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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>Vaccine hesitancy and anti-vaccination attitudes during the start of COVID-19 vaccination program: a content analysis on Twitter data</strong> -
<div>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
Background: Vaccine hesitation, which is defined as one of the most important global health threats by World Health Organization, maintains its universal importance during the COVID-19 period. Due to the increasing appearance of anti-vaccine arguments on social media, Twitter is a useful resource in detecting these contents. In this study, we aimed to identify the prominent themes about vaccine hesitancy and refusal on social media during the COVID-19 pandemic. Methods: In this qualitative study we collected Twitter contents which contain a vaccine-related keywords and published publicly between 9/12/2020 and 8/1/2021 (n=551,245). A stratified random sample (n=1041) is selected and analyzed by four researchers with content analysis method. Results: All tweets included in the study were shared from 1,000 unique accounts of which 2.7% were verified and 11.3% organizational users. 90.5% of the tweets were about vaccines, 22.6% (n=213) of the tweets mentioned at least one COVID-19 vaccine name and the most frequently mentioned COVID-19 vaccine was CorronaVac (51.2%). Yet, it was mostly as “Chinese vaccine” (42.3%). 22.0% (n=207) of the tweets included at least one anti-vaccination theme. Among tweets that included an anti-vaccination theme; poor scientific processes (21.7%), conspiracy theories (16.4%), and suspicions towards manufacturers (15.5%) were the most frequently mentioned themes. The most co-occurred themes were “Poor scientific process” theme come along with “suspicion towards manufacturers” (n=9) and “suspicion towards health authorities” (n=5). Conclusions: This study may be helpful for health managers to identify the major concerns of the population and organize the preventive measures, through the significant role of social media on early information about vaccine hesitancy and anti-vaccination attitudes.
</p>
</div>
<div class="article-link article-html-link">
🖺 Full Text HTML: <a href="https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2021.05.28.21257774v1" target="_blank">Vaccine hesitancy and anti-vaccination attitudes during the start of COVID-19 vaccination program: a content analysis on Twitter data</a>
</div></li>
<li><strong>Modeling of the COVID-19 Cases in Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries using ARIMA and MA-ARIMA models.</strong> -
<div>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is still a great pandemic presently spreading all around the world. In Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries, there were 1015269 COVID-19 confirmed cases, 969424 recovery cases, and 9328 deaths as of 30th Nov. 2020. This paper, therefore, subjected the daily reported COVID-19 cases of these three variables to some statistical models including classical ARIMA, kth SMA-ARIMA, kth WMA-ARIMA, and kth EWMA-ARIMA to study the trend and to provide the long-term forecasting of the confirmed, recovery, and death cases of the novel COVID-19 pandemic in the GCC countries. The data analyzed in this study covered the period starting from the first case of coronavirus reported in each GCC country to Nov 30, 2020. To compute the best parameter estimates, each model was fitted for 90% of the available data in each country, which is called the in-sample forecast or training data, and the remaining 10% was used for the out-of-sample forecast or testing model. The AIC was applied to the training data as a criterion method to select the best model. Furthermore, the statistical measure RMSE was utilized for testing data, and the model with the minimum AIC and minimum RMSE was selected. The main finding, in general, is that the two models WMA-ARIMA and EWMA-ARIMA, besides the cubic linear regression model have given better results for in-sample and out-of-sample forecasts than the classical ARIMA models in fitting the confirmed and recovery cases while the death cases haven9t specific models.
</p>
</div>
<div class="article-link article-html-link">
🖺 Full Text HTML: <a href="https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2021.05.27.21257916v1" target="_blank">Modeling of the COVID-19 Cases in Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries using ARIMA and MA-ARIMA models.</a>
</div></li>
<li><strong>Emergency department admissions during COVID-19: explainable machine learning to characterise data drift and detect emergent health risks</strong> -
<div>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
Supervised machine learning algorithms deployed in acute healthcare settings use data describing historical episodes to predict clinical outcomes. Clinical settings are dynamic environments and the underlying data distributions characterising episodes can change with time (a phenomenon known as data drift), and so can the relationship between episode characteristics and associated clinical outcomes (so-called, concept drift). We demonstrate how explainable machine learning can be used to monitor data drift in a predictive model deployed within a hospital emergency department. We use the COVID-19 pandemic as an exemplar cause of data drift, which has brought a severe change in operational circumstances. We present a machine learning classifier trained using (pre-COVID-19) data, to identify patients at high risk of admission to hospital during an emergency department attendance. We evaluate our model9s performance on attendances occurring pre-pandemic (AUROC 0.856 95%CI [0.852, 0.859]) and during the COVID-19 pandemic (AUROC 0.826 95%CI [0.814, 0.837]). We demonstrate two benefits of explainable machine learning (SHAP) for models deployed in healthcare settings: (1) By tracking the variation in a feature9s SHAP value relative to its global importance, a complimentary measure of data drift is found which highlights the need to retrain a predictive model. (2) By observing the relative changes in feature importance emergent health risks can be identified.
</p>
</div>
<div class="article-link article-html-link">
🖺 Full Text HTML: <a href="https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2021.05.27.21257713v1" target="_blank">Emergency department admissions during COVID-19: explainable machine learning to characterise data drift and detect emergent health risks</a>
</div></li>
<li><strong>Improvements in the clinical signs of Parkinson’s disease using photobiomodulation: a prospective proof of concept study</strong> -
<div>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
BACKGROUND: Parkinson9s disease (PD) is a progressive neurodegenerative disease with no cure and few treatment options. Its incidence is increasing due to aging populations, longer disease duration and potentially as a COVID-19 sequela. Photobiomodulation (PBM) has been successfully used in animal models to reduce the signs of PD and to protect dopaminergic neurons. OBJECTIVE: To assess the effectiveness of PBM to mitigate clinical signs of PD in a prospective proof-of-concept study, using a combination of transcranial and remote treatment, in order to inform on best practice for a larger randomized placebo-controlled trial (RCT). METHODS: Twelve participants with idiopathic PD were recruited. Six were randomly chosen to begin 12 weeks of transcranial, intranasal, neck and abdominal PBM. The remaining 6 were waitlisted for 14 weeks before commencing treatment. After the 12-week treatment period, all participants were supplied with PBM devices to continue home treatment. Participants were assessed for mobility, fine motor skills, balance and cognition before treatment began, after 4 weeks of treatment, after 12 weeks of treatment and the end of the home treatment period. A Wilcoxon Signed Ranks test was used to assess treatment effectiveness at a significance level of 5%. RESULTS: Measures of mobility, cognition, dynamic balance and fine motor skill were significantly improved (p&lt;0.05) with PBM treatment for 12 weeks and up to one year. Many individual improvements were above the minimal clinically important difference, the threshold judged to be meaningful for participants. Individual improvements varied but many continued for up to one year with sustained home treatment. There was a demonstrable Hawthorne Effect that was below the treatment effect. No side effects of the treatment were observed. CONCLUSIONS: PBM was shown to be a safe and potentially effective treatment for a range of clinical signs and symptoms of PD. Improvements were maintained for as long as treatment continued, for up to one year in a neurodegenerative disease where decline is typically expected. Home treatment of PD by the person themselves or with the help of a carer might be an effective therapy option. The results of this study indicate that a large RCT is warranted.
</p>
</div>
<div class="article-link article-html-link">
🖺 Full Text HTML: <a href="https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2021.05.26.21257833v1" target="_blank">Improvements in the clinical signs of Parkinson’s disease using photobiomodulation: a prospective proof of concept study</a>
</div></li>
<li><strong>Antibody Response to CoronaVac Vaccine in Indonesian COVID-19 Survivor</strong> -
<div>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
Several studies have shown that individuals with previous history of SARS-CoV-2 infection had boosted antibody response after single dose of mRNA or adenovirus-vectored vaccines. We wondered whether single dose CoronaVac, a whole-inactivated vaccine, could be considered for COVID-19 survivors in Indonesia. We measured IgG anti-RBD titre among 18 survivors and 37 non-survivors. Among survivors, there were 9 survivors with positive antibody titre (seropositive) before vaccination and 9 seronegative survivors. All respondents received two doses of CoronaVac vaccine at 14-days interval. We found no significant antibody titre difference between non-survivor at 14 or 28 days after second dose as well as seronegative survivor at at 14 days after second dose. Seropositive survivors were rapidly boosted after first dose with higher antibody titer than non-survivors and seronegative survivors after second dose. However, antibody titer did not differ between first and second dose among seropositive survivors. Seropositive COVID-19 survivors could receive single dose of CoronaVac vaccine which could potentially ease the vaccine supply constrain. A long-term follow-up must be conducted to observe difference in antibody response and persistence.
</p>
</div>
<div class="article-link article-html-link">
🖺 Full Text HTML: <a href="https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2021.05.28.21254613v1" target="_blank">Antibody Response to CoronaVac Vaccine in Indonesian COVID-19 Survivor</a>
</div></li>
<li><strong>Development and external validation of a diagnostic multivariable prediction model for a prompt identification of cases at high risk for SARS-COV-2 infection among patients admitted to the emergency department</strong> -
<div>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
Background: An urgent need exists for an early detection of cases with a high-risk of SARS-CoV-2 infection, particularly in high-flow and -risk settings, such as emergency departments (EDs). The aim of this work is to develop and validate a predictive model for the evaluation of SARS-CoV-2 infection risk, with the rationale of using this tool to manage ED patients. Methods: A retrospective study was performed by cross-sectionally reviewing the electronical case records of patients admitted to Niguarda Hospital or referred to its ED in the period 15 March to 24 April 2020. Derivation sample was composed of non-random inpatients hospitalized on 24 April and admitted before 22 April 2020. Validation sample was composed of consecutive patients who visited the ED between 15 and 25 March 2020. The association between the dichotomic outcome and each predictor was explored by univariate analysis with logistic regression models. Results: A total of 113 patients in the derivation sample and 419 in the validation sample were analyzed. History of fever, elder age and low oxygen saturation showed to be significant predictors of SARS-CoV-2 infection. The neutrophil count improves the discriminative ability of the model, even if its calibration and usefulness in terms of diagnosis is unclear. Conclusion: The discriminatory ability of the identified models makes the overall performance suboptimal; their implementation to calculate the individual risk of infection should not be used without additional investigations. However, they could be useful to evaluate the spatial allocation of patients while awaiting the result of the nasopharyngeal swab.
</p>
</div>
<div class="article-link article-html-link">
🖺 Full Text HTML: <a href="https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2021.05.26.21257834v1" target="_blank">Development and external validation of a diagnostic multivariable prediction model for a prompt identification of cases at high risk for SARS-COV-2 infection among patients admitted to the emergency department</a>
</div></li>
<li><strong>Inferring SARS-CoV-2 variant within-host kinetics</strong> -
<div>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
SARS-CoV-2 variants are causing epidemic rebounds in many countries. By analyzing longitudinal cycle threshold (Ct) values from screening tests in the general population and hospitals, we find that infections caused by variant lineages have higher peak viral load than wild type lineages and, for the B.1.1.7 lineage, have a longer infectious period duration. Linking within-host kinetics to transmission data suggests that infections caused by variants have higher transmission potentials and that their epidemiological fitness may depend on the demography of the host population.
</p>
</div>
<div class="article-link article-html-link">
🖺 Full Text HTML: <a href="https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2021.05.26.21257835v1" target="_blank">Inferring SARS-CoV-2 variant within-host kinetics</a>
</div></li>
<li><strong>Stay at Home! When Personality Profiles Influence Mental Health and Creativity during the COVID-19 Lockdown</strong> -
<div>
With the COVID-19 outbreak, the population was suddenly forced to “stay at home”. Although research suggests that social isolation affects health and wellbeing, reactions may vary depending on individuals. The current study assessed the relationships between personality variables (preference for solitude and Big Five personality), mental health (anxiety, stress, loneliness), and creativity, and tried to determine whether the identified personality profiles affect individuals’ mental health and creativity. French respondents (N = 430) filled in an online questionnaire during the first lockdown in Spring 2020. The results showed that the preference for solitude and personality variables of the Big Five predicted individuals’ mental health and creativity. Moreover, a cluster analysis revealed three profiles of individuals: “Affiliation”, “Emotionally Stable Lonely” and “Emotionally Unstable Lonely”. Results showed that individuals with “Affiliation” and “Emotionally Unstable Lonely” profiles expressed higher stress and anxiety, and the latter performed better on a divergent creative thinking task. By contrast, those with an “Emotionally Stable Lonely” profile expressed a lower level of loneliness, and performed better on a creative insight task. These findings reveal the importance of personality profiles in psychological reactions during lockdowns. With this knowledge, health professionals could develop appropriate interventions to accompany high-risk individuals in situations of social isolation.
