening blood test;   Diagnostic Test: ECG;   Diagnostic Test: Medical evaluation;   Diagnostic Test: NEWS-2 score;   Diagnostic Test: WHO score<br/><b>Sponsor</b>:   Code Pharma<br/><b>Active, not recruiting</b></p></li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Study to Evaluate the Safety and Concentrations of Monoclonal Antibody Against Virus That Causes COVID-19 Disease.</strong> - <b>Condition</b>:   COVID-19 Virus Disease<br/><b>Interventions</b>:   Biological: MAD0004J08;   Other: Placebo<br/><b>Sponsors</b>:   Toscana Life Sciences Sviluppo s.r.l.;   Cross Research S.A.<br/><b>Active, not recruiting</b></p></li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Safety and Immunogenicity of LNP-nCOV saRNA-02 Vaccine Against SARS-CoV-2, the Causative Agent of COVID-19</strong> - <b>Condition</b>:   COVID-19<br/><b>Intervention</b>:   Drug: LNP-nCOV saRNA-02 Vaccine<br/><b>Sponsor</b>:   MRC/UVRI and LSHTM Uganda Research Unit<br/><b>Not yet recruiting</b></p></li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Efficacy of Inhaled Therapies in the Treatment of Acute Symptoms Associated With COVID-19</strong> - <b>Condition</b>:   Covid19<br/><b>Interventions</b>:   Drug: inhaled beclametasone;   Drug: Inahaled beclomethasone / formoterol / glycopyrronium<br/><b>Sponsors</b>:   UPECLIN HC FM Botucatu Unesp;   Chiesi Farmaceutici S.p.A.<br/><b>Not yet recruiting</b></p></li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Dapsone Coronavirus SARS-CoV-2 Trial (DAP-CORONA) COVID-19</strong> - <b>Condition</b>:   COVID-19<br/><b>Interventions</b>:   Drug: Dapsone 85 mg PO BID;   Drug: Placebo 85 mg PO BID<br/><b>Sponsors</b>:   McGill University Health Centre/Research Institute of the McGill University Health Centre;   Pulmonem Inc.<br/><b>Not yet recruiting</b></p></li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Covid-19 Patients Management During Home Isolation</strong> - <b>Condition</b>:   Covid19<br/><b>Interventions</b>:   Procedure: Oxygen therapy and physical therapy;   Device: Oxygen therapy<br/><b>Sponsor</b>:   Cairo University<br/><b>Not yet recruiting</b></p></li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Ivermectin Versus Standard Treatment in Mild COVID-19</strong> - <b>Condition</b>:   Covid19<br/><b>Intervention</b>:   Drug: Ivermectin Tablets<br/><b>Sponsor</b>:   Assiut University<br/><b>Not yet recruiting</b></p></li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Tolerability,Safety of JS016 in SARS-CoV-2 (COVID-19)</strong> - <b>Conditions</b>:   COVID-19;   SARS-CoV-2<br/><b>Intervention</b>:   Drug: Combination Product: JS016 (anti-SARS-CoV-2 monoclonal antibody)<br/><b>Sponsor</b>:   Peking Union Medical College Hospital<br/><b>Recruiting</b></p></li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>SCALE-UP Utah: Community-Academic Partnership to Address COVID-19 Testing Among Utah Community Health Centers</strong> - <b>Condition</b>:   Covid19<br/><b>Interventions</b>:   Behavioral: Text-Messaging (TM);   Behavioral: Patient Navigation (PN)<br/><b>Sponsors</b>:   University of Utah;   Association for Utah Community Health;   Utah Department of Health;   National Institutes of Health (NIH)<br/><b>Recruiting</b></p></li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>SCALE-UP Utah: Community-Academic Partnership to Address COVID-19 Vaccination Rates Among Utah Community Health Centers</strong> - <b>Condition</b>:   Covid19<br/><b>Interventions</b>:   Behavioral: Text-Messaging (TM);   Behavioral: Patient Navigation (PN)<br/><b>Sponsors</b>:   University of Utah;   Association for Utah Community Health;   Utah Department of Health;   National Institutes of Health (NIH)<br/><b>Recruiting</b></p></li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Chinese Herbal Formula for COVID-19</strong> - <b>Condition</b>:   Covid19<br/><b>Interventions</b>:   Drug: mQFPD;   Drug: organic brown rice<br/><b>Sponsor</b>:   University of California, San Diego<br/><b>Not yet recruiting</b></p></li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Remdesivir- Ivermectin Combination Therapy in Severe Covid-19</strong> - <b>Condition</b>:   Covid19<br/><b>Intervention</b>:   Drug: Ivermectin<br/><b>Sponsor</b>:   Assiut University<br/><b>Not yet recruiting</b></p></li>
</ul>
<h1 data-aos="fade-right" id="from-pubmed">From PubMed</h1>
<ul>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Probing the SAM Binding Site of SARS-CoV-2 Nsp14 In Vitro Using SAM Competitive Inhibitors Guides Developing Selective Bisubstrate Inhibitors</strong> - The COVID-19 pandemic has clearly brought the healthcare systems worldwide to a breaking point, along with devastating socioeconomic consequences. The SARS-CoV-2 virus, which causes the disease, uses RNA capping to evade the human immune system. Nonstructural protein (nsp) 14 is one of the 16 nsps in SARS-CoV-2 and catalyzes the methylation of the viral RNA at N7-guanosine in the cap formation process. To discover small-molecule inhibitors of nsp14 methyltransferase (MTase) activity, we…</p></li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Hydroxychloroquine Inhibits Cardiac Conduction in Aged Patients with Nonmalaria Diseases</strong> - CONCLUSION: Age is the most important risk factor of HCQ on cardiac conduction in nonmalaria patients. Electrocardiogram monitoring is suggested in aged patients due to the effects of HCQ on HR, PR, and QTc.</p></li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Multiscale Simulations of SARS-CoV-2 3CL Protease Inhibition with Aldehyde Derivatives. Role of Protein and Inhibitor Conformational Changes in the Reaction Mechanism</strong> - We here investigate the mechanism of SARS-CoV-2 3CL protease inhibition by one of the most promising families of inhibitors, those containing an aldehyde group as a warhead. These compounds are covalent inhibitors that inactivate the protease, forming a stable hemithioacetal complex. Inhibitor 11a is a potent inhibitor that has been already tested in vitro and in animals. Using a combination of classical and QM/MM simulations, we determined the binding mode of the inhibitor into the active site…</p></li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Construction of a non-infectious SARS-CoV-2 replicon for antiviral drug testing and gene function studies</strong> - The emerging coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) outbreak caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2) has rapidly spread worldwide resulting in global public health emergencies and economic crises. In this study, a non-infectious and biocontainment level-2 compatible SARS-CoV-2 replicon expressing a nano luciferase (nLuc) reporter was constructed in a bacterial artificial chromosomal (BAC) vector by reverse genetics. The nLuc reporter is highly sensitive, easily…</p></li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Anti-Spike Protein Assays to Determine SARS-CoV-2 Antibody Levels: a Head-to-Head Comparison of Five Quantitative Assays</strong> - Reliable quantification of the antibody response to severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) is highly relevant, e.g., for identifying possible vaccine failure and estimating the time of protection. Therefore, we evaluated five different anti-SARS-CoV-2 antibody assays regarding the quantification of anti-spike (S) antibodies. Sera from 69 SARS-CoV-2-naive individuals 21 ± 1 days after vaccination with a single dose of BNT162b2 (Pfizer/BioNTech) were tested using the…</p></li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Pyrimidine biosynthesis inhibitors synergize with nucleoside analogs to block SARS-CoV-2 infection</strong> - The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted the dearth of approved drugs to treat viral infections, with only ∼90 FDA approved drugs against human viral pathogens. To identify drugs that can block SARS-CoV-2 replication, extensive drug screening to repurpose approved drugs is underway. Here, we screened ∼18,000 drugs for antiviral activity using live virus infection in human respiratory cells. Dose-response studies validate 122 drugs with antiviral activity and selectivity against SARS-CoV-2….