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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>Treatment Patterns in US Patients Hospitalized With COVID-19 and Pulmonary Involvement</strong> -
<div>
Introduction: Multiple treatments are being studied in patients with severe coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). This study describes the baseline demographic and clinical characteristics and treatment patterns of US patients hospitalized with a diagnosis of COVID-19 and pulmonary involvement. Methods: From December 1, 2019, through August 27, 2020, patients hospitalized with pulmonary involvement due to COVID-19 (first hospitalization) were identified in the IBM Explorys® electronic health records database comprising patients predominantly from the Midwestern and Southern United States. Demographics, baseline clinical characteristics, and in-hospital medications were assessed. For evaluation of in-hospital medications, results were stratified by race, geographic region, and month of admission. Results: Of 6564 hospitalized patients with COVID-19–related pulmonary involvement, 50.4% were male, and mean (SD) age was 62.6 (16.4) years; 75.2% and 23.6% of patients were from the South and Midwest, respectively, and 50.2% of patients were African American. Overall, the most common medications were corticosteroids (31.3%), nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs; 28.2%), bronchodilators (22.1%), hydroxychloroquine (19.6%), and remdesivir (13.5%). Compared with African American patients, a numerically higher proportion of White patients received dexamethasone (19.7% vs 31.8%, respectively), NSAIDs (27.1% vs 34.9%), bronchodilators (19.8% vs 29.5%), and remdesivir (9.3% vs 21.0%). Numerically higher proportions of White patients than African American patients received select medications in the South but not in the Midwest. Compared with patients in the South, a numerically higher proportion of patients in the Midwest received dexamethasone (20.1% vs 34.5%, respectively), NSAIDs (19.6% vs 55.7%), bronchodilators (15.9% vs 41.3%), and remdesivir (10.6% vs 23.1%). Inpatient use of hydroxychloroquine decreased over time, whereas use of dexamethasone and remdesivir increased over time. Conclusion: Among US patients predominantly from the South and Midwest hospitalized with COVID-19 and pulmonary involvement, differences were seen in medication use between different races, geographic regions, and months of hospitalization.
</div>
<div class="article-link article-html-link">
🖺 Full Text HTML: <a href="https://osf.io/tb5kn/" target="_blank">Treatment Patterns in US Patients Hospitalized With COVID-19 and Pulmonary Involvement</a>
</div></li>
<li><strong>Wastewater-based estimation of the effective reproductive number of SARS-CoV-2</strong> -
<div>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
The effective reproductive number, Re, is a critical indicator to monitor disease dynamics, inform regional and national policies, and estimate the effectiveness of interventions. It describes the average number of new infections caused by a single infectious person through time. To date, Re estimates are based on clinical data such as observed cases, hospitalizations, and/or deaths. Here we show that the dynamics of SARS-CoV-2 RNA in wastewater can be used to estimate Re in near real-time, independent of clinical data and without associated biases stemming from clinical testing and reporting strategies. The method to estimate Re from wastewater is robust and applicable to data from different countries and wastewater matrices. The resulting estimates are as similar to the Re estimates from case report data as Re estimates based on observed cases, hospitalizations, and deaths are among each other. We further provide details on the effect of sampling frequency and the shedding load distribution on the ability to infer Re. To our knowledge, this is the first time Re has been estimated from wastewater. This method provides a low cost, rapid, and independent way to inform SARS-CoV-2 monitoring during the ongoing pandemic and is applicable to future wastewater-based epidemiology targeting other pathogens.