</div>
<div class="article-link article-html-link">
🖺 Full Text HTML: <a href="https://psyarxiv.com/wkhfr/" target="_blank">Stay at Home! When Personality Profiles Influence Mental Health and Creativity during the COVID-19 Lockdown</a>
</div></li>
<li><strong>The indirect effect of mRNA-based Covid-19 vaccination on unvaccinated household members</strong> -
<div>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
Abstract: This paper studies the direct and indirect effectiveness of Covid-19 vaccines among vaccinated healthcare workers and their unvaccinated adult household members in a mass vaccine program in Finland. Methods: We used national databases that record all polymerase chain reaction (PCR)-confirmed SARS-CoV-2 infections and mRNA-based (BNT162b2 by Pfizer-BioNTech or mRNA-1273 by Moderna) vaccine doses administered in Finland since the beginning of the epidemic. These data were merged with administrative full population datasets that include information on each person9s occupation and unique identifiers for spouses living in the same household. To estimate the direct and indirect effectiveness of mRNA-based vaccines in a household setting, we compared the cumulative incidence of PCR-confirmed SARS-CoV-2 infections between vaccinated and unvaccinated healthcare workers as well as between their unvaccinated spouses. Findings: Our estimates imply indirect effectiveness of 8.7% (95% CI: -28.9 to 35.4) two weeks and 42.9% (95% CI: 22.3 to 58.1) 10 weeks after the first dose. The effectiveness estimates for unvaccinated household members are substantial, but smaller than the direct effect and occur more gradually among unvaccinated household members than among vaccinated individuals. Interpretation: Our results suggest that mRNA-based vaccines do not only prevent SARS-CoV-2 infections among vaccinated individuals but lead to a substantial reduction in infections among unvaccinated household members. The results are consistent with the notion that mRNA-based vaccines affect susceptibility in vaccinated individuals and prevent transmission from vaccinated to unvaccinated individuals.
</p>
</div>
<div class="article-link article-html-link">
🖺 Full Text HTML: <a href="https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2021.05.27.21257896v1" target="_blank">The indirect effect of mRNA-based Covid-19 vaccination on unvaccinated household members</a>
</div></li>
<li><strong>Increased prevalence and clinical impact of hypocalcaemia in severe COVID-19 distinguishes it from other forms of infective pneumonia</strong> -
<div>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
Background: Hypocalcaemia has been reported in the context of acute COVID-19, where it has been associated with an increased risk of hospitalisation and disease severity. Calcium is an important intracellular messenger that controls diverse cellular processes. Two other clinically important coronaviruses, SARS-CoV-1 and Middle East respiratory syndrome (MERS)-CoV, can use calcium ions to enter and replicate within host cells. Calcium may therefore be important in the pathophysiology of COVID-19 infection. We sought to investigate whether calcium derangement was a specific feature of COVID-19 that distinguishes it from other infective pneumonias, and its association with disease severity. Methods: We conducted a single centre retrospective study of albumin-corrected serum calcium on adult patients with COVID-19 who presented between March 1st and May 16th 2020. The primary outcome was maximal level of care based on the World Health Organization Clinical Progression Scale for COVID-19. Cases with community acquired pneumonia (CAP) and viral pneumonia (VP) were identified through a clinical database over three intervals (January to February 2018, January to February 2019 and September to December 2019). Results: We analysed data from 506 patients with COVID-19, 95 patients with CAP and 152 patients with VP. Hypocalcaemia (serum calcium &lt;2.2mmol/L) was a specific and common clinical finding in patients with COVID-19 that was not present in other respiratory infections. Calcium levels were significantly lower in those with severe disease. Ordinal regression of risk estimates for categorised care levels showed that baseline hypocalcaemia was incrementally associated with odds ratio of 2.33 for higher level of care, superior to other variables that have previously been shown to predict worse COVID-19 outcome. Serial calcium levels showed improvement by day 7-9 of admission, only in in survivors of COVID-19. Conclusion: Hypocalcaemia may independently predict not only more severe but more progressive disease and warrants detailed prognostic investigation. The fact that decreased serum calcium is observed at the time of clinical presentation in COVID-19, but not other infective pneumonias, suggests that its early derangement is pathophysiological and may influence the deleterious evolution of this disease. If calcium is ultimately shown to be critical to the entry and replication of SARS-CoV-2 in host cells, unravelling how this mechanism could be therapeutically targeted deserves more intensive examination. Trial registration HRA: 20/HRA/2344.
</p>
</div>
<div class="article-link article-html-link">
🖺 Full Text HTML: <a href="https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2021.05.27.21257813v1" target="_blank">Increased prevalence and clinical impact of hypocalcaemia in severe COVID-19 distinguishes it from other forms of infective pneumonia</a>
</div></li>
<li><strong>Prioritizing Pregnant Women for COVID-19 Vaccination</strong> -
<div>
Even though evidence for the safety and efficacy of COVID-19 vaccination in pregnancy is emerging, most countries currently do not offer COVID-19 vaccination to pregnant women, while a few leave the decision to the woman. Pregnant women are known to be at high risk of complications from COVID-19. We did a web search on policies for COVID-19 vaccination of pregnant women in two sets of countries – those bearing a high burden of COVID-19 cases globally, and a second set with a high burden of maternal and under five mortality. India and Indonesia fall in both the groups. Of the top 20 COVID-19 affected countries, six countries allow and two have in place guidelines for preferential vaccination of pregnant women. In contrast, none of the high maternal and under-five mortality burden countries have such preferential vaccination guidelines in place. For COVID-19 not to further aggravate already heavy existing burden of maternal and under five mortality, there is a strong case for inclusion of pregnant women as a high priority group for COVID-19 vaccination. We recommend including COVID-19 vaccination in the routine protocol for antenatal care in all countries, particularly India and Indonesia in view of their dual burden.
</div>
<div class="article-link article-html-link">
🖺 Full Text HTML: <a href="https://osf.io/5yxh7/" target="_blank">Prioritizing Pregnant Women for COVID-19 Vaccination</a>
</div></li>
<li><strong>Evaluating the risk of SARS-CoV-2 transmission to bats using a decision analytical framework</strong> -
<div>
Preventing wildlife disease outbreaks is a priority issue for natural resource agencies, and management decisions can be urgent, especially in epidemic circumstances. With the emergence of SARS-CoV-2, wildlife agencies were concerned whether the activities they authorize might increase the risk of viral transmission from humans to North American bats but had a limited amount of time in which to make decisions. We provide a description of how decision analysis provides a powerful framework to analyze and re-analyze complex natural resource management problems as knowledge evolves. Coupled with expert judgment and avenues for the rapid release of information, risk assessment can provide timely scientific information for evolving decisions. In April 2020, the first rapid risk assessment was conducted to evaluate the risk of transmission of SARS-CoV-2 from humans to North American bats. Based on the best available information, and relying heavily on formal expert judgment, the risk assessment found a small possibility of transmission during summer work activities. Following that assessment, additional knowledge and data emerged, such as bat viral challenge studies, that further elucidated the risks of human-to-bat transmission and culminated in a second risk assessment in the fall of 2020. We update the first SARS-CoV-2 risk assessment with new estimates of little brown bat (Myotis lucifugus) susceptibility and new management alternatives, using findings from the prior two risk assessments and other empirical studies. We highlight the strengths of decision analysis and expert judgment not only to frame decisions and produce useful science in a timely manner, but also to serve as a framework to reassess risk as understanding improves. For SARS-CoV-2 risk, new knowledge led to an 88% decrease in the median number of bats estimated to be infected per 1000 encountered when compared to earlier results. The use of facemasks during, or a negative COVID-19 test prior to, bat encounters further reduced those risks. Using a combination of decision analysis, expert judgment, rapid risk assessment, and efficient modes of information distribution, we provide timely science support to decision makers for summer bat work in North America.
</div>
<div class="article-link article-html-link">
🖺 Full Text HTML: <a href="https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2021.05.28.446020v1" target="_blank">Evaluating the risk of SARS-CoV-2 transmission to bats using a decision analytical framework</a>
</div></li>
<li><strong>Biophysical characterization of the SARS-CoV-2 E protein</strong> -
<div>
SARS-CoV-2 is the virus responsible for the COVID-19 pandemic which continues to wreak havoc across the world, over a year and a half after its effects were first reported in the general media. Current fundamental research efforts largely focus on the SARS-CoV-2 Spike protein. Since successful antiviral therapies are likely to target multiple viral components, there is considerable interest in understanding the biophysical role of its other proteins, in particular structural membrane proteins. Here, we have focused our efforts on the characterization of the full-length E protein from SARS-CoV-2, combining experimental and computational approaches. Recombinant expression of the full-length E protein from SARS-CoV-2 reveals that this membrane protein is capable of independent multimerization, possibly as a tetrameric or smaller species. Fluorescence microscopy shows that the protein localizes intracellularly, and coarse-grained MD simulations indicate it causes bending of the surrounding lipid bilayer, corroborating a potential role for the E protein in viral budding. Although we did not find robust electrophysiological evidence of ion-channel activity, cells transfected with the E protein exhibited reduced intracellular Ca2+, which may further promote viral replication. However, our atomistic MD simulations revealed that previous NMR structures are relatively unstable, and result in models incapable of ion conduction. Our study highlights the importance of using high-resolution structural data obtained from a full-length protein to gain detailed molecular insights, and eventually permitting virtual drug screening.
</div>
<div class="article-link article-html-link">
🖺 Full Text HTML: <a href="https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2021.05.28.446179v1" target="_blank">Biophysical characterization of the SARS-CoV-2 E protein</a>
</div></li>
<li><strong>Quantitation of tizoxanide in multiple matrices to support cell culture, animal and human research.</strong> -
<div>
Currently nitazoxanide is being assessed as a candidate therapeutic for SARS-CoV-2. Unlike many other candidates being investigated, tizoxanide (the active metabolite of nitazoxanide) plasma concentrations achieve antiviral levels after administration of the approved dose, although higher doses are expected to be needed to maintain these concentrations across the dosing interval in the majority of patients. Here an LC-MS/MS assay is described that has been validated in accordance with Food and Drug Administration (FDA) guidelines. Fundamental parameters have been evaluated, and these included accuracy, precision and sensitivity. The assay was validated for human plasma, mouse plasma and Dulbeccos Modified Eagles Medium (DMEM) containing varying concentrations of Foetal Bovine Serum (FBS). Matrix effects are a well-documented source of concern for chromatographic analysis, with the potential to impact various stages of the analytical process, including suppression or enhancement of ionisation. Therefore, a robustly validated LC-MS/MS analytical method is presented capable of quantifying tizoxanide in multiple matrices with minimal impact of matrix effects. The validated assay presented here was linear from 15.6ng/mL to 1000ng/mL. Accuracy and precision ranged between 102.2% and 113.5%, 100.1% and 105.4%, respectively. The presented assay here has applications in both pre-clinical and clinical research and may be used to facilitate further investigations into the application of nitazoxanide against SARS-CoV-2.