</p></li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Efficacy of phytochemicals as immunomodulators in managing COVID-19: a comprehensive view</strong> - Throughout history, disease outbreaks have worked havoc upon humanity, sometimes reorienting the history and at times, signaling the end of entire civilizations and the modern pandemic that the world is dealing with, is COVID-19 or SARS-CoV-2. A healthy immunity could be an ideal gear for resisting COVID-19 for neither medicines nor vaccines have been ascertained till date. In view of the present scenario, there is a demanding necessity to analyze innovative and valid techniques for forestalling…</p></li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>In vitro antiviral activities of ethanol and aqueous extracts of Vietnamese traditional medicinal plants against Porcine Epidemic Diarrhea virus: a coronavirus family member</strong> - Porcine epidemic diarrhea virus (PEDV) causes diarrhea in pigs leading to severe illnesses and high mortality rates. The development of medicinal agents to treat PEDV infection is therefore crucial. In this study, antiviral activities against PEDV of ethanol and aqueous extracts of 17 Vietnamese traditional medicinal plants were evaluated using the cytopathic effect-based assay. The results showed that 14 out of 17 medicinal plants could inhibit the cytopathic effect of PEDV. The ethanol extract…</p></li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Dual inhibition of COVID-19 spike glycoprotein and main protease 3CLpro by Withanone from Withania somnifera</strong> - CONCLUSION: The current study reports Withanone as a non-toxic antiviral against SARS-CoV-2 and serve as a potential lead hit for further experimental validation.</p></li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>The interaction of the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 spike protein with drug-inhibited angiotensin converting enzyme 2 studied by molecular dynamics simulation</strong> - CONCLUSION: We conclude that using ACE2 inhibitors can increase the risk of SARS-CoV-2 infection and worsen COVID-19 disease outcome. We also found that the SARS-CoV-2 can abrogate the function of ACE2 inhibitors and rescue the enzymatic activity of ACE2. Therefore, ACE2 inhibition is not a useful treatment against COVID-19 infection.</p></li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>SARS-CoV-2 infection and ACE2 inhibition</strong> - No abstract</p></li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Tocilizumab for the treatment of non-critical COVID-19 pneumonia: an overview of the rationale and clinical evidence to date</strong> - Introduction: Tocilizumab is one of the main repurposed therapies investigated for COVID-19 pneumonia since the start of the pandemic, but there has been conflicting evidence for its use.Areas covered: This review covers the physiology of interleukin-6 and its role in the pathophysiology of COVID-19. We discuss the use of tocilizumab in other diseases and the rationale for its use in COVID-19. We summarize the design, contrasting results and implications of the clinical trials of tocilizumab in…</p></li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Using body temperature and variables commonly available in the EHR to predict acute infection: a proof-of-concept study showing improved pretest probability estimates for acute COVID-19 infection among discharged emergency department patients</strong> - CONCLUSIONS: By incorporating covariates known to affect body temperature, we demonstrated improved pretest probability estimates of acute COVID-19 infection. Future work should be undertaken to further develop and validate our model in a larger, multi-institutional sample.</p></li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Innate immunity, inflammation activation and heat-shock protein in COVID-19 pathogenesis</strong> - SARS-CoV-2-induced COVID-19 is a serious pandemic of the 21st century, which has caused a devastating loss of lives and a global economic catastrophe. A successful vaccine against SARS-CoV-2 has suffered a delay due to lack of substantial knowledge about its mechanisms of action. Understanding the innate immune system against SARS-CoV-2 and the role of heat shock proteins’ (HSP) inhibiting and resolution of inflammatory pathways may provide information to the low SARS-CoV-2 mortality rates in…</p></li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>A robust SARS-CoV-2 replication model in primary human epithelial cells at the air liquid interface to assess antiviral agents</strong> - There are, besides remdesivir, no approved antivirals for the treatment of SARS-CoV-2 infections. To aid in the search for antivirals against this virus, we explored the use of human tracheal airway epithelial cells (HtAEC) and human small airway epithelial cells (HsAEC) grown at the air/liquid interface (ALI). These cultures were infected at the apical side with one of two different SARS-CoV-2 isolates. Each virus was shown to replicate to high titers for extended periods of time (at least 8…</p></li>
</ul>
<h1 data-aos="fade-right" id="from-patent-search">From Patent Search</h1>
<ul>
<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>SARS-CoV-2 anti-viral therapeutic</strong> - - <a href="https://patentscope.wipo.int/search/en/detail.jsf?docId=AU327160071">link</a></p></li>
<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>A POLYHERBAL ALCOHOL FREE FORMULATION FOR ORAL CAVITY</strong> - The present invention generally relates to a herbal composition. Specifically, the present invention relates to a polyherbal alcohol free composition comprising of Glycyrrhiza glabra root extract, Ocimum sanctum leaf extract, Elettaria cardamomum fruit extract, Mentha spicata (Spearmint) oil and Tween 80 and method of preparation thereof. The polyherbal alcohol free composition of the present invention possesses excellent antimicrobial properties and useful for oral cavity. - <a href="https://patentscope.wipo.int/search/en/detail.jsf?docId=IN325690740">link</a></p></li>
<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>MEDIDOR DE SATURACION</strong> - - <a href="https://patentscope.wipo.int/search/en/detail.jsf?docId=ES325874099">link</a></p></li>
<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>폐마스크 밀봉 회수기</strong> - 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. - <a href="https://patentscope.wipo.int/search/en/detail.jsf?docId=KR325788342">link</a></p></li>
<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>백신 냉각 및 해동 기능을 갖는 백신 보관장치</strong> - 본 발명은 백신 냉각 및 해동 기능을 갖는 백신 보관장치에 관한 것으로, 상, 하부하우징의 제1상, 하부누출방지공간에 냉각물질이 충입된 냉각파이프를 설치하되, 제2상, 하부누출방지공간에 가열물질이 충입된 가열파이프를 설치하여, 구획판부에 의해 구획된 백신냉각공간 및 백신해동공간 각각을 냉각 및 가열하고, 보조도어를 통해 백신냉각공간 내에 수용된 백신을 구획판부의 백신출구도어를 통해 백신해동공간으로 이동시켜, 백신해동공간 내에서 백신을 해동함으로써, 즉시 사용이 가능한 백신을 인출도어를 통해 인출할 수 있다. 본 발명에 따르면, 냉각파이프에 저장된 냉매에 의해 백신냉각공간 내의 온도가 극저온 상태로 변화되고, 극저온 상태를 유지하는 백신냉각공간 내에 백신을 저장하여, 안전하게 보관 할 수 있으며, 백신냉각공간 내의 백신을 백신해동공간 내로 이동시켜, 백신해동공간 내에서 백신을 해동할 수 있고, 이 해동된 백신을 인출도어를 통해 인출한 후 즉시 사용할 수 있어 백신을 해동하는 시간이 단축되며, 보조도어를 통해 백신냉각공간 내의 백신을 백신해동공간으로 이동시켜, 백신이 외기에 노출될 우려가 없으며, 백신냉각공간 내의 백신을 백신해동공간으로 이동시키거나 또는 인출도어를 통해 백신 인출시 정렬장치가 백신을 보조도어 및 인출도어 직하방에 자동 위치시킨다. - <a href="https://patentscope.wipo.int/search/en/detail.jsf?docId=KR327274025">link</a></p></li>
<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>백신 인출용 보조도어를 갖는 백신 저온 보관장치</strong> - 본 발명은 백신정렬 기능을 갖는 백신 저온 보관장치에 관한 것으로, 상, 하부하우징의 이중 격벽 안에 냉매가 충입된 냉매파이프를 설치하여, 이 냉매파이프에 의해 상, 하부하우징의 백신 보관 공간이 극저온 상태를 유지하도록 하고, 하부하우징의 가이드벽 사이에 수용된 백신을 정렬장치로 가압하여, 상부하우징의 보조도어 직하방에 백신이 위치되도록 하되, 이때, 보조도어를 개방하여 하부하우징 내에 수용된 백신을 인출하면, 정렬장치가 가이드벽 사이에 수용된 백신을 보조도어 방향으로 밀어내어, 보조도어 직하방에 백신이 순차적으로 자동 위치된다. 본 발명에 따르면, 상, 하부하우징의 이중 격벽 내에 냉매 파이프가 설치되어, 이 냉매 파이프에 저장된 냉매에 의해 백신 보관공간 내의 온도가 극저온 상태로 변화되고, 이 극저온 상태를 유지하는 백신 보관공간 내에 백신을 저장하여, 안전하게 보관 할 수 있으며, 수분이나 외부 공기 유입이 차단되어 백신을 안전하게 보관되고, 온도계와 압력계를 이용하여 백신 보관공간과 냉매 압력을 실시간으로 감지할 수 있고, 보조도어를 통해 백신 보관공간 내의 백신을 독립적으로 인출할 수 있으며, 보조도어를 통해 백신 인출시 정렬장치가 백신을 보조도어 방향으로 밀어내어, 보조도어 직하방에 백신이 자동 위치되고, 외기 유입 방지로 백신 보관공간 내의 온도가 극저온 상태로 유지된다. - <a href="https://patentscope.wipo.int/search/en/detail.jsf?docId=KR327274024">link</a></p></li>
<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>SAFE TOUCH ANTI VIRAL LUGGAGE TROLLEY HANDLE</strong> - The invention is directed to a safe-touch, anti-viral luggage trolley handle, comprising PVC plastic with the addition of a silver-based antimicrobial additive. - <a href="https://patentscope.wipo.int/search/en/detail.jsf?docId=AU324956574">link</a></p></li>
<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Mampara plegable portatil</strong> - Mampara Plegable Portátil (MPP) diseñada para acoplarse/fijarse al borde de una mesa caracterizada por estar formado por dos mordazas o piezas de sujeción al borde de una mesa donde se ensambla la estructura que porta la pantalla o lámina protectora transparente auto enrollable por mecanismo automático. - <a href="https://patentscope.wipo.int/search/en/detail.jsf?docId=ES325744081">link</a></p></li>
<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>METHOD OF IDENTIFYING SEVERE ACUTE RESPIRATORY SYNDROME CORONA VIRUS 2 (SARS-COV-2) RIBONUCLEIC ACID (RNA)</strong> - - <a href="https://patentscope.wipo.int/search/en/detail.jsf?docId=AU323956811">link</a></p></li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Erweiterbare Desinfektionsvorrichtung</strong> -
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
</p><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">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.</p></li>
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<h1 data-aos="fade-down" id="daily-dose">Daily-Dose</h1>
<h1 data-aos="fade-right" data-aos-anchor-placement="top-bottom" id="contents">Contents</h1>
<ul>
<li><a href="#from-new-yorker">From New Yorker</a></li>