</p>
</div>
<div class="article-link article-html-link">
🖺 Full Text HTML: <a href="https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2021.04.29.21255961v1" target="_blank">Wastewater-based estimation of the effective reproductive number of SARS-CoV-2</a>
</div></li>
<li><strong>Original antigenic sin responses to heterologous Betacoronavirus spike proteins are observed in mice following intramuscular administration, but are not apparent in children following SARS-CoV-2 infection</strong> -
<div>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
Background: The effects of pre-existing endemic human coronavirus (HCoV) immunity on SARS-CoV-2 serologic and clinical responses are incompletely understood. Objectives: We sought to determine the effects of prior exposure to HCoV Betacoronavirus HKU1 spike protein on serologic responses to SARS-CoV-2 spike protein after intramuscular administration in mice. We also sought to understand the baseline seroprevalence of HKU1 spike antibodies in healthy children and to measure their correlation with SARS-CoV-2 binding and neutralizing antibodies in children hospitalized with acute coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) or multisystem inflammatory syndrome (MIS-C). Methods: Groups of 5 mice were injected intramuscularly with two doses of alum-adjuvanted HKU1 spike followed by SARS-CoV-2 spike; or the reciprocal regimen of SARS-Cov-2 spike followed by HKU1 spike. Sera collected 21 days following each injection was analyzed for IgG antibodies to HKU1 spike, SARS-CoV-2 spike, and SARS-CoV-2 neutralization. Sera from children hospitalized with acute COVID-19, MIS-C or healthy controls (n=14 per group) were analyzed for these same antibodies. Results: Mice primed with SARS-CoV-2 spike and boosted with HKU1 spike developed high titers of SARS-CoV-2 binding and neutralizing antibodies; however, mice primed with HKU1 spike and boosted with SARS-CoV-2 spike were unable to mount neutralizing antibodies to SARS-CoV-2. HKU1 spike antibodies were detected in all children with acute COVID-19, MIS-C, and healthy controls. Although children with MIS-C had significantly higher HKU1 spike titers than healthy children (GMT 37239 vs. 7551, P=0.012), these titers correlated positively with both SARS-CoV-2 binding (r=0.7577, P&lt;0.001) and neutralizing (r=0.6201, P=0.001) antibodies. Conclusions: Prior murine exposure to HKU1 spike protein completely impeded the development of neutralizing antibodies to SARS-CoV-2, consistent with original antigenic sin. In contrast, the presence of HKU1 spike IgG antibodies in children with acute COVID-19 or MIS-C was not associated with diminished neutralizing antibody responses to SARS-CoV-2.
</p>
</div>
<div class="article-link article-html-link">
🖺 Full Text HTML: <a href="https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2021.04.29.21256344v1" target="_blank">Original antigenic sin responses to heterologous Betacoronavirus spike proteins are observed in mice following intramuscular administration, but are not apparent in children following SARS-CoV-2 infection</a>
</div></li>
<li><strong>COVID-19 Vaccine Acceptance Among Healthcare Workers in a United States Medical Center</strong> -
<div>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
Background: The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention prioritized healthcare personnel for the first phase of COVID-19 vaccination in the United States to keep critical healthcare infrastructure open and functioning, but vaccine hesitancy may limit vaccine uptake. Objective: To evaluate vaccine intentions among healthcare workers eligible for COVID-19 vaccination and explore differences by sociodemographic and occupational characteristics. Design: From February 1-15, 2021, we conducted a cross-sectional, opt-in online survey at a Midwest U.S. academic healthcare center that began vaccinating employees in December 2020. Participants: The entire employee workforce of the study site was eligible. Main Measures: COVID-19 vaccination intention, categorized as Received/Scheduled/ASAP, Not Now, and Not Ever. Logistic regression models to assess the relationship between demographic and occupational characteristics and intention to receive COVID-19 vaccination. Key Results: Most participants (n=11,387, of 39,259 individual and group email accounts invited) had received or were scheduled to receive the COVID-19 vaccine (n=9081, 79.8%) or planned to receive it as soon as possible (n=546, 4.8%), while fewer were hesitant (Not Now, n=954, 8.4%; Not Ever, n=369, 3.2%). In multivariable logistic regression models predicting vaccine intention, physicians (aOR 22.2, 9.1-54.3), trainees (aOR 5.9, 3.0-11.4), and nurse practitioners/nurse midwives/physician assistants (aOR 1.9, 1.2-3.0) were significantly more likely to demonstrate vaccine acceptance, compared to nurses, whereas other clinical staff were significantly less likely (aOR 0.8, 0.6-0.9). Prior infection with COVID-19, gender, race/ethnicity, and age were all significantly associated with vaccine intention. Overall, 29.6% reported at least one concern about COVID-19 vaccination. Conclusions: In a large, diverse sample of healthcare workers, over 11% delayed COVID-19 vaccination when it was available to them, with notable variation in vaccine hesitancy across professional roles and demographic groups. Our findings suggest immediate opportunities to empathetically engage those with COVID-19 vaccine concerns and optimize vaccine coverage across our healthcare system.