</div>
<div class="article-link article-html-link">
🖺 Full Text HTML: <a href="https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2021.05.27.445500v1" target="_blank">Quantitation of tizoxanide in multiple matrices to support cell culture, animal and human research.</a>
</div></li>
<li><strong>SARS-CoV-2 transmission via apical syncytia release from primary bronchial epithelia and infectivity restriction in children epithelia</strong> -
<div>
The beta-coronavirus SARS-CoV-2 is at the origin of a persistent worldwide pandemic. SARS-CoV-2 infections initiate in the bronchi of the upper respiratory tract and are able to disseminate to the lower respiratory tract eventually causing acute severe respiratory syndrome with a high degree of mortality in the elderly. Here we use reconstituted primary bronchial epithelia from adult and children donors to follow the infection dynamic following infection with SARS-CoV-2. We show that in bronchial epithelia derived from adult donors, infections initiate in multi-ciliated cells. Then, infection rapidly spread within 24-48h throughout the whole epithelia. Within 3-4 days, large apical syncytia form between multi-ciliated cells and basal cells, which dissipate into the apical lumen. We show that these syncytia are a significant source of the released infectious dose. In stark contrast to these findings, bronchial epithelia reconstituted from children donors are intrinsically more resistant to virus infection and show active restriction of virus spread. This restriction is paired with accelerated release of IFN compared to adult donors. Taken together our findings reveal apical syncytia formation as an underappreciated source of infectious virus for either local dissemination or release into the environment. Furthermore, we provide direct evidence that children bronchial epithelia are more resistant to infection with SARS-CoV-2 providing experimental support for epidemiological observations that SARS-CoV-2 cases fatality is linked to age.
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<div class="article-link article-html-link">
🖺 Full Text HTML: <a href="https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2021.05.28.446159v1" target="_blank">SARS-CoV-2 transmission via apical syncytia release from primary bronchial epithelia and infectivity restriction in children epithelia</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>Study of Allogeneic Adipose-Derived Mesenchymal Stem Cells for Treatment of COVID-19 Acute Respiratory Distress</strong> - <b>Condition</b>:   Covid19<br/><b>Interventions</b>:   Biological: COVI-MSC;   Drug: Placebo<br/><b>Sponsor</b>:   Sorrento Therapeutics, 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>Study to Evaluate a Single Intranasal Dose of STI-2099 (COVI-DROPS™) in Outpatient Adults With COVID-19 (US)</strong> - <b>Condition</b>:   Covid19<br/><b>Interventions</b>:   Biological: COVI-DROPS;   Drug: Placebo<br/><b>Sponsor</b>:   Sorrento Therapeutics, 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>Study to Evaluate a Single Intranasal Dose of STI-2099 (COVI-DROPS™) in Outpatient Adults With COVID-19 (UK)</strong> - <b>Condition</b>:   Covid19<br/><b>Interventions</b>:   Biological: COVI-DROPS;   Drug: Placebo<br/><b>Sponsor</b>:   Sorrento Therapeutics, 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>Low-Dose Radiation Therapy to Lungs in Moderate COVID-19 Pneumonitis: A Case-Control Pilot Study</strong> - <b>Condition</b>:   COVID-19 Pneumonia<br/><b>Intervention</b>:   Radiation: Low dose radiotherapy<br/><b>Sponsor</b>:   Mahatma Gandhi Institute of Medical Sciences<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 to Evaluate the Effects of RO7496998 (AT-527) in Non-Hospitalized Adult and Adolescent Participants With Mild or Moderate COVID-19</strong> - <b>Condition</b>:   COVID-19<br/><b>Interventions</b>:   Drug: RO7496998;   Drug: Placebo<br/><b>Sponsors</b>:   Atea Pharmaceuticals, Inc.;   Hoffmann-La Roche<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>Using Text Messages to Improve COVID-19 Vaccination Uptake</strong> - <b>Condition</b>:   Covid19<br/><b>Intervention</b>:   Behavioral: Text message content<br/><b>Sponsors</b>:   Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust;   Central London CCG;   Imperial College Health Partners;   Institute for Global Health Innovations;   The Behavioural Insights Team<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>Prophylaxis for COVID-19: Ivermectin in Close Contacts of COVID-19 Cases (IVERNEX-TUC)</strong> - <b>Condition</b>:   Covid19<br/><b>Interventions</b>:   Drug: Ivermectin;   Other: Placebo<br/><b>Sponsor</b>:   Ministry of Public Health, Argentina<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>Mix and Match of the Second COVID-19 Vaccine Dose for Safety and Immunogenicity</strong> - <b>Condition</b>:   COVID-19<br/><b>Interventions</b>:   Biological: mRNA-1273 SARS-CoV-2 vaccine;   Biological: BNT162b2;   Biological: ChAdOx1-S [recombinant];   Other: 0, 28 day schedule;   Other: 0, 112 day schedule<br/><b>Sponsors</b>:   Canadian Immunization Research Network;   Canadian Center for Vaccinology;   BC Children’s Hospital Research Institute;   Children’s Hospital Research Institute of Manitoba;   CHU de Quebec-Universite Laval;   Ottawa Hospital Research Institute;   Northern Alberta Clinical Trials + Research Centre;   Ontario Agency for Health Protection and Promotion;   University of Toronto;   Massachusetts General Hospital<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>CISCO-21 Prevent and Treat Long COVID-19.</strong> - <b>Condition</b>:   Covid19<br/><b>Intervention</b>:   Other: Resistance Exercise<br/><b>Sponsors</b>:   NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde;   University of Glasgow;   Chief Scientist Office of the Scottish Government<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>Leronlimab in Moderatelly Ill Patients With COVID-19 Pneumonia</strong> - <b>Condition</b>:   COVID-19 Pneumonia<br/><b>Interventions</b>:   Drug: Leronlimab;   Drug: Placebo<br/><b>Sponsors</b>:   Hospital Israelita Albert Einstein;   CytoDyn, 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>Amantadine for COVID-19</strong> - <b>Condition</b>:   Covid19<br/><b>Interventions</b>:   Drug: Amantadine;   Drug: Lactose monohydrate<br/><b>Sponsors</b>:   Copenhagen University Hospital, Hvidovre;   University of Copenhagen<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>Leronlimab in Critically Ill Patients With Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) With Need for Mechanical Ventilation or Extracorporeal Membrane Oxygenation</strong> - <b>Condition</b>:   COVID-19 Pneumonia<br/><b>Interventions</b>:   Drug: Leronlimab;   Drug: Placebo<br/><b>Sponsors</b>:   Hospital Israelita Albert Einstein;   CytoDyn, 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>Anti COVID 19 Intravenous Immunoglobulin (C-IVIG) Therapy for Severe COVID-19 Patients</strong> - <b>Condition</b>:   Covid19<br/><b>Intervention</b>:   Biological: Anti COVID 19 Intravenous Immunoglobulin (C-IVIG)<br/><b>Sponsors</b>:   Dow University of Health Sciences;   Higher Education Commission (Pakistan)<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>CRP-Apheresis for Attenuation of Pulmonary, MYocardial and/or Kidney Injury in COvid-19</strong> - <b>Condition</b>:   Covid19<br/><b>Intervention</b>:   Device: CRP-apheresis<br/><b>Sponsor</b>:   University Hospital, Essen<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>A Proof of Concept Study for the DNA Repair Driven by the Mesenchymal Stem Cells in Critical COVID-19 Patients</strong> - <b>Condition</b>:   COVID-19 Pneumonia<br/><b>Intervention</b>:   Biological: Mesenchymal Stem Cells Transplantation<br/><b>Sponsors</b>:   SBÜ Dr. Sadi Konuk Eğitim ve Araştırma Hastanesi;   Istinye University;   Liv Hospital (Ulus)<br/><b>Completed</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>Role of OATP4C1 in Renal Handling of Remdesivir and its Nucleoside Analog GS-441524: The First Approved Drug for Patients with COVID-19</strong> - CONCLUSIONS: We have provided novel information about renal handling of remdesivir. Furthermore, we evaluated the potential drug interaction via OATP4C1 by calculating the Ki value of remdesivir. OATP4C1 may play a pivotal role in remdesivir therapy for COVID-19, particularly in patients with kidney injury.</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>Avian antibodies (IgY) targeting spike glycoprotein of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) inhibit receptor binding and viral replication</strong> - CONCLUSIONS: In this proof-of-concept study we showed that avian immunoglobulins (IgY) raised against a key virulence factor of the SARS-CoV-2 virus successfully inhibited the critical initial adhesion of viral spike glycoproteins to human ACE2 protein receptors and inhibited viral replication in vitro, in a short period using only two laying hens. We conclude that production of large amounts of IgY inhibiting viral binding and replication of SARS-CoV-2 is feasible, and that incorporation of…</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>NPC1-regulated dynamic of clathrin-coated pits is essential for viral entry</strong> - Viruses utilize cellular lipids and manipulate host lipid metabolism to ensure their replication and spread. Therefore, the identification of lipids and metabolic pathways that are suitable targets for antiviral development is crucial. Using a library of compounds targeting host lipid metabolic factors and testing them for their ability to block pseudorabies virus (PRV) and vesicular stomatitis virus (VSV) infection, we found that U18666A, a specific inhibitor of Niemann-Pick C1 (NPC1), is…</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>Retention of the Aboriginal Health, Ageing, and Disability Workforce: Protocol for a Mixed Methods Study</strong> - CONCLUSIONS: This study uses a mixed methods design. The survey and interview questions and model were developed in partnership with Aboriginal health, ageing, and disability service workers rather than relying only on research publications on the workforce, government policies, and human resources strategies. This design places a strong emphasis on generalizable findings together with an inductive approach that explores employers and workers’ lived experience of the Aboriginal health workforce…</p></li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Identification of LASSBio-1945 as an inhibitor of SARS-CoV-2 main protease (M(PRO)) through in silico screening supported by molecular docking and a fragment-based pharmacophore model</strong> - In December 2019, an infectious disease was detected in Wuhan, China, caused by a new pathogenic coronavirus, named SARS-CoV-2. It spread very rapidly, and on March 11th of 2020, the outbreak was declared a pandemic by the World Health Organization. Currently, effective treatment options remain limited. SARS-CoV-2 enzyme main protease (M^(PRO)) plays a pivotal role in the viral life cycle, making it a putative drug target. In order to identify suitable hits to develop inhibitors with adequate…</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 vivo and in vitro Evaluation of Cytokine Expression Profiles During Middle East Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus (MERS-CoV) Infection</strong> - CONCLUSION: MERS-CoV can decrease IFN levels to interfere with the IFN pathway and enhance the production of regulatory cytokines. Inhibition of the increases in IL-27 and IL-35 may contribute to halting MERS-CoV in the early stage of 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>Translational shutdown and evasion of the innate immune response by SARS-CoV-2 NSP14 protein</strong> - The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic has caused an unprecedented global health crisis. Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) is the causative agent of COVID-19. Subversion of host protein synthesis is a common strategy that pathogenic viruses use to replicate and propagate in their host. In this study, we show that SARS-CoV-2 is able to shut down host protein synthesis and that SARS-CoV-2 nonstructural protein NSP14 exerts this activity. We show that the translation inhibition…</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>Studying the prominence effect amid the COVID-19 crisis: implications for public health policy decision-making</strong> - The novel coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has brought with it crucial policy- and decision-making situations, especially when making judgments between financial and health concerns. One particularly relevant decision-making phenomenon is the prominence effect, where decision-makers base their decisions on the most prominent attribute of the object at hand (e.g., health concerns) rather than weigh all the attributes together. This bias diminishes when the decision-making mode inhibits…</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>TMEM41B is a host factor required for the replication of diverse coronaviruses including SARS-CoV-2</strong> - Antiviral therapeutics are a front-line defense against virally induced diseases. Because viruses frequently mutate to escape direct inhibition of viral proteins, there is interest in targeting the host proteins that the virus must co-opt to complete its replication cycle. However, a detailed understanding of the interactions between the virus and the host cell is necessary in order to facilitate development of host-directed therapeutics. As a first step, we performed a genome-wide loss of…</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>Molecular dynamics analysis of N-acetyl-D-glucosamine against specific SARS-CoV-2’s pathogenicity factors</strong> - The causative agent of the pandemic identified as SARS-CoV-2 leads to a severe respiratory illness similar to SARS and MERS with fever, cough, and shortness of breath symptoms and severe cases that can often be fatal. In our study, we report our findings based on molecular docking analysis which