<li><a href="#from-vox">From Vox</a></li>
<li><a href="#from-the-hindu-sports">From The Hindu: Sports</a></li>
<li><a href="#from-the-hindu-national-news">From The Hindu: National News</a></li>
<li><a href="#from-bbc-europe">From BBC: Europe</a></li>
<li><a href="#from-ars-technica">From Ars Technica</a></li>
<li><a href="#from-jokes-subreddit">From Jokes Subreddit</a></li>
</ul>
<h1 data-aos="fade-right" id="from-new-yorker">From New Yorker</h1>
<ul>
<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>The Supreme Court’s Surprising Term</strong> - During a time when the country has been starkly divided on matters ranging from the pandemic to the Presidency, the Court has largely avoided partisanship. - <a href="https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2021/07/05/the-supreme-courts-surprising-term">link</a></p></li>
<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Lina Hidalgo’s Political Rise</strong> - The thirty-year-old Houston chief executive is creating a model for how progressives can govern effectively. - <a href="https://www.newyorker.com/news/us-journal/lina-hidalgos-political-rise">link</a></p></li>
<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>The Unexplained Phenomena of the U.F.O. Report</strong> - A new intelligence document examines a hundred and forty-three sightings that might have been caused by errant balloons, foreign drones, or “Other”—a reserved way of saying aliens. - <a href="https://www.newyorker.com/news/daily-comment/the-unexplained-phenomena-of-the-ufo-report">link</a></p></li>
<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Can Infrastructure Spending Save Ogdensburg, New York?</strong> - In much of the country, federal and state funding decide which communities succeed and which ones disappear. - <a href="https://www.newyorker.com/news/us-journal/can-infrastructure-spending-save-ogdensburg-new-york">link</a></p></li>
<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Why Beijing Shut Down Hong Kong’s Leading Pro-Democracy Newspaper</strong> - The fearlessness and irreverence of Apple Daily was highly prized in a society tilting toward authoritarian dominion. - <a href="https://www.newyorker.com/news/daily-comment/why-beijing-shut-down-hong-kongs-leading-pro-democracy-newspaper">link</a></p></li>
</ul>
<h1 data-aos="fade-right" id="from-vox">From Vox</h1>
<ul>
<li><strong>The pandemic has made small talk even more painful</strong> -
<figure>
<img alt="" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/Bcxh-pW3i2iMeQKCtnn0UF9LqWc=/606x0:5447x3631/1310x983/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/69528430/GettyImages_1296548018.0.jpg"/>
<figcaption>
It is unclear whether this woman has seen <em>Hacks</em> but she is very not about this conversation. | Getty Images
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
The social amnesia of forgetting how to read people’s faces and gauge conversations is very, very real.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="XBPTOl">
My editor<em> </em>told me that she could not stop talking about <a href="https://www.vox.com/22434957/hacks-hbo-max-jean-smart-comedy-review"><em>Hacks</em></a>. In my mind, this wasn’t a problem. <em>Hacks — </em>the Jean Smart-led comedy about an aging, stubborn comedienne on HBO Max <em>—</em> is a brilliant show that deserves to be talked about, over and over again. There’s nothing wrong with talking about the ferocity of Smart.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="l1ua8n">
“No, Alex, you don’t get it. It was the only thing I could talk about!” she said, as I was failing to see her point. “Like, people I just met or acquaintances I haven’t seen in a year — the <em>only</em> thing I could talk about is <em>Hacks</em>!”
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="6wkhTE">
It dawned on me that my editor wasn’t just espousing the goodness of <em>Hacks</em>, but rather, it was the only topic of conversation she felt comfortable talking about. Her in-person social skills, dulled and stifled during the pandemic, had turned her into the person you find at parties who will tell you said television show is “so good” and stare at you blankly.
</p>
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<div>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="8XDEjL">
But she isn’t alone.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="lQoVbq">
Lockdowns and work-from-home protocols have completely overhauled the way we interact. It’s not just the face-to-face meetings that the pandemic eliminated, but the behaviors that go along with it. In every single face-to-face conversation, we’re unconsciously calibrating and gauging our behaviors to make other people and ourselves feel at ease. And we’ve spent an entire year and a half not practicing those skills.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="1DWAGd">
Think about it: Small talk was already, for many of us, dreadful. And now we’re all so bad at it.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="1sKpTN">
And it’s not just small talk but all our social interactions.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="qu4jyV">
I spoke to <a href="https://barnard.edu/profiles/tara-well">Tara Well</a>, a psychology professor at Barnard College who specializes in perception and cognition. Well is in the midst of writing a book about our reflections, and is an expert on how we mirror each other in conversations. If there’s someone to talk about the effects of spending a year talking to each other over Zoom or FaceTime, how that’s changed our real-life interactions, and whether only talking about <em>Hacks</em> with strangers is normal, it’s Well.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="mLm4UJ">
<strong>So, about my editor and how she can’t stop talking about </strong><em><strong>Hacks</strong></em><strong>. Why is she talking about </strong><em><strong>Hacks</strong></em><strong> so much?</strong>
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="7kfLOY">
So I can definitely relate to the whole TV thing. I didn’t even have a TV before the pandemic! I totally relate to it.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="0LPeX9">
But there’s a thing called social mimicry, which is what we do when we’re face to face with people. As we’re talking, we tend to mirror their gestures, we modulate our voices in synchrony. And we mirror and reflect our facial expressions.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="A3uuEQ">
<strong>I think I’ve heard this. That if someone likes you, they begin to mimic your expressions and mannerisms. </strong>
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="FEAMq2">
Yes. We rely on face-to-face feedback for ways in which to regulate our emotions to gauge how we’re feeling, and to get feedback from other people to let us know we’re okay.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="2aFKYj">
We also do this to modulate our own emotions.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="wCiXS6">
I think that it’s definitely related to us being a social species, and needing bonds and to be in groups. For instance, babies, when they first come out of the womb, will orient toward the face of the mother — they prefer to look at a human face than anything else. There’s even a recent study that showed that looking at your own face and <a href="https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2016/10/161003093240.htm">recognizing other people’s</a> faces <a href="https://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2021-04/ou-mmv041821.php">can create a dopamine hit</a>.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="GKD1hN">
So it’s a positive thing when we look at each other!
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="l2gjj5">
When you’re with a close friend or a romantic partner or a child you’re taking care of, you’ll find that you’re actually breathing in synchrony, you’re moving in synchrony, your vocal patterns and your gestures are moving in synchrony. And that is, you know, creating dopamine and creating oxytocin — all the hormones that help us feel good and to bond with each other.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="vXJmru">
<strong>So we modulate and mimic to make the people we’re interacting with and ourselves feel at ease. Does this happen with conversations, too? Like maybe my editor who can only talk about </strong><em><strong>Hacks</strong></em><strong> is doing so because it’s a “safe” topic?</strong>
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="KdJZV6">
I think the short answer to that question is yes, I think so!
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="dSPiqm">
But back to the question about conversation subjects, I think one of the things that happened during the pandemic is that we needed to modulate and adjust our level of intimacy with face-to-face and being either seen way more than we were used to, or way less than we’re used to.