</p>
</div>
<div class="article-link article-html-link">
🖺 Full Text HTML: <a href="https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2021.04.29.21256186v1" target="_blank">COVID-19 Vaccine Acceptance Among Healthcare Workers in a United States Medical Center</a>
</div></li>
<li><strong>Single-tube collection and nucleic acid analysis of clinical samples: a rapid approach for SARS-CoV-2 saliva testing</strong> -
<div>
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The SARS-CoV-2 pandemic has brought to light the need for expedient diagnostic testing. Cost and availability of large-scale testing capacity has led to a lag in turnaround time and hindered contact tracing efforts, resulting in a further spread of SARS-CoV-2. To increase the speed and frequency of testing, we developed a cost-effective single-tube approach for collection, denaturation, and analysis of clinical samples. The approach utilizes 1 μL microbiological inoculation loops to collect saliva, sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS) to inactivate and release viral genomic RNA, and a diagnostic reaction mix containing polysorbate 80 (Tween 80). In the same tube, the SDS-denatured clinical samples are introduced to the mixtures containing all components for nucleic acids detection and Tween 80 micelles to absorb the SDS and allow enzymatic reactions to proceed, obviating the need for further handling of the samples. The samples can be collected by the tested individuals, further decreasing the need for trained personnel to administer the test. We validated this single-tube sample-to-assay method with RT-qPCR and RT-LAMP and discovered little-to-no difference between Tween- and SDS-containing reaction mixtures, compared to CDC-approved reagents. This approach significantly reduces the logistical burden of traditional large-scale testing and provides a method of deployable point-of-care diagnostics to increase testing frequency.
</p>
</div>
<div class="article-link article-html-link">
🖺 Full Text HTML: <a href="https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2021.04.29.21256345v1" target="_blank">Single-tube collection and nucleic acid analysis of clinical samples: a rapid approach for SARS-CoV-2 saliva testing</a>
</div></li>
<li><strong>Azithromycin Plus Zinc Sulfate Rapidly and Synergistically Suppresses IκBα-Mediated In Vitro Human Airway Cell ACE2 Expression for SARS-CoV-2 Entry</strong> -
<div>
Large-scale efforts have been persistently undertaken for medical prophylaxis and treatment of COVID-19 disasters worldwide. A variety of novel viral spike protein-targeted vaccine preparations have recently been clinically distributed based on accelerated approval. We revisited the early but inconclusive clinical interest in the combination of azithromycin and zinc sulfate repurposing with safety advantages. In vitro proof of concept was provided for rapid and synergistic suppression of ACE2 expression following treatments in human airway cells, Calu-3 and H322M. The two representative ACE2-expressing human airway cells indicate the upper and lower respiratory tracts. Prophylactic and early therapeutic roles of azithromycin combined with zinc are proposed for virus cellular entry prevention potential bridging to effective antibody production.
</div>
<div class="article-link article-html-link">
🖺 Full Text HTML: <a href="https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2021.01.19.427206v2" target="_blank">Azithromycin Plus Zinc Sulfate Rapidly and Synergistically Suppresses IκBα-Mediated In Vitro Human Airway Cell ACE2 Expression for SARS-CoV-2 Entry</a>
</div></li>
<li><strong>Origin of Novel Coronavirus (COVID-19): A Computational Biology Study using Artificial Intelligence</strong> -
<div>
Origin of the COVID-19 virus (SARS-CoV-2) has been intensely debated in the scientific community since the first infected cases were detected in December 2019. The disease has caused a global pandemic, leading to deaths of thousands of people across the world and thus finding origin of this novel coronavirus is important in responding and controlling the pandemic. Recent research results suggest that bats or pangolins might be the hosts for SARS-CoV-2 based on comparative studies using its genomic sequences. This paper investigates the SARS-CoV-2 origin by using artificial intelligence (AI) and raw genomic sequences of the virus. More than 300 genome sequences of COVID-19 infected cases collected from different countries are explored and analysed using unsupervised clustering methods. The results obtained from various AI-enabled experiments using clustering algorithms demonstrate that all examined SARS-CoV-2 genomes belong to a cluster that also contains bat and pangolin coronavirus genomes. This provides evidence strongly supporting scientific hypotheses that bats and pangolins are probable hosts for SARS-CoV-2. At the whole genome analysis level, our findings also indicate that bats are more likely the hosts for the COVID-19 virus than pangolins.
</div>
<div class="article-link article-html-link">
🖺 Full Text HTML: <a href="https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2020.05.12.091397v4" target="_blank">Origin of Novel Coronavirus (COVID-19): A Computational Biology Study using Artificial Intelligence</a>
</div></li>
<li><strong>SARS-CoV-2 sculpts the immune system to induce sustained virus-specific naïve-like and memory B cell responses</strong> -
<div>
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SARS-CoV-2 infection induces virus-reactive memory B cells expressing unmutated antibodies, which hints at their emergence from naïve B cells. Yet, the dynamics of virus-specific naïve B cells and their impact on immunity and immunopathology remain unclear. Here, we longitudinally studied moderate to severe COVID-19 patients to dissect SARS-CoV-2-specific B cell responses overtime. We found a broad virus-specific antibody response during acute infection, which evolved into an IgG1-dominated response during convalescence. Acute infection was associated with increased mature B cell progenitors in the circulation and the unexpected expansion of virus-targeting naïve-like B cells that further augmented during convalescence together with virus-specific memory B cells. In addition to a transitory increase in tissue-homing CXCR3+ plasmablasts and extrafollicular memory B cells, most COVID-19 patients showed persistent activation of CD4+ and CD8+ T cells along with transient or long-lasting changes of key innate immune cells. Remarkably, virus-specific antibodies and the frequency of naïve B cells were among the major variables defining distinct immune signatures associated with disease severity and inflammation. Aside from providing new insights into the complexity of the immune response to SARS-CoV-2, our findings indicate that the de novo recruitment of mature B cell precursors into the periphery may be central to the induction of antiviral immunity.