could be the new effective way for controlling the SARS-CoV-2 virus and additionally, another manipulative possibilities involving the mimicking of immune system as occurred during the bacterial cell…</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>Interfering with Host Proteases in SARS-CoV-2 Entry as a Promising Therapeutic Strategy</strong> - Due to its fast international spread and substantial mortality, the coronavirus disease COVID-19 evolved to a global threat. Since currently, there is no causative drug against this viral infection available, science is striving for new drugs and approaches to treat the new disease. Studies have shown that the cell entry of coronaviruses into host cells takes place through the binding of the viral spike (S) protein to cell receptors. Priming of the S protein occurs via hydrolysis by different…</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>Repurposing the HCV NS3-4A protease drug boceprevir as COVID-19 therapeutics</strong> - The rapid growth of COVID-19 cases is causing an increasing death toll and also paralyzing the world economy. De novo drug discovery takes years to move from idea and/or pre-clinic to market, and it is not a short-term solution for the current SARS-CoV-2 pandemic. Drug repurposing is perhaps the only short-term solution, while vaccination is a middle-term solution. Here, we describe the discovery path of the HCV NS3-4A protease inhibitors boceprevir and telaprevir as SARS-CoV-2 main protease…</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>Selenium to selenoproteins - role in COVID-19</strong> - The disruption of antioxidant defense has been demonstrated in severe acute respiratory syndrome due to SARS-CoV infection. Selenium plays a major role in decreasing the ROS produced in response to various viral infections. Selenoprotein enzymes are essential in combating oxidative stress caused due to excessive generation of ROS. Selenium also has a role in inhibiting the activation of NF-κB, thus alleviating inflammation. In viral infections, selenoproteins have also been found to inhibit type…</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>Identifying potential drug targets and candidate drugs for COVID-19: biological networks and structural modeling approaches</strong> - Background: Coronavirus (CoV) is an emerging human pathogen causing severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) around the world. Earlier identification of biomarkers for SARS can facilitate detection and reduce the mortality rate of the disease. Thus, by integrated network analysis and structural modeling approach, we aimed to explore the potential drug targets and the candidate drugs for coronavirus medicated SARS. Methods: Differentially expression (DE) analysis of CoV infected host genes (HGs)…</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>Quinoline and Quinazoline Derivatives Inhibit Viral RNA Synthesis by SARS-CoV-2 RdRp</strong> - Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a fatal respiratory illness caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The identification of potential drugs is urgently needed to control the pandemic. RNA dependent RNA polymerase (RdRp) is a conserved protein within RNA viruses and plays a crucial role in the viral life cycle, thus making it an attractive target for development of antiviral drugs. In this study, 101 quinoline and quinazoline derivatives were screened against…</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>COST EFFECTIVE PORTABLE OXYGEN CONCENTRATOR FOR COVID-19</strong> - - <a href="https://patentscope.wipo.int/search/en/detail.jsf?docId=AU324964715">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><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>IMPROVEMENTS RELATED TO PARTICLE, INCLUDING SARS-CoV-2, DETECTION AND METHODS THEREFOR</strong> - - <a href="https://patentscope.wipo.int/search/en/detail.jsf?docId=AU323295937">link</a></p></li>
<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>DEEP LEARNING BASED SYSTEM FOR DETECTION OF COVID-19 DISEASE OF PATIENT AT INFECTION RISK</strong> - The present invention relates to Deep learning based system for detection of covid-19 disease of patient at infection risk. The objective of the present invention is to solve the problems in the prior art related to technologies of detection of covid-19 disease using CT scan image processing. - <a href="https://patentscope.wipo.int/search/en/detail.jsf?docId=IN324122821">link</a></p></li>
<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>A COMPREHENSIVE DISINFECTION SYSTEM DURING PANDEMIC FOR PERSONAL ITEMS AND PROTECTIVE EQUIPMENT (PPE) TO SAFEGUARD PEOPLE</strong> - The current Covid-19 pandemic has led to an enormous demand for gadgets / objects for personal protection. To prevent the spread of virus, it is important to disinfect commonly touched objects. One of the ways suggested is to use a personal UV-C disinfecting box that is “efficient and effective in deactivating the COVID-19 virus. The present model has implemented the use of a UV transparent material (fused silica quartz glass tubes) as the medium of support for the objects to be disinfected to increase the effectiveness of disinfection without compromising the load bearing capacity. Aluminum foil, a UV reflecting material, was used as the inner lining of the box for effective utilization of the UVC light emitted by the UVC lamps. Care has been taken to prevent leakage of UVC radiation out of the system. COVID-19 virus can be inactivated in 5 minutes by UVC irradiation in this disinfection box - <a href="https://patentscope.wipo.int/search/en/detail.jsf?docId=IN322882412">link</a></p></li>
<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>UBIQUITOUS COMPUTING SYSTEM FOR MENTAL HEALTH MONITORING OF PERSON DURING THE PANDEMIC OF COVID-19</strong> - - <a href="https://patentscope.wipo.int/search/en/detail.jsf?docId=AU323295498">link</a></p></li>
<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>INDICATING SYSTEM</strong> - A visual indicating system for use with a hospital bed, the hospital bed comprising a bed frame extending between a head end and a foot end of the bed frame, the visual indicating system comprising: an indicating member adapted to be coupled with the bed frame wherein the indicating member comprises an indicia for indicating one of a plurality of pre-determined health conditions.</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">FIGURE 1 - <a href="https://patentscope.wipo.int/search/en/detail.jsf?docId=AU322897510">link</a></p></li>
<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>USE OF IMINOSUGAR COMPOUND IN PREPARATION OF ANTI-SARS-COV-2 VIRUS DRUG</strong> - - <a href="https://patentscope.wipo.int/search/en/detail.jsf?docId=AU322897928">link</a></p></li>
<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>一种高灵敏SARS-CoV-2中和抗体的检测方法、检测试剂盒</strong> - 本发明公开了一种高灵敏SARS‑CoV‑2中和抗体的检测方法、检测试剂盒，属于生物医学检测技术领域，本发明试剂盒包括层析试纸、卡壳和样本稀释液，所述层析试纸包括底板、样品垫、结合垫、NC膜和吸水垫，所述NC膜上依次设置有捕获线、检测线和质控线，所述捕获线包被有ACE2蛋白，所述检测线包被有RBD蛋白，所述结合垫设置有RBD蛋白标记物；本发明采用阻断法加夹心法原理提高检测中和抗体的灵敏度，通过添加捕获线的方式，将靶向RBD的非中和抗体提前捕获，保证后续通过夹心法检测中和抗体的特异性。 - <a href="https://patentscope.wipo.int/search/en/detail.jsf?docId=CN323798634">link</a></p></li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Atemschutzmaske</strong> -
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
</p><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">Partikelfiltrierende Halbmaske (10), insbesondere Atemschutzmaske für Menschen, mit einer an ein Gesicht eines Trägers anlegbaren und dabei Mund und Nase bedeckenden Schale (12), die eine vom Mund des Trägers beabstandete Auswölbung (14) mit einem Rahmen (16) zur dichtenden Aufnahme eines von der Schale (12) trennbaren und/oder auswechselbaren Filtereinsatzes (48) sowie mindestens eine innerhalb der Schale (12) angeordnete Strahlungsquelle (40) zur Emission ultravioletten Lichtes aufweist, welche mindestens eine Strahlungsquelle (40) eine Abstrahlrichtung zu einer dem Träger zugewandten inneren Oberfläche des Filtereinsatzes (48) aufweist.</p></li>
</ul>
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<li><a href="https://patentscope.wipo.int/search/en/detail.jsf?docId=DE325271681">link</a></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 Sudden Rise of the Coronavirus Lab-Leak Theory</strong> - Scientists and political commentators are no longer dismissing the possibility that COVID-19 emerged from a Chinese laboratory. What changed? - <a href="https://www.newyorker.com/news/annals-of-inquiry/the-sudden-rise-of-the-coronavirus-lab-leak-theory">link</a></p></li>
<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>American Democracy Isn’t Dead Yet, but It’s Getting There</strong> - A country that cannot even agree to investigate an assault on its Capitol is in big trouble, indeed. - <a href="https://www.newyorker.com/news/letter-from-bidens-washington/american-democracy-isnt-dead-yet-but-its-getting-there">link</a></p></li>
<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>California’s Novel Attempt at Land Reparations</strong> - Property seized from a Black family a century ago is being returned to their descendants. - <a href="https://www.newyorker.com/news/us-journal/californias-novel-attempt-at-land-reparations">link</a></p></li>
<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>The Republican Party, Racial Hypocrisy, and the 1619 Project</strong> - As the G.O.P. seeks to deny Americans knowledge of their own history, Nikole Hannah-Jones is denied tenure. - <a href="https://www.newyorker.com/news/daily-comment/the-republican-party-racial-hypocrisy-and-the-1619-project">link</a></p></li>
<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>The Women Who Preserved the Story of the Tulsa Race Massacre</strong> - Two pioneering Black writers have not received the recognition they deserve for chronicling one of the country’s gravest crimes. - <a href="https://www.newyorker.com/news/us-journal/the-women-who-preserved-the-story-of-the-tulsa-race-massacre">link</a></p></li>
</ul>
<h1 data-aos="fade-right" id="from-vox">From Vox</h1>
<ul>
<li><strong>Justice Breyer’s new warning for Democrats couldn’t have come at a worse time</strong> -
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<img alt="" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/QJjMUZNh_u-oGlqtpEh3XsrWxcE=/167x0:2834x2000/1310x983/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/69360555/GettyImages_145308181_copy.0.jpg"/>
<figcaption>
Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer in 2012. | Jewel Samad/AFP via Getty Images
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
American democracy is in crisis. Breyer thinks now’s the time to scold his fellow liberals.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="3efxBz">
Justice Stephen Breyer — a Bill Clinton appointee who has served on the Supreme Court since 1994 — has chosen this moment to admonish liberals for failing to respect the rule of law.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="qStej5">
He’s done so despite the fact that less than five months ago, a violent mob of former President Donald Trump’s supporters <a href="https://www.vox.com/22218446/capitol-police-mob-trump-storming-washington-dc">invaded the US Capitol</a> in a vain attempt to keep Trump, who had just lost his bid for reelection, in office without an electoral mandate. In the months that followed, state-level Republicans loyal to Trump passed legislation that appears to <a href="https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/22368044/georgia-sb202-voter-suppression-democracy-big-lie">serve no purpose other than to restrict voting</a>. And now, Republican leaders are <a href="https://www.vox.com/2021/5/25/22445422/january-6-commission-senate-filibuster">blocking a bipartisan investigation</a> into the January 6 riots at the Capitol.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="Fm0LkX">
And yet, in the midst of what might be the greatest threat to liberal democracy in the United States since Jim Crow, Breyer warns that liberals are endangering the rule of law because a small minority of Democrats have suggested taking aggressive action to rein in the Supreme Court.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="sPq2Fu">
And Breyer is doing this at the same time that he’s urging Democrats to find common ground with a party that refuses to investigate an attack that endangered much of Congress.
</p>
<div id="AMLNKL">
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" dir="ltr" lang="en">
“If you need Republican support, talk to them. ‘My friend, what do you think?’ Get them talking and they’ll eventually say something you agree with.”
</p>
— Steven Mazie (<span class="citation" data-cites="stevenmazie">@stevenmazie</span>) <a href="https://twitter.com/stevenmazie/status/1398326276700749830?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 28, 2021</a>
</blockquote></div></li>
</ul>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="GXW8N5">
In a book to be published this fall, Breyer warns the US will pay a heavy price if it does not show deference to the judiciary — and that even though the Supreme Court is now more conservative than at any point in the last three generations, it is a mistake to think any of his colleagues are rank partisans.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="hxcWFl">
“A judge’s loyalty is to the rule of law,” Breyer writes, “not the political party that helped to secure his or her appointment.”
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="4zBrVQ">
He also does not hide his motivation for writing the book, titled <a href="https://www.hup.harvard.edu/catalog.php?isbn=9780674269361"><em>The Authority of the Court and the Peril of Politics</em></a><em>:</em> “Proposals have been recently made to increase the number of Supreme Court justices,” Breyer notes. “I aim to make those whose reflexive instincts may favor significant structural (or similar institutional) changes, such as forms of court-packing, think long and hard before embodying those changes in law.”