</p>
<div class="c-float-right">
<aside id="cYj53a">
<q>“How do you modulate between staying in reality and not denying everything that’s happened?”</q>
</aside>
</div>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="ppjRkq">
Conversations went that way, too.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="QLCFqu">
I think many of our conversations were either talking about personal trauma and life-changing events that were super, super heavy or wanting to divert ourselves into talking about TV shows and whatnot. How do you modulate between staying in reality and not denying everything that’s happened? And also keep your sense of humor and be able to introduce new, interesting things to your conversations.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="mzKN1k">
And during the lockdowns, we didn’t have the general social gossip that you have when you’re just hanging out with people. You get out a lot of information, social information, about other people in those kind of settings. That was harder to do this year.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="1fXLV5">
You could interact with people on social media or by text, but it wasn’t this kind of casual, water-cooler hanging out, or just hanging out at a party and someone happened to tell you something. There was less time just bumping into people.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="2M59FI">
<strong>I feel like I’m relearning social cues in spaces, too. The other day I caught myself being weird and staring at someone, who caught me staring, at the gym! I never did that before!</strong><em><strong> </strong></em><strong>Is that normal?</strong>
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="pGl7Cv">
I mean, I think it is. And I think it’s a baseline for us, too. We all have different levels of visual curiosity and a sense of wanting to look around.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="N9BICb">
If you’re out in public, one of the things that I’ve noticed and that people are writing about is pandemic-induced agoraphobia. It’s a <a href="https://www.vox.com/the-goods/22290011/crowd-avoidance-psychologist-anxiety-pandemic-anniversary">fear of crowds</a>, and now there’s fear of going outside; now that you can go out, you’re afraid. And one of the aspects of that is having less control over the environment.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="CEXrE2">
<strong>So maybe I’m just stimulated? Or curious? Or just being weird?</strong>
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="nL3d1L">
Humans are very threat-sensitive. Being visually curious is a natural reaction.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="GNGPzS">
We have all been through a period of time in a heightened state of anxiety. So we’re in social situations now where our visual field has changed. So we’re like, “Wow.” It can be scary and curious, at the same time.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="rER9ZQ">
Especially if you’re living in New York City and if you haven’t been in any of those kinds of really noisy, chaotic ambient environments yet, that can create anxiety, because your threshold is now lower than it was. That’s so much stimuli imploding on you, you know, so that might take a while for people to get used to again.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="0Z548c">
<strong>I want to zoom us out a little bit.</strong>
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="pa4oZB">
<strong>So we do all these things to shape our bonds and prove we’re not threats and reassure each other that we’re all okay. We’re constantly modulating. Then boom, the pandemic kind of takes that away from us. What happened when we all shifted online? What happened to all those behaviors?</strong>
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="UxtOlc">
One of the main things that happened was the lack of friendly touch — hugs, handshakes, and even getting your hair done, your nails done. That has a tremendous impact on our anxiety levels, our ability to feel like ourselves, and, again, our emotions and a sense of bonding. We really need that physical touch.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="oEPAfB">
The research also shows that people tended to focus more narrowly on rekindling those bonds with people they really knew well, so that their breadth of different people [they were in contact with] got narrower, but the bonds got deeper for the people that they really were close to.
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<div class="c-float-right">
<aside id="AAHu0R">
<q>“There’s a huge difference between people who were living in a pod … and people who were living alone”</q>
</aside>
</div>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="lr60hx">
It’s important to keep in mind that there’s a huge difference between people who were living in a pod or living with a family and people who were living alone. So you can’t take the “average” of that experience. Everybody had an intense experience, but it could have been completely different for everyone, you know?
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="JGD5nF">
I think more specifically about people who were single but really essentially living alone, and then really living alone once the pandemic hit. They’d had way less face-to-face contact. People who were living in a family or a pod, they were having more in-person face-to-face contact, even if it was with the same people over and over again.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="S1pBDK">
My research is basically on mirrors and reflections and how we look to each other for resonance. And so one of the things is how Zoom is different even though it’s technically face-to-face. But Zoom is taking face-to-face contact out of context. It’s showing our faces up really close, but it’s not letting us see the whole person, and we get a lot from people’s nonverbals as well.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="tJYW0m">
So we’re seeing these really, really, really close-up faces, and that kind of freaked a lot of people out. That partly explains Zoom fatigue.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="ZlfiYj">
<strong>Also, the weird thing about Zoom is that — if you’re vain like me — you’re watching yourself on Zoom, too. Like, you’re watching yourself react to things people are saying and reacting to that </strong><em><strong>while</strong></em><strong> reacting to people who are reacting to what you’re saying but also maybe reacting to their own faces. It’s not face-to-face interaction at all.</strong>
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="VAtQzL">
Yes! Then also there’s a slight time lag, you know, in the real-time feed, that’s a couple seconds. And research shows that within that couple of seconds, if someone pauses for a minute, we’re likely to attribute something negative.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="YIlhGE">
<strong>Oh, my god, this is so true. If someone hesitates around me, I would rather a two-ton safe drop on me.</strong>
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="xAS4nB">
Yes, if you’re already anxious and then you’re on a call with someone, that hesitation can heighten it.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="LUZwxB">
So in other words, you know, you can use that technology for social interaction, but you’re really reaching. You really have to put in a lot of effort in bonding with people over Zoom that you just don’t have to when you meet someone for coffee. The latter is much more satisfying in terms of social bonding than, you know, being on a Zoom call with a zillion people or one person and having kids in the background and everything else.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="UxhEH6">
<strong>Now that things are opening up again, is it surprising to you that people (especially me) feel socially awkward?</strong>
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="OZ4j5g">
Not at all! Like I said, at the beginning, humans have a natural kind of evolutionary pull towards bonding and being in groups. We need physical contact, and we need visual contact for coordination.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="kh5iTv">
People, especially those who were living alone, haven’t been around other people. It’s about getting that coordination back in terms of being face to face with others.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="qLvi9d">
<strong>Like, it’s normal for it to be a little rough at first, right?</strong>
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="nRegxX">
Yes. The key is to take the small steps and to keep going out in public. I hope it’s not the case, but I imagine it probably is, that people who suffer from severe social anxiety or anxieties are going to have a harder time adjusting after the pandemic.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="ItuMeb">
But I think everybody needs to take it in steps and keep getting out there and interacting with people, even if it feels a little uncomfortable. So it might just be stepping out of your comfort zone. That changes, too. What was comfortable to you before the pandemic could now be out of your current comfort zone — that’s how it is, and you know, that’s fine.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="jyjOyA">
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="APxugv">
</p></li>
<li><strong>Criticism’s lack of diversity is hurting movies, TV, music, and more</strong> -
<figure>
<img alt="Illustration of a theater full of critics, mostly white men with few people of color. " src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/TcAXF_1mRU_00kjpEcIHoPVCifw=/375x0:2626x1688/1310x983/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/69483936/Vox_Cinema_VOX_3000_pixels_by_1688_300_dpi.0.jpg"/>
<figcaption>
Michelle Rohn for Vox
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
I never believed I could be one. That’s the problem.
</p>
<div class="c-float-left">
<figure class="e-image">
<img alt=" " src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/YYgW4HsU995yniG4Y5QuEoQvF0Y=/800x0/filters:no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/21899595/VOX_The_Highlight_Box_Logo_Horizontal.png"/>
</figure>
</div>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="oAUblU">
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="VcDgGG">
The first time I attended a press screening — an early, private presentation of a film for critics and journalists — it felt like I was crashing an exclusive gathering I wasn’t supposed to witness. I was a 20-something DREAMer who had just qualified for a work permit through DACA; I had a community college education and worked part time at a fast food restaurant.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="IarcQu">
“Someone is going to ask me what I’m doing here,” I thought.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="k7KaGQ">
That was about eight years ago, when I replied to a Craigslist ad seeking writers for a small but established-enough outlet to be on the public relations and studio lists that grant some legitimacy. As someone without a car in Los Angeles, accepting the assignment from an independent publication required a long trip to Beverly Hills. I’d watch a new movie, write about it, and get published, but I wouldn’t get paid. (Many sites can only offer access and a platform. You get to hone your skills and make contacts writing for them, but income has to come from elsewhere.)