</p>
<div class="c-float-right">
<div id="XZBznQ">
<div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
<h3 id="ZqacFV">
What Breyer’s book can tell us about his retirement plans
</h3>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="rOOi5c">
With respect to the idea of putting additional justices on the Court, Breyer realistically has little to fear from Democrats.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="LtHVeN">
Though a handful of Democratic lawmakers did introduce legislation that would <a href="https://www.vox.com/22384461/supreme-court-court-expansion-packing-judiciary-act-13-seats-jones-nadler-markey-johnson">add four seats to the Supreme Court</a> and give Democratic appointees a 7-6 majority, the bill landed with a thud in Congress. In April, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said she had “<a href="https://www.cnn.com/2021/04/15/politics/democrats-supreme-court-expansion-bill-reaction/index.html">no plans</a>” to bring the bill to the floor for a vote. And, while President Joe Biden formed a commission to study Supreme Court reforms, <a href="https://www.vox.com/2021/4/10/22375792/supreme-court-biden-commission-reform-court-packing-federalist-society">no outspoken proponents of reform</a> were appointed to it.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="tqqt18">
Democrats are all too familiar with the archetype of a self-identified liberal or Democrat who seems more frightened of the hypothetical possibility of progressive overreach than they are of Republicans, who are taking very real steps to foreclose democracy. Think of Sens. Joe Manchin (D-WV) and Kyrsten Sinema (D-AZ), whose <a href="https://www.vox.com/2021/3/17/22336181/joe-manchin-filibuster-reform-41-votes-talking-jeff-merkley-senate-rules">loyalty to the filibuster</a> is likely to kill any chance of passing a voting rights bill before the 2022 midterm elections could hand control of Congress to Republicans.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="OwkGsb">
But Breyer’s decision to join the ranks of liberal scolds could prove even more consequential than Manchin and Sinema’s allegiance to the filibuster due to one fact: Breyer is 82 years old.
</p>
<div class="c-float-left">
<figure class="e-image">
<img alt=" " src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/LHPoU016sYrGqO4J2LFPfmpB6ts=/800x0/filters:no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22544661/GettyImages_916247078_copy.jpg"/> <cite>Tom Williams/CQ Roll Call via Getty Images</cite>
<figcaption>
Supreme Court Justices Elena Kagan, Stephen Breyer, and Chief Justice John Roberts arrive for President Trump’s State of the Union address in 2018.
</figcaption>
</figure>
</div>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="k8uqUF">
Because the Senate is <a href="https://www.vox.com/2021/1/6/22215728/senate-anti-democratic-one-number-raphael-warnock-jon-ossoff-georgia-runoffs">malapportioned in ways that benefit Republicans</a>, the Senate’s current Democratic majority may be Breyer’s last opportunity to retire under a president who will nominate a like-minded justice — and under a Senate that might actually confirm that justice.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="zzqOca">
But his book <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2021/05/17/us/justice-breyer-retirement.html">can be read as an indictment of such timed retirements</a>, which are an unavoidably political act — the entire purpose of Breyer’s retirement would be to ensure his seat is filled by a Democrat. And Breyer’s new book is a manifesto against the idea that courts should be perceived as political. “If the public comes to see judges as merely ‘politicians in robes,’” he writes, “its confidence in the courts, and in the rule of law itself, can only decline.”
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="9VEfLG">
I do not want to minimize the concerns Breyer raises in his book. The justice is correct about many things. Courts play an important role in maintaining the rule of law, and a widespread perception that the courts are political risks triggering a public backlash that destroys the judiciary’s ability to function.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="Tml42x">
But Breyer needs to grapple with the possibility that Democrats increasingly perceive the Court as a partisan institution because it has become a partisan institution. As he ponders retirement, he needs to consider whether a Court that <a href="https://www.vox.com/21211880/supreme-court-chief-justice-john-roberts-voting-rights-act-election-2020">already works hard to limit voting rights</a> would be perceived as less political should Republicans gain a 7-2 majority.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="IWY2p7">
The problem Breyer describes in his book is one at the heart of liberalism. As George Mason University political science professor Jennifer Victor told me on Twitter, “<a href="https://twitter.com/jennifernvictor/status/1397163077049651203">Democracy comes from institutions</a>. The problem is, more and more people have come to realize that flawed institutions in the US are preventing it from achieving democracy.”
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="i3HtnX">
Democracy can die if our institutions collapse, but it can also die if they are captured by illiberal or anti-democratic forces. And Breyer is so focused on the former problem that he appears blind to the latter.
</p>
<h3 id="cQ7A9v">
A lesson from Jim Crow
</h3>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="iCYKCc">
In 1993, law professor (and future Supreme Court justice) Elena Kagan published a <a href="https://chicagounbound.uchicago.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=11573&amp;context=journal_articles">tribute to her former boss</a>, who died earlier that year.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="XTVo5I">
The former boss was Justice Thurgood Marshall, the first Black person to serve on the Supreme Court and the greatest lawyer of the 20th century. Marshall is best known for his Supreme Court advocacy — he won a unanimous decision in <a href="https://www.ourdocuments.gov/doc.php?flash=false&amp;doc=87"><em>Brown v. Board of Education</em></a><em> </em>(1954),<em> </em>which<em> </em>declared public school segregation unconstitutional — but he was also an accomplished trial lawyer. Marshall spent years <a href="https://archive.thinkprogress.org/democrats-will-botch-the-resistance-against-trump-1f8c211c7b68/">defending innocent Black men in southern courts</a>, often risking being lynched in order to do so.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="NhriuO">
In Kagan’s tribute, the future justice recounted <a href="https://scholar.google.com/scholar_case?case=1452024975636401316"><em>Torres v. Oakland Scavenger Co.</em></a> (1988), whose opinion Marshall wrote, where the legendary civil rights lawyer ruled against a man who said he was a victim of race discrimination.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="Mh87U3">
<em>Torres</em> involved Jose Torres, one of 16 Hispanic plaintiffs in a case alleging employment discrimination. Because of a clerical error by his lawyer’s secretary, Torres’s name was inadvertently left off of a crucial court filing. The question was whether the mistake doomed Torres’s ability to pursue his case, under a procedural rule providing that the court filing ”shall specify the party or parties taking the appeal.”
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="Wte2df">
Although Marshall’s opinion recognized the rule demanded a “harsh result” in Torres’s case, he nonetheless ruled against him.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="LeRatB">
Kagan, who was Marshall’s law clerk when <em>Torres</em> was decided, recounts that she “pleaded with Justice Marshall to vote” in Torres’s favor, but Marshall refused.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="Ew8BtL">
“The Justice referred in our conversation to his own years of trying civil rights claims,” Kagan wrote in her tribute to her late boss. “All you could hope for, he remarked, was that a court didn’t rule against you for illegitimate reasons; you couldn’t hope, and you had no right to expect, that a court would bend the rules in your favor.”
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="GFsZMH">
Marshall’s lesson to his young clerk was that “<a href="https://chicagounbound.uchicago.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=11573&amp;context=journal_articles">it was the very existence of rules</a>—along with the judiciary’s felt obligation to adhere to them—that best protected unpopular parties.”
</p>
<figure class="e-image">
<img alt=" " src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/1D3U_3XaFQ4JZmoIoU4cKDL0JNA=/800x0/filters:no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22544685/GettyImages_515098722_copy.jpg"/> <cite>Bettmann Archive/Getty Images</cite>
<figcaption>
Thurgood Marshall (top right) was the first Black person to serve on the Supreme Court.
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</figure>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="zTXm5n">
More broadly, Marshall understood the same idea Victor conveyed on Twitter: Liberal democracy depends on institutions. And it depends on those institutions behaving in predictable ways laid out in predetermined rules. As Breyer writes in his new book, “Under the law, what is sauce for the goose is sauce for the gander; and the same is true of the public’s willingness to accept judicial decisions with which it disagrees. The rule of law is not a meal that can be ordered à la carte.”
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="n4UL5x">
But Marshall’s lesson to Kagan also revealed a weakness at the heart of liberal democracy. Imagine, for example, a white supremacist whose goal is to maintain segregation and whites-only rule in the Jim Crow South. One way to achieve this is to subvert the rule of law in its entirety — tear down institutions that might allow Black people to achieve political power.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="mYTmYL">
The other way to maintain a white supremacist state is to work within the system. Write a constitution that prohibits Black people from voting. Elect racist judges who will interpret the law to maintain white rule. Craft procedural rules that, while perhaps neutral on their face, are designed to deny legal relief to disfavored groups. Appoint Supreme Court justices who will <a href="https://scholar.google.com/scholar_case?case=4053797526279899410">strike down federal civil rights laws</a> intended to frustrate white supremacy.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="xOyjLB">
Liberals, in other words, must <a href="https://archive.thinkprogress.org/democrats-will-botch-the-resistance-against-trump-1f8c211c7b68/">constantly fight a two-front war</a>. They have to prop up institutions that can be captured and used against liberal democracy while also working within the system to control those institutions. Opponents of liberal democracy, meanwhile, can prevail either by capturing those institutions or by tearing them down. In the state of nature, the strong man always wins.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="TBdSsC">
Breyer appears to be betting that the danger of diminished public confidence in one specific institution — the judiciary — outweighs the danger of letting that institution be captured by Trumpy Republicans. I think <a href="https://democracyjournal.org/magazine/51/lets-think-about-court-packing-2/">he’s wrong about that</a>. But he’s absolutely right to warn liberals against being too quick to weaken institutions that liberalism depends upon.
</p>
<h3 id="MzhsOZ">
Why does Breyer fear a weaker Supreme Court?
</h3>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="OboyUa">
Breyer’s book appears motivated by his opposition to left-leaning calls for Supreme Court reform, but it also lays out a much broader theory of the courts’ role in a liberal democracy — and of how courts gain the public credibility they need to perform that role.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="reNyF6">
The justice recounts a long history that includes some early low points, such as President Andrew Jackson’s <a href="https://scholar.google.com/scholar_case?case=6938475705816460383">refusal to obey an 1832 decision</a> protecting the rights of Cherokees (Jackson eventually sent federal troops to force the Cherokee people to relocate to Oklahoma, along what is now known as the Trail of Tears).
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="JwpXaD">
As our nation matured, in Breyer’s account, the public developed more respect for the Court, and presidents grew more inclined to honor its decisions. President Harry Truman’s decision to follow a <a href="https://www.law.cornell.edu/supremecourt/text/343/579">wartime opinion</a> preventing him from seizing control of privately owned steel mills is a high point in Breyer’s narrative.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="nBmitb">
Much of Breyer’s portrait of history is debatable. He paints the eventual failure of the Jim Crow South’s massive resistance to <em>Brown v. Board of Education </em>as a triumph for the Court. But the decision in <em>Brown</em> accomplished very little in the deep South until Congress took aim at segregation with the Civil Rights Act of 1964. On the eve of that law’s passage a decade after <em>Brown</em>, only <a href="https://www.thenation.com/article/archive/brown-v-board-education-didnt-end-segregation-big-government-did/">one in 85 southern Black children</a> attended a desegregated school.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="rmMzd7">
Breyer also offers some unexpected praise for <a href="https://www.law.cornell.edu/supct/html/00-949.ZD.html"><em>Bush v. Gore</em></a><em> </em>(2000), or at least for the aftermath of that decision. Using <a href="https://www.vox.com/2020/8/6/21355564/trump-nevada-vote-by-mail-ab4-cegavske-sisolak-supreme-court">highly dubious legal reasoning</a>, <em>Bush</em> effectively awarded the presidency to George W. Bush. Breyer was one of four dissenters in the case.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="mgMcpZ">
Yet, as Breyer notes, “Despite the huge stakes involved, despite the belief of half the country that the Court was misguided, Americans accepted the majority’s holding without violent protest.” Former Vice President Al Gore, who many still believe rightfully won the 2000 election, told his supporters not to “trash the Supreme Court.” By <em>Bush</em>, Breyer writes, “acceptance of the Court’s decisions, respect for those decisions even when one considers them wrong, had become virtually habitual.”
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="3nj4BU">
In Breyer’s mind, this respect for judicial decisions — even in wrongly decided cases — appears to be an unalloyed good. Over time, he writes, “The American people … gradually adopted the custom and habit of respecting the rule of law, even when the ‘law’ included judicial decisions with which they strongly disagreed,” and the Supreme Court “gradually expanded its authority to protect an individual’s basic constitutional rights, even during a time of war.”