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="FU8xin">
At that point in my life, my immigration status had made attending film school financially unfeasible. Writing about movies seemed like an opportunity to not let that dream completely vanish. But I had no connections in media; like me, all of the people in my immediate circle were working-class Latinos. The classified call for writers was an entry point, or so it seemed, to a profession that could often carry the air of elitism.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="Pa4M8m">
A self-taught, undocumented Latino for whom English is a second language isn’t the prototype of a critic in this country. Though I still didn’t see myself as a “critic,” I was doing something I never thought I could. That was enough, for a while.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="1xDB1i">
But eventually, as this unpaid side gig took over more of my time, it felt like being begrudgingly invited to dinner at a large mansion and seated far from the table where the guests of honor sit. At this imaginary dinner, there’s room for plenty to come in, but once inside, not everyone’s voice breaks through the main hall. Hierarchies apply.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="pzwctP">
According to a <a href="https://annenberg.usc.edu/news/research/report-critiques-inclusion-among-film-critics">2018 study</a> by the Annenberg Inclusion Initiative that looked at the gender, race, and ethnicity of critics reviewing 100 top domestic films of 2017 — nearly 20,000 reviews in all — 82 percent of the critics were white (non-Hispanic) and nearly 78 percent were male. And nearly 90 percent of those considered “top critics” were white.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="8HMgGy">
Critic jobs are so scarce and so sought after, those who are fortunate enough to land one tend to keep it as long as possible, which means the statistics likely haven’t changed much even five years after the Annenberg report, particularly when looking at staff positions.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="Y5EaaV">
“Technically, anyone could be a critic, but not everyone could be a critic,” freelance film critic and writer Robert Daniels told me by phone from Chicago.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="QfRd89">
The internet has democratized the sharing of opinions on any given cultural work. Virtually anyone can express their perspectives on art via Twitter, Letterboxd, Medium, Substack, their own website, or any number of other forums. The question now isn’t so much who gets to be a critic, but rather which critics among a roaring choir of ideas will have an impact on the larger cultural conversation.
</p>
<div class="c-float-right">
<aside id="jyephF">
<q>Critic jobs are so scarce and so sought after, those who are fortunate enough to land one tend to keep it as long as possible</q>
</aside>
</div>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="ojPiyo">
Though he has found success as a freelancer with bylines at big-name outlets, Daniels, who is Black, started his career by launching a self-run website: <a href="https://812filmreviews.com/">812 Film Reviews</a>. As he points out, staff writers at those big-name<strong> </strong>outlets are predominantly white, and since major films are rarely assigned to freelancers, the initial consensus about a film comes from those reviewers on staff. Having his own outlet allows him to weigh in, too.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="yTIBMR">
Jose Solís, a gay Latinx critic with a strong presence in the New York theater scene, is even more blunt about the state of modern criticism: “White men and white women who went to private schools and who are upper-middle-class or higher are the ones who get to be critics,” he says.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="HYXfN3">
Now, many are discussing the effects the homogeneity among critics can have on not only the arts but also on popular culture itself.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="jnrooH">
In a <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2019/07/05/opinion/we-need-more-critics-of-color.html">2019 piece for the New York Times</a> about white critics in the fine art world, Elizabeth Méndez Berry and Chi-hui Yang wrote that the gaze that has been the standard when evaluating art can carry ingrained negative biases. “When Peter Schjeldahl of The New Yorker described photographs by John Edmonds as ‘slang,’ some readers wondered if he did so only because the artist and his subjects were black,” they wrote.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="qPZYE9">
Art critic Aruna D’Souza chimed in: “The problem is not that these critics lack some essential connection with the work of artists of color. It’s that many of them simply are not familiar with the intellectual, conceptual and artistic ideas that underlie the work.”
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="z1lt7A">
Similarly, Dennis Harvey, a male film critic at Variety, <a href="https://www.insider.com/promising-young-woman-review-veriety-ignited-row-over-press-freedom-2021-2">came under fire</a> in 2020 for what was perceived as <a href="https://www.vox.com/culture/22263001/carey-mulligan-variety-controversy-promising-young-woman">a misogynistic perspective</a> on the physique of actress Carey Mulligan in the Oscar-nominated film <em>Promising Young Woman</em>. (Variety apologized in an editor’s note, but Harvey later told the Guardian <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/film/2021/jan/28/carey-mulligan-dennis-harvey-variety-critic-sexism-accusations">he was “appalled”</a> by the accusation.)
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="3ym7DJ">
A critic’s job is to assess a work of creativity, both its form and its relationship to the larger culture, with insight. Being a critic means having power — power to spearhead the chatter around a certain piece of art, its significance, and the prospects of its creator. So it’s crucial that the critical community reflects everyone who is part of the society consuming the work that is up for discussion.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="G1csuQ">
The responsibility for bridging the gaps in access to critical power falls on editors, especially those at legacy publications, who must be proactive in extending invitations to fresh voices. Offering opportunities can have a ripple effect on the larger pool of critics. For starters, it instantly infuses a site’s roster with a wider range of viewpoints. In the best of outcomes, perhaps some of those freelancers may eventually become permanent staffers.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="EbZ6Fi">
Naveen Kumar, a freelancer and the associate director of the National Critics Institute, a program intended to help critics develop their skills, says some critics have managed to amass a fan base they can take wherever they go. But achieving an editorial voice and finding a following is difficult without the credibility of an established publication behind you. There’s no clear path to the highest echelon.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="I96twT">
“The publication itself lends the writer some credibility, so if you [are not a well-known] name, that platform is very meaningful,” Kumar said. It’s a symbiotic relationship where the outlet helps the critic be recognized, but you first need to be in those pages to benefit from the exposure. And to get there, you first need to have achieved enough to get on the editor’s radar. These caveats often play against underrepresented groups, and in turn affect how we talk about the things we see on screens, in galleries, and on theater stages.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="P0x18y">
For Kumar, when the demographics of critics are narrow, so too are the conversations they generate. In a field conventionally dominated by white, cisgender male voices, he believes there are limitations in terms of what they see and the value system at play when they write criticism. If the range of voices featured were to expand, we’d get more in-depth and dynamic exchanges.
</p>
<div class="c-float-right">
<aside id="3B54Sa">
<q>When the demographics of critics are narrow, so too are the conversations they generate</q>
</aside>
</div>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="8NlTdk">
“That’s not to say a white critic can’t see a movie by a Black filmmaker and understand it or speak insightfully about it, but a Black critic is going to bring a different lens, a different set of experiences, and different value judgments that will illuminate different things for different readers,” Kumar added. “The same goes the other way around: People from marginalized identities have very particular viewpoints on dominant culture.”
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="5VT1z0">
And if the assessments come from a nearly homogeneous subset of the population, that most certainly affects which art becomes part of the celebrated canon and what fades into obscurity.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="CzY6Uw">
For Daniels, Spike Lee’s <em>Bamboozled</em> is an example of how the predominantly white critical gaze almost exclusively shapes the discussions around a film. In this instance, it painted the film as unworthy of more profound examination.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="GIkfS6">
Released in 2000, <em>Bamboozled </em>is, ironically, a satire about a Black television writer dealing with racism in the workplace who accidentally achieves success for a show that amplifies hateful stereotypes. Back then, white critics were dismissive of its tone and provocative ideas.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="8197zW">
“New Line faces a challenge in marketing a tough film that is not vital enough to generate extensive debate and not entertaining enough to draw large audiences, black or white, to theaters,” critic Emanuel Levy wrote for <a href="https://variety.com/2000/film/reviews/bamboozled-1200465093/">Variety</a>.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="3aNaIZ">
In his review at USA Today, Mike Clark referred to <em>Bamboozled</em> as “visually drab and ultimately done in by a heavy-handedness no prettier to ponder.”
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="RfVKgz">
At <a href="https://www.villagevoice.com/2000/10/03/spike-lees-own-scary-movie/">the Village Voice</a>, Amy Taubin called it “a seriously schizophrenic work made up of two incompatible movies.”
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="ykqpZz">
But when the film hit streaming platforms in 2020 after being unavailable for years, it prompted a reassessment that included a wider range of critical voices. In a new review, current Vanity Fair critic K. Austin Collins, viewing the film in a fresh light, called it “audacious, vibrant, unsurprisingly maligned but frequently brilliant.”
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="eyPPqS">
Jourdain Searles, a prominent freelance film critic and one of the hosts of Netflix’s YouTube show <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u9pr-SeKXZ8"><em>Black Film School</em></a>, believes the significance of certain titles is always measured against the narrow curiosity of white critics for stories outside their comfort zone.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="SzCbws">
“I have a big grudge against <em>Precious,” </em>Searles said, offering Lee Daniels’s 2009 film as an example. “And a lot of it has to do with what is considered to be authentic and important, and that’s often defined by white people.” For Searles, Tina Mabry’s <em>Mississippi Damned</em>, released the same year, is a more incisive film about Black womanhood but was ignored in comparison to Daniels’s Oscar-winning effort.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="ASV97v">
No doubt more Black critics should have a say in the appreciation of Black-centered works, but to simply see more Black critics covering Black films as a solution is reductive. The same goes for any other marginalized group that’s pigeonholed into writing solely about content that directly speaks to their sexual orientation or racial, ethnic, or gender identity.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="4ZqpvF">
Writers of color consequently face a complex challenge: Strike a balance between championing talent or narratives from specific communities while pushing to be seen as capable of tackling any topic. Opportunities to nab a seat at criticism’s exclusive table tend to come when there’s a need or desire to fill in the establishment’s blind spots, which means writing about subjects that no one on staff is either interested in or qualified to comment on.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="3diZOQ">
“I don’t know if the pool of critics will ever feel fully reflective of the world. I just don’t know,” said Roxana Hadadi, a film critic of Iranian descent who has faced her own share of situations in which access has come with her background as a caveat. Other critics don’t have to ponder whether they landed an assignment because their insight is valuable or because they might check a specific box or fill a diversity quota.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="Wy8rxq">
Reformatting the systems that determine who gets to be a critic with a meaningful presence will take more than just one-off displays — but at least the one-offs reveal<strong> </strong>an interest on the institutions’ part, however forced or sincere, to enact change.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="psZbYs">
Film festivals such as Sundance and the Toronto International Film Festival (partnered with Rotten Tomatoes and other organizations) have developed inclusion initiatives to help critics from underrepresented backgrounds attend these marquee events, pursue coverage on the ground, and hopefully make connections that lead to better-paid work and further exposure. Yet the long-term effects of these undertakings are yet to be seen.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="RMXxQh">
Projects with similar aims include the Los Angeles Film Critics Association’s Ruth Batchelor Scholarship, which targets aspiring critics at community or junior colleges as a way to address the disparity that comes from an educational standpoint. Motivated by his less-than-welcoming personal encounters in theater, Solís launched a BIPOC Critics Lab with few resources but support from fellow critics. A version of his intensive program was recently held through the Kennedy Center.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="S0DGaz">
Thinking back on my improbable path as a film critic and writer, I realize that I started out without real aspirations. I never expected to make it this far. In conversations with other critics of color, a common trend that arose is that most of us, for a long time, thought that being a critic was far-fetched.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="bb25R5">
There was no precedent for me, as for countless others, in criticism. Irrationally, I decided to keep at it for as long as I could financially, fully aware it may lead nowhere.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="5eoj9Z">
Some days, it still feels that way.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="KgCFLy">
<em>Carlos Aguilar is a freelance film critic. His work has appeared in the Los Angeles Times, Variety, the New York Times, the Wrap, IndieWire, Vulture, and RogerEbert.com, among others. He is a member of the Los Angeles Film Critics Association.</em>
</p>
<div>
<div id="JPhZSH">
<div>
</div>
</div>
</div></li>
<li><strong>China’s national security legislation is destroying Hong Kong’s rule of law</strong> -
<figure>
<img alt="" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/D_U7kKPxKKgkFv37kad0cyr6J98=/334x0:5667x4000/1310x983/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/69528348/GettyImages_1233729707t.0.jpg"/>
<figcaption>
Pedestrians walk under the flags of China and Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) in Hong Kong on June 30, 2021. | Lam Yik/Bloomberg via Getty Images
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
One year on, the first national security trial shows how.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="y84fAQ">
Tong Ying-kit was arrested a year ago, accused of driving a motorcycle into a group of policemen, a flag trailing behind him that read: “<a href="https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/law-and-crime/article/3091710/hong-kong-national-security-law-first-person-charged">Liberate Hong Kong, revolution of our times</a>.”
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="oMZGQj">
His trial, which began last week, marks a milestone for Hong Kong: Tong is the first person <a href="https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/law-and-crime/article/3138428/national-security-law-liberate-hong-kong-slogan">charged</a> under its national security law.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="pv6lay">
The Beijing-imposed legislation <a href="https://www.vox.com/2020/7/2/21309902/china-national-security-law-hong-kong-protests-us-sanctions">went into effect a year ago</a>. It is vague, it is broad, and it targets crimes such as secession, subversion, colluding with foreign powers, and terrorism. It portended a sweeping crackdown on dissent and an erosion of the rule of law in Hong Kong. Since then, <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2021-03-03/hong-kong-makes-100th-arrest-using-china-drafted-security-law">more than 100 people have been arrested</a> under the national security law, and more <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2021/03/01/world/asia/hong-kong-protest.html">than 50 charged</a>. And now, with Tong’s trial underway, the crackdown is here.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="CWEHPd">
Tong’s saga reveals how deeply the national security law has transformed Hong Kong in just one year. It has chilled Hong Kong’s pro-democracy movement.<strong> </strong>But it has also radically — and swiftly — disrupted the territory’s long tradition of an independent judiciary.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="wnghB4">
As this trial plays out, it will set a precedent for the national security defendants who come after. Tong’s trial is the first, but it will not be an outlier.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="YJXR4G">
“It is the application of a law,” said Martin Flaherty, a professor of international law at Fordham University School of Law, “that means the end of Hong Kong as the world knew it.”
</p>
<h3 id="sY61sQ">
Tong Ying-kit’s trial and the national security law
</h3>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="APCOig">
On July 1, 1997, Great Britain returned Hong Kong to China’s control. The handover created a setup known as “one country, two systems,” which established that Hong Kong would maintain separate economic and political systems from mainland China for 50 years, through at least 2047. That includes Hong Kong’s <a href="https://www.scmp.com/comment/insight-opinion/article/1864598/different-legal-traditions-keep-hong-kong-and-china-apart">storied tradition of common law</a>, an independent judiciary, and protections for certain freedoms like speech, assembly, and the press, which are preserved in <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-china-49633862">Hong Kong’s Basic Law</a>, a kind of mini-constitution.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="q5iFSO">
The date of the handover has traditionally been one of protest in Hong Kong among those who oppose China’s rule — and, in the years since 1997, Beijing’s tightening of control over the territory. That included <a href="https://www.vox.com/world/2019/7/1/20677066/hong-kong-protests-legislative-council">in 2019</a>, when <a href="https://www.vox.com/world/2019/8/22/20804294/hong-kong-protests-9-questions">a summer of massive protests</a> against the Hong Kong government over <a href="https://www.vox.com/2019/6/11/18661007/hong-kong-protest-2019-china-extradition">a controversial extradition bill</a> grew into a larger pro-democracy movement. The Chinese government started to lose patience with the months of unrest, and after the coronavirus pandemic <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/mar/15/hong-kong-with-coronavirus-curbed-protests-may-return">slowed</a> protests in 2020, China interceded with its national security law to crush the resistance for good.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="lfg37N">
On July 1, 2020, Hongkongers still demonstrated, in defiance of both coronavirus restrictions and the new national security law. Quickly, though, national security arrests began, including of <a href="https://twitter.com/hkpoliceforce/status/1278201222457987073?s=20">people who had signs and flags calling for Hong Kong’s independence</a>.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="LfYLrl">
<a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-china-57576848">Tong Ying-kit</a> was among them. Reportedly a 24-year-old cook at a ramen restaurant, Tong faces two counts under the national security law: terrorism and inciting secession. The charge of inciting secession is tied to the “Liberate Hong Kong” flag he brandished, which authorities say represents pro-independence sentiments. That slogan <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/aug/26/liberate-hong-kong-calls-independence-china-elections-loom">has been a feature</a> of Hong Kong resistance for years, but is <a href="https://www.scmp.com/yp/discover/news/hong-kong/article/3091661/hong-kong-netizens-invent-new-slogans-after-liberate">effectively banned under the national security law</a>.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="GIVJ0f">
The terrorism charges are a bit weird, and are apparently tied to police claiming he tried to run them over with his motorcycle. Tong’s lawyers <a href="https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/law-and-crime/article/3138813/motorcycle-ramming-hong-kong-police-officers-was">are arguing</a> he did not intentionally hit the police, but lost control of his bike after being distracted when a police officer swung his shield toward him. Prosecutors have tried to say that Tong rode through police cordons, and then attempted to run over three officers who tried to stop him.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="JuIXPJ">
Recently, prosecutors <a href="https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/law-and-crime/article/3136335/national-security-law-dangerous-driving-charge-added">added</a> a dangerous driving charge under previously existing traffic laws, a non-national-security-law offense. Experts said this type of criminal charge would have been far more likely before the national security law, or perhaps might have been coupled with other criminal offenses, such as assault.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="ECK6Ra">
<a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2020-11-16/first-man-charged-under-hong-kong-security-law-pleads-not-guilty">Tong has pleaded not guilty to the charges</a>. The full outcome of the trial is still unclear, though Tong is unlikely to escape consequence-free.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="E3GIK9">
But even before the verdict, Tong’s case reveals how profoundly Hong Kong’s judiciary is straining under the national security law, as it shreds the typical protections and rights afforded defendants.