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="8pE3QN">
To Breyer, an occasional bad decision, even a hugely consequential one like that in <em>Bush,</em> is a small price to pay for maintaining an institution that can prevent elected officials from trampling our constitutional rights.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="jnijs8">
But what happens if the Court becomes hostile to these very same rights? What happens, for example, if decisions such as <em>Bush</em> become routine, and the Court frequently intervenes in elections to install candidates who belong to the same political party as a majority of the justices? What happens if the Supreme Court dismantles what remains of the Voting Rights Act (it’s already <a href="https://www.vox.com/22286213/supreme-court-voting-rights-act-arizona-brnovich-democratic-national-committee-republican-party">destroyed most of it</a>), thereby opening the door to Jim Crow voter suppression in the process? What happens if the Court forbids state supreme courts or Democratic governors from blocking Republican-drawn gerrymanders, something four justices have <a href="https://www.vox.com/21540145/supreme-court-brett-kavanaugh-disputed-election-wisconsin-pennsylvania-north-carolina">already signaled they may be willing to do</a>?
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="EIhLZF">
The most troubling provision of Georgia’s new voting law permits the state’s Republican-controlled legislature to effectively seize control of local election boards, which have the power to <a href="https://www.vox.com/2021/5/8/22422768/supreme-court-voting-rights-florida-georgia-ron-desantis-john-roberts-suppression-crawford-shelby">disqualify voters and close polling places</a>. What happens if Georgia Republicans shut down half the precincts in the Democratic stronghold of Atlanta, and the Supreme Court does nothing as tens of thousands of Democratic voters give up in frustration rather than wait in hours-long lines to cast a ballot?
</p>
<div class="c-float-right c-float-hang">
<aside id="LnqAuo">
<q>“A judge’s loyalty is to the rule of law, not the political party that helped to secure his or her appointment” —Justice Breyer</q>
</aside>
</div>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="Q3V2fw">
I asked Breyer a version of these questions at a <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bHxTQxDVTdU">lecture he delivered at Harvard Law School</a> in April (Breyer’s book is derived from this lecture, and Harvard allowed members of the public to submit questions to the justice).
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="Kx3sKy">
“Should we accept the proposition that public acceptance of judicial decisions is a <em>per se</em> good?” I asked Breyer. I provided a few examples of cases where it might be appropriate to resist the decision, such as if the Supreme Court “so dismantles our voting rights that we cease to have a meaningful ability to elect a government that is not led by the same political party the controls the Supreme Court.”
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="7B26aZ">
Breyer’s response to my question was twofold. The first was a warning about what can happen should the public turn away from accepting judicial decisions. “Go turn on the television set,” he warned, “and go look at what happens in countries that try to do without” a rule of law grounded in deference to judicial rulings.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="NMKXtu">
Then he seemed to admit there may be circumstances where such deference should be abandoned, though only if those circumstances were truly extraordinary. “What about Hitler?” Breyer asked rhetorically, before denying that anyone currently on the Court reaches that bar — “We don’t have Hitler.”
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="XqR6Sr">
No serious person would claim that, say, Brett Kavanaugh or Amy Coney Barrett is the moral equivalent of a Nazi. But Breyer is either asking us to accept a Supreme Court that could entrench the Republican Party’s power, or denying we have such a Court right now.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="e5rHat">
If the former is true, he should explain why the “rule of law” is worth maintaining if the people have no control over who writes the laws. If he’s claiming the latter, well, I hope he’s correct. But, should he allow his seat on the Supreme Court to be filled by another Clarence Thomas or Neil Gorsuch, both of whom have <a href="https://www.vox.com/2020/11/3/21546419/supreme-court-2020-election-question-pennslyvania-minnesota-texas-north-carolina">called for extraordinary new constraints on voting rights</a>, he may not remain correct for very long.
</p>
<h3 id="G4Zvkg">
Who’s to blame?
</h3>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="KbKUoq">
I will confess that one reason I find Breyer’s new book so frustrating is because he deflects arguments that the judiciary should be blamed for public perception of partisanship and instead places some of the blame on, well, me.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="wLhCSZ">
“We have seen a gradual change in the way the media, along with other institutions that comment upon the law, understand and represent the judicial institution,” Breyer writes in one section attempting to explain why his vision of the “rule of law” is under threat. “Several decades ago, few if any of these reporters and commentators, when reporting a decision, would have mentioned the name or political party of the president who had nominated a judge to office. Today the media do so as a matter of course.”
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="jSpF1Z">
It’s not entirely clear whether Breyer is correct about how the press used to cover the Court, at least when it comes to politically charged cases. The day after <a href="https://www.law.cornell.edu/supremecourt/text/410/113"><em>Roe v. Wade</em></a> (1973) was decided, for example, <a href="https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1973/01/23/issue.html">the New York Times</a> noted President Richard Nixon’s opposition to “liberalized abortion policies,” before adding that “three of the four Justices Mr. Nixon has appointed to the Supreme Court voted with the majority.”
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="b0JgQr">
Similarly, although Breyer criticizes journalists who “systematically label judges as conservative or liberal,” the Times also described a <a href="https://scholar.google.com/scholar_case?case=10553454701062806540">landmark 1937 decision</a> ending the Court’s resistance to the New Deal as significant, in part because five justices joined together to “<a href="https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1937/04/13/issue.html">make the new ‘liberal’ majority of the Supreme Court</a>.”
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="TNkbM4">
I cannot speak to why many modern-day Supreme Court reporters tend to refer to judges by noting who appointed them, what party they belong to, or whether they are “liberal” or “conservative.” But I can speak for myself. I do so because it is my job to describe the Supreme Court as accurately as I can, and I believe the most accurate way to do that is to present the justices as people whose politics and ideologies matter.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="r0GcOS">
I <a href="https://www.vox.com/2019/5/29/18644061/mitch-mcconnell-supreme-court-hearings-2020-merrick-garland">agree with Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell</a>, for example, that it matters a great deal whether Obama nominee Merrick Garland or Trump nominee Neil Gorsuch sits on the Supreme Court. I also agree with Republicans that <a href="https://www.vox.com/2020/9/29/21456409/senate-democrats-boycott-amy-coney-barrett-confirmation-demand-justice">Trump nominee Amy Coney Barrett’</a>s appointment to the Court makes it likelier to issue decisions favoring the GOP than if Biden had filled the vacancy opened up by Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s death.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="ZvykoH">
I believe Republicans correctly identified Gorsuch and Barrett as judges likely to reach conservative conclusions in future decisions. I believe Republicans also correctly identified Garland as someone likely to reach liberal decisions in future cases. I believe Republicans were also correct that anyone Biden nominated would be significantly more liberal than Barrett.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="6WSHrc">
And, just in case this isn’t already clear, I also believe it matters a great deal whether Breyer is replaced by a Democrat or a Republican.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="yWK4F1">
To be fair, Breyer doesn’t really try to defend the indefensible claim that Gorsuch does not take a “conservative” approach in the sort of politically charged cases that divide the Court, or that Ginsburg was not “liberal.” Instead, he absolves his colleagues by arguing that they act entirely in good faith: “My experience from more than thirty years as a judge has shown me that anyone taking the judicial oath takes it very much to heart,” he writes.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="g4t2d3">
There’s no reason to doubt the good faith of someone like Gorsuch, who I believe honestly thinks he is applying “the law” when handing down decisions that align with the Republican Party’s preferred outcome in a particular case.
</p>
<div class="c-float-right">
<figure class="e-image">
<img alt=" " src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/U4EA0YG0HlGUzAhG6Z_7x3pEgnE=/800x0/filters:no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22544700/GettyImages_90172689_copy.jpg"/> <cite>Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images</cite>
<figcaption>
Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer seen during the funeral services of Sen. Edward Kennedy in 2009.
</figcaption>
</figure>
</div>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="lmNwPz">
But, as University of Michigan Law School professor Julian Davis Mortenson <a href="https://twitter.com/jdmortenson/status/1394723717251538945">said on Twitter</a>, “‘Doing law’ as you understand it can involve using a methodology that produces predictably skewed policy results,” as well as “drawing on ‘what makes sense here’ intuitions that stem from your policy commitments, maybe even without you realizing it.”
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="x95Pza">
The thing about Supreme Court justices is they are chosen by partisan presidents, typically from a pool of sitting judges with long records reflecting their tendencies to reach liberal results, conservative results, or some mix of the two. Presidents, in other words, do not need to search for partisan hacks to find nominees who are likely to decide cases in ways they will like. They just have to find nominees with demonstrated records of reaching decisions — all while acting entirely in good faith — the president’s party agrees with.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="nHNWRi">
All of that said, it is true modern-day presidents tend to do a better job of identifying justices who share their ideology compared with presidents from even a few decades ago. When <a href="https://www.law.cornell.edu/supremecourt/text/343/579">the <em>Steel Seizure</em> case</a> Breyer praises reached the Supreme Court, all nine justices had been appointed by either Truman or Franklin Roosevelt, both Democrats. Yet six of those justices voted against Truman’s position. Three Nixon appointees broke with him on abortion. When the Supreme Court decided to stop sabotaging the New Deal, four of the five justices in the majority had been appointed by Republican presidents.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="PQObTk">
Indeed, as recently as 2009, the Court had two Republican appointees — Justice John Paul Stevens and Justice David Souter — who typically voted with the Court’s two Democratic nominees in highly charged cases. (Stevens and Souter dissented in <em>Bush v. Gore</em>, for example.)
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="y8TDRd">
But something significant changed in 2010, when Stevens retired and was replaced by Kagan. For the first time in US history, the Court had a coherent bloc of five conservative justices who were all nominated by one party, and a bloc of liberal justices who were all appointed by the other. Today the Court has a 6-3 conservative majority, but the same partisan pattern still stands.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="KPeCAK">
So if journalists are likelier to refer to justices in partisan terms than they were a few decades ago, that’s probably because the Court is quite literally more partisan today than ever before.
</p>
<h3 id="TBm6kd">
Depoliticizing the Court — and restoring democratic norms — will not be easy, and it may not be possible
</h3>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="gg1d2M">
One of the most influential books of the early Trump years was Steven Levitsky and Daniel Ziblatt’s <a href="https://www.amazon.com/How-Democracies-Die-Steven-Levitsky/dp/1524762938"><em>How Democracies Die</em></a>.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="wLOxqX">
When modern democracies fail, the two Harvard professors write, they typically fail without the drama of a military coup or successful putsch. Instead, they “die at the hands not of generals but of elected leaders … who subvert the very process that brought them to power.” Often, this process happens “slowly, in barely visible steps.”
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="1Qi59L">
Steps such as the Supreme Court striking down much of the Voting Rights Act, <a href="https://www.vox.com/2021/5/8/22422768/supreme-court-voting-rights-florida-georgia-ron-desantis-john-roberts-suppression-crawford-shelby">paving the way for states to enact voter suppression laws</a> the Court then upholds.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="E1Y0TD">
One warning sign that a democracy is in trouble is when leaders start to abandon informal norms that aren’t written into any law but are no less essential to liberal society than the rule of law or individual rights. “Two basic norms [that] have preserved America’s checks and balances in ways we have come to take for granted,” Levitsky and Ziblatt write, are “mutual toleration, or the understanding that competing parties accept one another as legitimate rivals, and forbearance, or the idea that politicians should exercise restraint in deploying their institutional prerogatives.”
</p>
<figure class="e-image">
<img alt=" " src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/t18SHctIf5zCyDwlI0TqAFSWCnk=/800x0/filters:no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22544713/GettyImages_1232482724_copy.jpg"/> <cite>Erin Schaff/AFP via Getty Images</cite>
<figcaption>
The current US Supreme Court led by Chief Justice John Roberts, pictured this year.