</p>
<h3 id="ZDPk1u">
The new national security law threatens Hong Kong’s judicial system
</h3>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="6TfATM">
Two elements make Tong’s case so troubling: first, his denial of bail, and second, his denial of a trial by jury.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="07bb1Q">
Tong wasn’t alone in being <a href="https://www.voanews.com/east-asia-pacific/hong-kong-court-again-denies-bail-first-person-charged-under-new-security-law">denied bail</a> — dozens and dozens of other defendants <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-china-56281684">charged under the law have been held in custody for months</a>. Typically, defendants have a right to request bail unless prosecutors have a legitimate reason to retain the accused in custody.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="zjFuGI">
But the national security law sets a convoluted bail<strong> </strong>standard, experts said. The burden is on the defendant to show that they will not continue to engage in any activity that will endanger national security.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="U63Fqv">
This is a tough bar to meet, first because what constitutes endangering national security is very broad — <a href="https://www.npr.org/2021/02/28/972341741/hong-kong-democracy-advocates-charged-under-national-security-law">subversion</a> or “<a href="https://www.reuters.com/world/china/hong-kong-police-arrest-former-apple-daily-journalist-airport-local-media-2021-06-27/">colluding with foreign powers</a>” are basically whatever authorities want them to be. And second, because, in many cases, defendants say they didn’t engage in actions that endangered national security in the first place. As Flaherty put it, this creates the ultimate catch-22.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="qaAuil">
This makes it safe to say, said Lydia Wong, a research fellow at the Center for Asian Law at the Georgetown University Law Center, that bail for national security defendants is “basically nonexistent.”
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="CWnSnl">
Perhaps the most chilling element of Tong’s case <a href="https://www.reuters.com/world/asia-pacific/hong-kong-court-denies-jury-trial-first-person-charged-under-national-security-2021-05-20/">is the denial of a trial by jury</a>. Experts told me that a trial by jury is a cornerstone of Hong Kong’s common law, and <a href="https://www.law.georgetown.edu/law-asia/wp-content/uploads/sites/31/2021/06/HongKongNSLRightToFairTrial.pdf">is enshrined in its Basic Law</a>. A trial without one — especially one where the defendant potentially faces life imprisonment — is unprecedented.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="eoFuY5">
A provision of the national security law allows juries <a href="https://www.irishtimes.com/news/world/asia-pacific/defendant-in-hong-kong-s-first-national-security-trial-denied-jury-1.4601189">to be scrapped in certain cases</a>, and the law includes a vaguely defined concern for jurors’ safety as justification for doing so. Hong Kong’s High Court ruled earlier this year that convening a jury in Tong’s case could potentially put “<a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2021/06/22/hong-kong-court-upholds-decision-for-no-jury-at-first-national-security-trial.html">jurors and their family members at risk</a>.” Tong’s lawyers appealed the ruling, but the ruling stood. Instead, a three-judge panel will hear Tong’s case.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="e46xcl">
That panel isn’t made up of any three judges, either. These justices are designated to specifically handle national security cases. They are selected by Chief Executive Carrie Lam, Hong Kong’s chief administrator who also happens to be handpicked by Beijing.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="WI0YYn">
Together, it looks like a very deliberate effort to limit scrutiny in these national security trials, carving out a kind of parallel justice system. “The government really wants to diminish transparency for national security crimes in as many ways as they can — I will not say to control the outcome, but limit the choices of the outcome,” said Eric Lai, a Hong Kong law fellow at the Center for Asian Law at Georgetown.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="QZagkI">
A free and fair jury trial would inject uncertainty into the trial result. That is not really the outcome the Chinese government wants, as the point of introducing such a draconian law is to use it — to punish those who dissent, and make the stakes so high it deters the rest. The<strong> </strong>lack of public input could empower the prosecution, or judges, to act without any accountability, essentially creating a sham court system that starts looking a lot more like China’s.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="BgQjw4">
A jury-less trial is just one way to achieve that. The national security law also allows for defendants to be tried on the mainland, crumbling entirely any semblance of two separate legal systems. As some experts ruefully pointed out, Tong is lucky, at least, to have Hong Kong judges presiding over his case, as China doesn’t even have a tradition of an independent judiciary to undermine in the first place.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="CyQWVi">
Taken together, the national security law represents the “mainlandization” of Hong Kong’s judicial system, said Fiona de Londras, chair of global legal studies at Birmingham Law School.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="9D2IW0">
The fundamental principles of the common law and legal autonomy of Hong Kong aren’t being chipped away at. “They’re being bludgeoned,” de Londras said.
</p>
<h3 id="dIKj32">
The “one country, two systems” policy is over, and then some
</h3>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="SDQXf5">
Tong isn’t a high-profile pro-democracy figure, <a href="https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2021/5/6/hks-joshua-wong-gets-10-more-months-in-jail-over-june-4-assembly">someone who’s long been a leader of the movement</a>, or <a href="https://www.npr.org/2020/12/11/945349798/jimmy-lai-hong-kong-media-mogul-charged-under-national-security-law">an outspoken media mogul</a>. Little is known about him. The more violent allegations — that he barreled into officers — make his case a little more complicated than the most extreme applications of the national security law, like charging <a href="https://apnews.com/article/legislature-primary-elections-democracy-hong-kong-elections-25a66f7dd38e6606c9f8cce84106d916">lawmakers who participated in election primaries</a> with attempting to overthrow the government.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="jdLrbC">
Lai, of Georgetown, said that may be the point. Tong’s case is a “way to test the water, to test how these new measures under the new national security law work — without a strong backfire from the global community.”
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="DcfsMP">
That shouldn’t obscure the very real unraveling that Tong’s case represents. More people will be denied bail; many more will be denied jury trials. Experts said they see other areas where Beijing’s influence and pressure is knocking off, one by one, the kind of institutions that make the rule of law possible.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="9vYY8L">
For one, experts said they are concerned about the larger independence of Hong Kong’s judiciary, as judges who have appear to have ruled in favor of pro-democracy figures in non-national-security-law cases <a href="https://www.france24.com/en/live-news/20201108-beijing-loyalists-target-hong-kong-judges-after-protester-acquittals">often come under attack from the pro-Beijing media</a>.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="sVHbLa">
There are also growing concerns about defendants’ right to counsel, and whether those charged can select their legal representation. A national security case involving <a href="https://hongkongfp.com/2021/03/31/mystery-lawyer-appears-in-court-for-hong-kong-activist-andy-li-but-family-still-dont-know-where-he-is/">Hong Kong activist Andy Li</a> raised questions as to who had appointed his attorney. The fear is that prosecutors themselves are perhaps appointing defense<strong> </strong>attorneys, an obvious conflict of interest and another way to limit the outcomes in any national security trial.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="k6PNyB">
All of this is commonplace in China’s legal system — which, again, is the point. Hong Kong’s rule of law was one of the last bastions of the “two systems.” The national security law is deliberately tearing that away. A senior Chinese official, Zheng Yanxiong, who’s in charge of overseeing the national security law, said, <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/jun/30/hong-kong-legal-system-should-reflect-china-will-says-official">according to the Guardian</a>, that Hong Kong’s rule of law was a “source of [its] charm,” but ultimately, the real goal of the judiciary was to “highly manifest the national will and national interest.”
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="5grt6x">
The imposition of China’s will is not limited to the judicial system. The <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2021/06/29/opinion/hong-kong-apple-daily.html">shutdown of Apple Daily</a>, and <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2021/06/28/hong-kong-police-arrest-former-apple-daily-journalist-at-airport.html">the arrest of its journalists</a>, is destroying freedom of the press. The targeting of <a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2021/06/china-hong-kong-freedom/619088/">academics and university professors</a> is dismantling freedom of expression. The <a href="https://www.vox.com/2021/6/5/22520233/china-democracy-power-hong-kong-activist-tiananmen-square-vigil">silencing of the annual Tiananmen Square vigil</a> — the only memorial in greater China — is an attempt to erase dissent.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="hvhBsL">
“Beijing [is] determined to reshape Hong Kong by this unprecedented law,” Lai said.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="due3Zg">
Tong’s trial is just another component of this effort. It shows China will apply and enforce the national security law to impose its will on the territory. It is designed to punish anyone who advocates for democracy, and<strong> </strong>acts as a warning to anyone else who might try to do so.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="5p54ts">
And the national security law serves one more goal — maybe the most important one of all — de Londras, of Birmingham Law, said. It makes “it very clear to the people who live in Hong Kong, who is in charge of this territory. And it is not them.”
</p></li>
</ul>
<h1 data-aos="fade-right" id="from-the-hindu-sports">From The Hindu: Sports</h1>
<ul>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Abhimanyu Mishra is youngest-ever Grandmaster</strong> - Abhimanyu Mishra, U.S. player of Indian origin, has become the youngest GM in history, at 12 years, four months and 25 days.</p></li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Australia appoint Michael Di Venuto, Jeff Vaughan as assistant coaches</strong> - Michael Di Venuto and Jeff Vaughan have the experience of being batting coaches and are being seen as replacement for Graeme Hick</p></li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Prajnesh enters pre-quarterfinals</strong> - Second seed Prajnesh Gunneswaran beat Mathias Bourgue of France 6-2, 3-6, 6-1 to move into the pre-quarterfinals of the €44,820 Challenger tennis here</p></li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Nihal Sarin triumphs</strong> - Nihal Sarin won the Silver Lake Open chess tournament in Serbia on Tuesday. The third-seeded Indian emerged on top of the field with eight points from</p></li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>National u-10 chess put off till July 4</strong> - Owing to unresolved issues with the official online platform Tornelo’s server in Australia, the last four rounds of the National (under-10) open onlin</p></li>
</ul>
<h1 data-aos="fade-right" id="from-the-hindu-national-news">From The Hindu: National News</h1>
<ul>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>IGNCA shifts to Janpath Hotel to make way for new secretariat buildings</strong> - It will be there till its new “world class complex” is constructed by 2023: Minister</p></li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Indo-Bangla power project set to get first consignment of fuel from Kolkata port: Official</strong> - The 1,320-MW Rampal Power Plant is being built by BIFPC, the joint venture between India’s NTPC Limited and Bangladesh Power Development Board.</p></li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Plantation worker ends life</strong> - A plantation worker committed suicide after he was allegedly assaulted by his employer at Hullumane in Sakleshpur taluk on Wednesday. Shivakumar, 45,</p></li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Public sector industries set for restructuring in Kerala</strong> - Rajeeve says master plans are being prepared for individual companies</p></li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Farmer issues take centrestage as BJD, BJP eye Odisha’s rural polls</strong> - Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik releases COVID-19 assistance of ₹386 crore for landless farmers</p></li>
</ul>
<h1 data-aos="fade-right" id="from-bbc-europe">From BBC: Europe</h1>
<ul>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Covid: Majorca hotel quarantine ends for 170 Spanish students</strong> - Some 170 holidaying Spanish teenagers go home, but an infected 77 are still under guard in Majorca.</p></li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Lionel Messi contract: Barcelona star becomes a free agent</strong> - Barcelona striker Lionel Messi becomes a free agent after his contract expired at midnight.</p></li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>The EU’s vaccine passport and what it means for travel</strong> - The EU’s vaccine passport - its Digital Covid Certificate - is being rolled out across all 27 nations.</p></li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Covishield: Seven EU countries approve India’s Covid vaccines</strong> - Covishield is eligible for travel to Austria, Germany, Slovenia, Greece, Ireland and Spain.</p></li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>US embassy in Warsaw publishes video condemning LGBT hate</strong> - A video titled #WordsMatter highlights hateful messages left under posts about equality.</p></li>
</ul>
<h1 data-aos="fade-right" id="from-ars-technica">From Ars Technica</h1>
<ul>
<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>If this is the electric Volvo of 2026, the future might not be all bad</strong> - These are the big tech upgrades Volvo is planning for its next-generation EVs. - <a href="https://arstechnica.com/?p=1777482">link</a></p></li>
<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Delta variant’s wild spread raises fears, fresh scrutiny of CDC mask guidance</strong> - States with low vaccination rates are already seeing a delta surge. - <a href="https://arstechnica.com/?p=1777452">link</a></p></li>
<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Amazon doesn’t like FTC chair Lina Khan’s views, wants her off investigations</strong> - Sensing a changing antitrust landscape, Amazon fires a warning shot. - <a href="https://arstechnica.com/?p=1777406">link</a></p></li>
<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Not just OLED: LG is about to release its first Mini LED TVs</strong> - New TV models hit the US in July, the rest of the world a few weeks later. - <a href="https://arstechnica.com/?p=1777286">link</a></p></li>
<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Robinhood ordered to pay $70m penalty to US regulator</strong> - It’s the largest penalty the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority has ever ordered. - <a href="https://arstechnica.com/?p=1777375">link</a></p></li>
</ul>
<h1 data-aos="fade-right" id="from-jokes-subreddit">From Jokes Subreddit</h1>
<ul>
<li><strong>I once dated a girl who had a twin. People always asked me how I could tell them apart.</strong> - <!-- SC_OFF -->
<div class="md">
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
Simple: Jane paints her nails purple. John has a cock.
</p>
</div>
<!-- SC_ON -->
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"> submitted by <a href="https://www.reddit.com/user/littleboy_xxxx"> /u/littleboy_xxxx </a> <br/> <span><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/Jokes/comments/obebi6/i_once_dated_a_girl_who_had_a_twin_people_always/">[link]</a></span> <span><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/Jokes/comments/obebi6/i_once_dated_a_girl_who_had_a_twin_people_always/">[comments]</a></span></p></li>
<li><strong>An engineer and an anti-vaxxer walk up to a bridge</strong> - <!-- SC_OFF -->
<div class="md">
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
Seeing as the bridge is the only crossing over a notoriously crocodile-infested river, the two prepare to cross. Just before they set foot on the bridge the anti-vaxxer halts the engineer.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
</p><ul>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">How safe is it to cross this bridge exactly? - he asks
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"></p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
</p><ul>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">99.97% - the engineer replies confidently
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"></p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
The anti-vaxxer thinks for a moment before turning around:
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
</p><ul>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">Guess I’m swimming then…
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"></p>
</li></ul></li></ul></li></ul></div>
<!-- SC_ON -->
submitted by <a href="https://www.reddit.com/user/frostwhiskey"> /u/frostwhiskey </a> <br/> <span><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/Jokes/comments/ob23um/an_engineer_and_an_antivaxxer_walk_up_to_a_bridge/">[link]</a></span> <span><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/Jokes/comments/ob23um/an_engineer_and_an_antivaxxer_walk_up_to_a_bridge/">[comments]</a></span></li>
</ul>
<li><strong>Four men are at a high school reunion catching up.</strong> - <!-- SC_OFF -->
<div class="md">
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
Four men are at a high school reunion catching up. When one of them had to go to the bathroom, the other three start talking about how successful their sons are.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
Guy 1: My son is so successful, he owns a car dealership and just gave his best friend a Ferrari.
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Guy 2: That’s nothing, my son owns an airliner and just gave his best friend a private jet.
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Guy 3: Yea? Well, my son is more successful than that: he owns an architectural firm and he just gave his best friend his own castle.
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The 4th guy comes back from the bathroom and asks
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Guy 4: What are you guys talking about?
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Guy 2: Oh, we’re talking about how successful our sons are.
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Guy 4: Well my son is a gay stripper.
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Guy 3: Wow, you must be disappointed with what he’s done with his life.
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Guy 4: Actually, he is doing pretty well for himself. He just got a Ferrari, a jet and a castle from his 3 boyfriends
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"> submitted by <a href="https://www.reddit.com/user/7DeniD"> /u/7DeniD </a> <br/> <span><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/Jokes/comments/ob6ozq/four_men_are_at_a_high_school_reunion_catching_up/">[link]</a></span> <span><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/Jokes/comments/ob6ozq/four_men_are_at_a_high_school_reunion_catching_up/">[comments]</a></span></p></li>
<li><strong>Man and logic</strong> - <!-- SC_OFF -->
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So a man had three girlfriends and he needed to choose one of them to marry so he gave them each 5 grand to see what they would do with it
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The first spent it all on herself- getting her hair done, nails done, outfits so that she could look amazing for him
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The second took the money and spent it all on presents for him to show her love for him. She got him clothes and golf clubs and all the shit he liked.
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The third took the money and invested it in wall street and tripled it. She gave him back 5 grand, made herself sexy and got him a bunch of gifts.
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So the man had to think. As we do as men. We think a lot about things. And eventually he made up his mind. And did what any logical man would do.
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He married the one with the fattest ass.
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"> submitted by <a href="https://www.reddit.com/user/Liquesrodrigo"> /u/Liquesrodrigo </a> <br/> <span><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/Jokes/comments/ob13el/man_and_logic/">[link]</a></span> <span><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/Jokes/comments/ob13el/man_and_logic/">[comments]</a></span></p></li>
<li><strong>How do you know aliens are not vegan?</strong> - <!-- SC_OFF -->
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Because they haven’t contacted us to say it.
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"> submitted by <a href="https://www.reddit.com/user/Enzo_GS"> /u/Enzo_GS </a> <br/> <span><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/Jokes/comments/obaonh/how_do_you_know_aliens_are_not_vegan/">[link]</a></span> <span><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/Jokes/comments/obaonh/how_do_you_know_aliens_are_not_vegan/">[comments]</a></span></p></li>
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