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="eccpmr">
A president shows mutual toleration when they <a href="https://www.vox.com/2020/9/24/21453184/trump-peaceful-transfer-of-power-mail-voting-supreme-court-ginsburg">peacefully cede power</a> after losing an election. A lawmaker shows mutual toleration when they accept the result of this election and <a href="https://www.vox.com/2021/1/9/22222134/hawley-and-cruz-calls-to-resign-overturn-election">do not try to overturn it</a>. Citizens show mutual toleration when they peacefully accept their leader has lost without <a href="https://www.vox.com/22217039/capitol-attack-trump-rally-election-biden-explained">taking violent steps to restore them to power</a>.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="nXQ6Nu">
Similarly, senators exercise forbearance when they <a href="https://www.vox.com/2019/5/29/18644061/mitch-mcconnell-supreme-court-hearings-2020-merrick-garland">follow the ordinary process for confirming a president’s judicial nominees</a>, even if that president belongs to the opposite party. Justices exercise forbearance when they <a href="https://www.vox.com/2021/5/18/22440256/brett-kavanaugh-supreme-court-edwards-vannoy-abortion-criminal-justice-constitution-stare-decisis">respect and continue to apply legal precedents</a>, even those they disagree with.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="lWFWyY">
American democracy, in other words, is in deep trouble. Republicans at all levels have abandoned the norms of mutual toleration and forbearance, which, according to Levitsky and Ziblatt, are the glue that has kept our democracy together.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="4Rl9O2">
The most charitable reading of Breyer’s decision to scold his fellow liberals at a time when American democracy is endangered by conservatives is that he wants to preserve the very norms Levitsky and Ziblatt praise as essential to maintain a democracy. Though Republicans didn’t show forbearance by giving Merrick Garland a confirmation hearing and a floor vote, Democrats can show forbearance in not retaliating by adding seats to the Supreme Court.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="ChZbzl">
But there’s no norm against judges announcing their retirement when a president of their own party is in office — <a href="https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2018/6/27/17510800/anthony-kennedy-retiring-read-statement">just ask former Justice Anthony Kennedy</a>. And to the extent Breyer hopes to pressure his party into honoring norms the opposing party rejects, he’s probably fighting a losing battle.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="tDxbbW">
In a <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/wonk/wp/2018/02/06/dont-kid-yourself-the-future-is-bleak/">2018 interview</a> with the Washington Post’s Matt O’Brien, Ziblatt warned that once a major political party abandons norms such as forbearance and mutual toleration, a death spiral may be inevitable. In every country he’s studied, Ziblatt told O’Brien, ”No matter how long the [norm-respecting party] holds out, they will eventually respond tit for tat.” Ziblatt also said he “[couldn’t] think of” any nation that has broken this cycle.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="24MHLY">
This suggests that if American democracy is to survive, Americans who believe in it need to write a playbook no one else has succeeded in creating. It means we have to make devilish choices about when to preserve institutions and when to weaken institutions that turn against democracy. And it means we have to make these choices despite internal dissent among liberals about which path to take.
</p>
<ul>
<li><strong>The bipartisan consensus on broadband is a mirage</strong> -
<figure>
<img alt="US President Joe Biden, center right, wears a protective mask while speaking during a meeting in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, DC, on May 13, 2021." src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/WZ9fdZXp61vTpEyqkzfTgSDLJpc=/167x0:2834x2000/1310x983/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/69357973/GettyImages_1232869782.0.jpg"/>
<figcaption>
Members of Congress are focused on funding broadband connection through the infrastructure package. | T.J. Kirkpatrick/The New York Times/Bloomberg via Getty Images
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
Biden wants more publicly funded internet. Cable companies and Republicans, not so much.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="CNq0Dz">
There’s a tense fight in Washington between Republicans and Democrats over President Biden’s infrastructure plan, from the amount of funding in it to the very <a href="https://www.vox.com/2021/4/2/22364100/biden-human-infrastructure-jobs-plan">definition of infrastructure</a>. But on the question of addressing the internet and bridging the digital divide, there appears to be resounding agreement that broadband is very, very important and very, very bipartisan. This is a mirage.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="gqcFPg">
Earlier this week, Vice President Kamala Harris met with members of Congress from both parties to <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MuHU0F1EXKE">hammer out the logistics</a> of funding broadband through the infrastructure package, saying the subject is one Americans see as nonpartisan. Sen. Amy Klobuchar told <a href="https://www.duluthnewstribune.com/news/government-and-politics/7047853-Sen.-Amy-Klobuchar-Bipartisan-agreement-on-broadband-expansion-looks-very-promising">local media in Minnesota</a> that discussion was just focused on “nuts and bolts.”
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="GZBYe1">
While Republicans and the White House are still debating the cost of the overall infrastructure package, they have come to an agreement on how much the package should spend on broadband — $65 billion — after Biden <a href="https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2021/05/biden-cuts-35b-from-broadband-plan-amid-gop-opposition-deal-still-unlikely/">agreed to compromise</a> <a href="https://www.reuters.com/technology/white-house-would-back-smaller-broadband-internet-boost-2021-05-21/">last week</a>. The new figure represents a significant reduction from his original broadband proposal, which had a <a href="https://www.vox.com/recode/22363028/biden-infrastructure-broadband-american-jobs-plan">$100 billion</a> price tag. White House press secretary Jen Psaki <a href="https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/press-briefings/2021/05/21/press-briefing-by-press-secretary-jen-psaki-may-21-2021/">said</a> the decision was “all in the spirit of finding common ground.” It appears the details are still being figured out.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="L4L9nY">
But even though the parties have settled on a number, there isn’t a consensus on how broadband should actually work and who should be prioritized through federal efforts. Coming to an agreement on funding broadband is just one piece of the puzzle, and there are deep fault lines and disagreements over what that funding should aim to accomplish that could significantly impact who gets connected and who really benefits. Republicans and Democrats alike have said that the pandemic highlighted the internet’s crucial role in everyday life, but they have fundamental disagreements on the share of the pie that traditional cable providers should have.
</p>
<div class="c-float-right">
<div id="RviTYs">
<div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="1gWfTE">
One key disagreement is a long-simmering debate<strong> </strong>over the idea of municipal broadband. Throughout the United States, some local governments, nonprofits, and co-ops have made long-term investments to build their own broadband networks without relying on the private sector. Biden is a big fan of this approach. The White House <a href="https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/statements-releases/2021/03/31/fact-sheet-the-american-jobs-plan/">calls these municipal broadband networks</a> “providers with less pressure to turn profits and with a commitment to serving entire communities.” Notably, large cable companies that benefit from being the only provider in many areas don’t like this competition, and they <a href="https://www.propublica.org/article/how-states-are-fighting-to-keep-towns-from-offering-their-own-broadband">have even lobbied for legislation banning them</a>. Broadband Now, an internet provider website, says municipal broadband is now restricted in <a href="https://broadbandnow.com/report/municipal-broadband-roadblocks/">at least 18 states</a>.
</p>
<aside id="Z7WIJx">
<div>
</div>
</aside>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="O97tLT">
Some efforts have succeeded anyway. The Electric Power Board of Chattanooga, Tennessee, <a href="https://www.vox.com/recode/2020/9/10/21426810/internet-access-covid-19-chattanooga-municipal-broadband-fcc">managed to build its own gigabit broadband network</a>, despite opposition, including from the cable provider Comcast (Comcast is an investor in Vox Media, which owns Recode). Biden wants efforts like Chattanooga’s to be eligible for funding from his infrastructure plan.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="6omjzI">
But congressional<strong> </strong>Republicans are opposed, saying <a href="https://www.rpc.senate.gov/policy-papers/broadband-in-america">there are places</a> where municipal hasn’t worked and has left taxpayers in debt, as the Senate’s Republican Policy Committee argued in a brief published <a href="https://www.rpc.senate.gov/policy-papers/broadband-in-america">earlier this month</a>. Some House Republicans have even proposed national legislation limiting <a href="https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2021/02/gop-plan-for-broadband-competition-would-ban-city-run-networks-across-us/">these kinds of networks</a>. NCTA, a lobbying organization that represents a wide range of media and telecom companies, including Comcast, Charter, and Cox Communications, has <a href="https://www.ncta.com/media/media-room/statement-of-michael-powell-president-ceo-ncta-the-internet-television-association-regarding-the-white-house-infrastructure-plan">said</a> of Biden’s plan that “shared goals are not served by suggesting wrongly that the entire network is ailing and that the solution is either to prioritize government-owned networks or micromanage private networks.”
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="vRHkpA">
“The cable and telephone lobbyists for a long time have argued that this is socialism, that it is harming American businesses,” Christopher Mitchell, who directs the community broadband program at the Institute for Local Self-Reliance, told Recode. “The lobbyists who have wanted to stop broadband competition have recognized that the ideology of the Republican Party is one that is deeply skeptical of public investments.”
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="15iB5D">
Public versus private investment is not, however, the only fault line in the recent bipartisan consensus over funding broadband. There’s also long and ongoing disagreement between Republicans and Democrats over what kind of technology should be deployed to facilitate these internet connections. Right now, many get their internet routed to their homes through coaxial cable networks, while some are still dependent on DSL-copper phone lines, <a href="https://www.vox.com/recode/2020/9/10/21426810/internet-access-covid-19-chattanooga-municipal-broadband-fcc">which are even slower</a>. Biden thinks that should change, and that US broadband should be high-speed and “<a href="https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/statements-releases/2021/03/31/fact-sheet-the-american-jobs-plan/">future proof</a>,” a term Republicans have interpreted as code for fiber. Fiber, advocates have argued, would last for decades and could be easily adjusted to account for higher and higher speed demands.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="UY1YaK">
But Republicans have said that the Biden definition of high-speed and “future proof” would make too many households eligible for subsidies that could go to people who don’t necessarily need internet updates. They’ve also accused Democrats of trying to subsidize “faster speeds [that] allow more lavish internet uses,” like streaming content in 4K, which could close off innovation, putting their “thumb on the scale” by prioritizing one type of technology: fiber. Back in February, Republicans on the House Energy and Commerce Committee proposed a suite of 28 bills focused on <a href="https://republicans-energycommerce.house.gov/news/press-release/ec-gop-leaders-unveil-the-boosting-broadband-connectivity-agenda/">deregulation</a>, and during one March hearing, Rep. Bill Johnson (R-OH) <a href="https://www.sentinelsource.com/news/economy/cable-firms-fear-being-left-in-dust-in-biden-broadband-quest/article_60e50fb9-cdfb-5a20-b98d-3b47fa446613.html">called</a> focusing on building up high-speed internet as the “exact opposite of what needs to happen,” and would leave rural Americans behind.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="1QW0ko">
There are companies that are moving ahead with fiber on their own or that will need it in order to build out 5G networks. But legacy cable providers likely benefit if the government doesn’t prioritize this type of connection. (NCTA, the lobbying group, has argued, for instance, that federal money should focus instead on areas with <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2021-05-06/cable-firms-fear-being-left-in-dust-in-biden-fast-internet-quest?sref=Wg6QzS2e">very bad internet connectivity or none at all</a>.)<strong> </strong>Traditional cable providers, who can be the only internet providers for some consumers, don’t necessarily want to have to compete with new options based on fiber, explains Ernesto Falcon, senior legislative counsel at the Electronic Frontier Foundation, pointing to companies like Comcast and Charter.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="PALyq3">
But<strong> </strong>Biden and those who support his plan say that focusing on these more advanced systems is important because demand for internet is only going to increase and that the country needs to invest in technology that can last for decades.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="s7XXXN">
“This is a once-in-a-lifetime investment that we can make,” says Greg Guice, the government affairs director at Public Knowledge. “If you rely on some of these older technologies, like copper, then you simply can’t get the speed out of them that you need to really, as you think down the road, for the kinds of demands that are going to be on the network.”
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="Ehbwa8">
Underlying the tensions between Republicans and Democrats are differing opinions on the scope of the challenge. Republicans and cable companies want to concentrate the broadband discussion on areas and communities that have very little connectivity at present. Moving to high-speed and fiber, they argue, shouldn’t be the focus. But Democrats, along with some Republicans, have said the country should have a higher standard for internet speeds. That approach, Guice explains, would lend more support for building out fiber, and also frame the broadband question in a way that includes suburban and urban communities where internet connection is lacking.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="NmcxJJ">
While the Federal Communications Commission has estimated that about <a href="https://www.fcc.gov/about-fcc/fcc-initiatives/bridging-digital-divide-all-americans">30 million Americans don’t have access to broadband</a>, that doesn’t include the people who might technically have access to the internet but <a href="https://www.vox.com/recode/22363028/biden-infrastructure-broadband-american-jobs-plan">can’t afford it</a>, a problem exacerbated in areas where there’s just one internet provider. There’s also the process that’s called “<a href="https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2021/01/fcc-and-states-must-ban-digital-redlining">digital redlining,</a>” where internet providers have left communities of color and lower-income communities with worse internet access.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="jgCDJR">
It’s not clear whether these tensions will be resolved in this latest infrastructure debate. After all, the pandemic has made abundantly clear that being connected isn’t just about having internet access. It’s crucial to have internet that’s good enough to support multiple people using multiple devices at the same time, and who might need that connection to do anything from work to learn to attend a medical appointment. Advocates for future-proofing say fiber not only will last longer but acknowledges that demand for internet won’t decline or stay stagnant. It will only grow.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="3GxVOE">
As Guice says, “Would we think it’s reasonable to add a dirt lane to I-95?”
</p></li>
<li><strong>Ohio’s vaccine lottery is a winner no matter what</strong> -
<figure>
<img alt="" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/oEwGDt9b65Gf2cb4C9OWv7QHEzc=/0x0:4373x3280/1310x983/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/69357625/1232871329.0.jpg"/>
<figcaption>
A 13-year-old boy celebrates as he gets his vaccine in Hartford, Connecticut, on May 13, 2021. | Joseph Prezioso/AFP via Getty Images
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
The wacky idea could have failed. It was always worth trying.
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This week, the state of Ohio <a href="https://voxcom.cmail19.com/t/d-l-qdikiyk-slthittku-t/">held a lottery</a> for vaccinated people that gave $1 million to a <a href="https://voxcom.cmail19.com/t/d-l-qdikiyk-slthittku-i/">very lucky person</a>. And while I’m upset that I, a vaccinated Ohioan, didn’t win, it looks like the lottery is giving the state’s vaccine rollout a boost.
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Here’s how it works: Every Wednesday through June 23, the state will randomly name two people from its database of vaccinated people. One of those people will come from the 12- to 17-year-old group, getting a four-year, full-ride scholarship to an Ohio state college or university. The other lucky person will come from the 18-and-older group, winning $1 million.
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The lottery was announced on May 12. Based on Ohio’s data, the state saw a 47 percent increase in first shots among people 18 and older from May 14 to 19 compared to May 7 to 12. There was also a 94 percent increase among 16- and 17-year-olds in the same period. (There aren’t numbers for the 12-to-15 group because they became eligible for vaccines the same day as the lottery announcement.)
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On the other hand, <a href="https://voxcom.cmail19.com/t/d-l-qdikiyk-slthittku-d/">data</a> from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), provided by <a href="https://twitter.com/DataDrivenMD">Stanford’s Jorge Caballero</a>, shows that vaccination for people 18 and older in Ohio actually dropped by 22 percent during this period.
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This is almost certainly due to a data reporting quirk: While Ohio’s numbers are based on when a first shot was administered, the CDC’s are based on when a first shot was reported. So Ohio’s data is more likely to catch the effect of the lottery in real time.
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Even the CDC data, though, shows that Ohio’s vaccination numbers for the 18-plus group have trended a bit better than the US’s figures since the lottery announcement, with the state pulling ahead of the nation after lagging in early May.
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<img alt="A chart comparing changes in vaccination rates among Ohioans 18 and older versus all Americans 18 and older. " src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/ydvHkibb1xNfn5bo6WfVqQ4gjcs=/800x0/filters:no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22546207/Ohio_s_vaccine_lottery_large.png"/>
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That suggests Ohio is doing something better than America as a whole. It could be the lottery. It could also be another thing entirely — maybe some local outreach groups in the state really stepped up their efforts recently. We’ll need more rigorous analyses and studies to know for sure.
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But whether Ohio made the right move shouldn’t come down to the lottery’s success or failure — because these unusual, headline-grabbing incentives are the kinds of things more states should be trying, even if they ultimately don’t work as well as we hoped.
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Right now, America’s vaccine rollout is in a middling spot. We could hit President Joe Biden’s goal of a 70 percent first-shot rate among adults by July 4, but it might be a close call: Daily first-shot rates have <a href="https://voxcom.cmail19.com/t/d-l-qdikiyk-slthittku-h/">more than halved</a> since a mid-April peak, and increasingly, the problem is hesitancy toward the vaccine.
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We don’t really know how to fix this. We’re in the novel situation of trying to vaccinate the entire population quickly in the middle of a pandemic. So we don’t have that many proven solutions — and officials need some creativity and flexibility to figure out what works.
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That’s where these incentives come into play. That includes a lottery, which a few other states are now copying in some form, but also other approaches like $100 payouts and free beer with the vaccines.
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Yes, it’s a bit sad some Americans need incentives to get a potentially lifesaving vaccine while many places around the world clamor desperately for more shots.
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But if incentives are what it takes, we can’t ignore that reality — the stakes in the fight against Covid-19 are too high.
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Not all of these efforts will pan out, and some may even end up as expensive blunders. But it’s worth taking these risks. Otherwise, we’re going to have a harder time figuring out what works.
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<h1 data-aos="fade-right" id="from-the-hindu-sports">From The Hindu: Sports</h1>
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<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Remainder of IPL set to be played in United Arab Emirates</strong> - Nearly 30 IPL games were held in four Indian cities before the league was shut down.</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>BCCI SGM to discuss IPL, T20 WC</strong> - To propose two options to the ICC for the world event</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>Boxing | Panghal, Thapa inch closer to title</strong> - Three more Indian women in finals</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>Iniyan joins Gukesh in lead; Adhiban trails</strong> - A day to forget for Ganguly</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>Champions League | Chelsea stands in City’s way</strong> - The London-based team will aim to deny the Mancunians their maiden title</p></li>
</ul>
<h1 data-aos="fade-right" id="from-the-hindu-national-news">From The Hindu: National News</h1>
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<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>State breathes easy as Naval Dockyard teams repair oxygen generation plants</strong> - They thoroughly inspected the systems and worked out solutions</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 curbs in 15 grama panchayats</strong> - Test positivity rate in these is above 34%</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>Signature video of First Bell 2.0 ready</strong> - The second edition of the digital classes is to be telecast by KITE VICTERS channel</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>Mamata, chief secy insulted PM by not attending cyclone review meeting: Suvendu</strong> - “I have no word to criticise the way the West Bengal Chief Minister and the Chief Secretary insulted the prime minister,” Mr. Adhikari, a BJP MLA, told reporters in a virtual press conference.</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>Man booked for false promise of hospital bed at NIMS for COVID-positive patient</strong> - An inquiry revealed that the individual was not an employee of the hospital.</p></li>
</ul>
<h1 data-aos="fade-right" id="from-bbc-europe">From BBC: Europe</h1>
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<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Taksim Square: Erdogan inaugurates controversial mosque in Istanbul</strong> - Plans for the mosque, which towers over a monument to the secular republic, sparked protests in 2013.</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>Belarus plane diversion: Putin plays down crisis at talks with Lukashenko</strong> - Russia’s president dismisses outrage over Belarus’s diversion of a jet to arrest a dissident journalist.</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: EU approves Pfizer-BioNTech jab for 12-15 year olds</strong> - German leaders say that vaccinations of children aged over 12 can start on 7 June.</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>Germany officially recognises colonial-era Namibia genocide</strong> - But campaigners say aid worth more than €1.1bn is not enough to address the suffering inflicted.</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>Tiziana Cantone: Italian woman’s body to be exhumed in murder probe</strong> - Tiziana Cantone was thought to have taken her life in 2016 after a video of her having sex went viral.</p></li>
</ul>
<h1 data-aos="fade-right" id="from-ars-technica">From Ars Technica</h1>
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<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Trinitite: The radioactive rock buried in New Mexico before the Atari games</strong> - From the archives: A short story about a strange glass. - <a href="https://arstechnica.com/?p=527545">link</a></p></li>
<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Rewilding: Four tips to let nature thrive</strong> - Comprehensive international study on rewilding has practical tips to re-establish nature. - <a href="https://arstechnica.com/?p=1768632">link</a></p></li>
<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>NASA budget goes all-in on science, stays the course on Moon lander</strong> - “The goal is 2024, but I think we have to be brutally realistic.” - <a href="https://arstechnica.com/?p=1768626">link</a></p></li>
<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>AT&amp;T/Verizon lobby keeps claiming that home-Internet prices are dropping</strong> - USTelecom’s “Broadband Pricing Index” doesn’t measure what the average user pays. - <a href="https://arstechnica.com/?p=1768607">link</a></p></li>
<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>CDC loosened mask guidance to encourage vaccination—it failed spectacularly</strong> - FDA approval and paid time off would make people more likely to get a shot, poll finds. - <a href="https://arstechnica.com/?p=1768580">link</a></p></li>
</ul>
<h1 data-aos="fade-right" id="from-jokes-subreddit">From Jokes Subreddit</h1>
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<li><strong>A king suspected that his queen was being unfaithful</strong> - <!-- SC_OFF -->
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So he secretly taped a tiny razor blade to her vagina. Three days later, he ordered his knights to drop their pants. They all had bandaged penises, except for one. The king said to him, “I always knew you were my most loyal knight!”
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He replied, “It wath nothing, your magethy”
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"> submitted by <a href="https://www.reddit.com/user/Hideous__Strength"> /u/Hideous__Strength </a> <br/> <span><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/Jokes/comments/nnblq2/a_king_suspected_that_his_queen_was_being/">[link]</a></span> <span><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/Jokes/comments/nnblq2/a_king_suspected_that_his_queen_was_being/">[comments]</a></span></p></li>
<li><strong>Satan arrives to welcome a new damned soul to hell.</strong> - <!-- SC_OFF -->
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“Congratulations!”, he says, “You wasted your entire pitiful life!”
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“Well,” the man replies, “at least I’m not a adult living in my father’s basement.”
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"> submitted by <a href="https://www.reddit.com/user/YZXFILE"> /u/YZXFILE </a> <br/> <span><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/Jokes/comments/nmvov4/satan_arrives_to_welcome_a_new_damned_soul_to_hell/">[link]</a></span> <span><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/Jokes/comments/nmvov4/satan_arrives_to_welcome_a_new_damned_soul_to_hell/">[comments]</a></span></p></li>
<li><strong>As I grow older, I remember all the people I lost along the way…</strong> - <!-- SC_OFF -->
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Maybe being a tour guide wasn’t such a great idea after all.
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"> submitted by <a href="https://www.reddit.com/user/SleazySerpent1469"> /u/SleazySerpent1469 </a> <br/> <span><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/Jokes/comments/nnjzj3/as_i_grow_older_i_remember_all_the_people_i_lost/">[link]</a></span> <span><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/Jokes/comments/nnjzj3/as_i_grow_older_i_remember_all_the_people_i_lost/">[comments]</a></span></p></li>
<li><strong>Our computers went down at work today, so we had to do everything manually…</strong> - <!-- SC_OFF -->
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It took me twenty minutes to shuffle the cards for solitaire.
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"> submitted by <a href="https://www.reddit.com/user/crazyfortaco"> /u/crazyfortaco </a> <br/> <span><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/Jokes/comments/nndf35/our_computers_went_down_at_work_today_so_we_had/">[link]</a></span> <span><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/Jokes/comments/nndf35/our_computers_went_down_at_work_today_so_we_had/">[comments]</a></span></p></li>
<li><strong>A politician visited a village in Haiti after a devastating hurricane.</strong> - <!-- SC_OFF -->
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Upon arrival, he asked what their needs were.
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”We have 2 basic needs sir,” replied the villager.
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“Firstly, we have a hospital, but there’s no doctor.”
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On hearing this, the politician whipped out his cellphone, and after speaking for a while he reassured the village leader that the doctor would be there the next day. He then asked about the second problem.
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“Secondly sir, there is no cellphone coverage anywhere in the village.”
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"> submitted by <a href="https://www.reddit.com/user/MagneticScent"> /u/MagneticScent </a> <br/> <span><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/Jokes/comments/nnli16/a_politician_visited_a_village_in_haiti_after_a/">[link]</a></span> <span><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/Jokes/comments/nnli16/a_politician_visited_a_village_in_haiti_after_a/">[comments]</a></span></p></li>
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