</p>
</div>
<div class="article-link article-html-link">
🖺 Full Text HTML: <a href="https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2021.04.29.21256002v1" target="_blank">SARS-CoV-2 sculpts the immune system to induce sustained virus-specific naïve-like and memory B cell responses</a>
</div></li>
<li><strong>COMPARISON OF PERFORMANCE CHARACTERISTICS BETWEEN LATERAL FLOW, ELISA AND ELECTROCHEMILUMINESCENCE IMMUNOASSAYS FOR THE DETECTION OF SARS-COV-2 ANTIBODIES AMONG HEALTHCARE WORKERS</strong> -
<div>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
Background: Medical professionals and researchers have been urging the need for wide and rapid testing of citizens in order to plan measures that can contain the spread of the virus. Antibody tests play an important role throughout the patient care pathway and are vital for the management and surveillance of the virus. Although RT-PCR is considered as the gold standard, serological tests based on antibodies are helpful for on-time detection. We performed one to one assessment of point-of-care lateral flow assay (POCTs), enzyme immunoassay (EIAs), electrochemiluminescence immunoassay (CLIA), to detect severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) IgG antibody. Materials and Methods: 611 healthcare workers were recruited between November and December 2020 at Central Research Laboratory, KIMS. Collected serum samples were analysed according to manufacturers protocol. The Standard Q IgG/IgM combo assay, Anti-SARS CoV-2 Human IgG ELISA, and the Elecsys to measure the IgG titer of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). Results: The kits displayed a sensitivity of 61.2%,79.5%, 91.8% and specificity of 61.7%,64.1%,80.2% for the Standard Q IgG/IgM combo assay, Anti-SARS CoV-2 Human IgG ELISA, and the Elecsys in order. Conclusion: Our results indicate high sensitivity and specificity for the Elecsys assay compared to Anti-SARS CoV-2 Human IgG ELISA, the Standard Q IgG/IgM combo assay.
</p>
</div>
<div class="article-link article-html-link">
🖺 Full Text HTML: <a href="https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2021.04.29.21256260v1" target="_blank">COMPARISON OF PERFORMANCE CHARACTERISTICS BETWEEN LATERAL FLOW, ELISA AND ELECTROCHEMILUMINESCENCE IMMUNOASSAYS FOR THE DETECTION OF SARS-COV-2 ANTIBODIES AMONG HEALTHCARE WORKERS</a>
</div></li>
<li><strong>Racial and ethnic disparities for SARS-CoV-2 positivity in the United States: a generalizing pandemic</strong> -
<div>
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The coronavirus pandemic has disproportionally impacted racial and ethnic minority communities in the United States. These disparities may be changing over time as outbreaks occur in different communities. Using electronic health record data from the Department of Veterans Affairs, we estimated odds ratios, stratified by region and time period, for testing positive for SARS-CoV-2 among 951,408 individuals tested for SARS-CoV-2 between February 12, 2020 and February 12, 2021. Our study found racial and ethnic disparities for testing positive were most pronounced at the beginning of the pandemic and decreased over time. A key finding was that the disparity among Hispanic individuals attenuated but remained elevated over the entire study period. We identified variation in racial and ethnic disparities in SARS-CoV-2 positivity by time and region independent of underlying health status and other key factors in a nationwide cohort, which provides important insight for strategies to contain and prevent further outbreaks.
</p>
</div>
<div class="article-link article-html-link">
🖺 Full Text HTML: <a href="https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2021.04.27.21256215v1" target="_blank">Racial and ethnic disparities for SARS-CoV-2 positivity in the United States: a generalizing pandemic</a>
</div></li>
<li><strong>A type I interferon response defines a conserved microglial state required for effective phagocytosis</strong> -
<div>
Microglia, the innate immune cells of the brain, are exquisitely sensitive to dynamic changes in the brain environment. We used single cell RNA sequencing to define glial responses in the early postnatal somatosensory cortex after partial whisker lesion, revealing transcriptomic shifts in both astrocytes and microglia during the resulting topographic remapping. The most distinct change was the emergence of a type I interferon (IFN-I) responsive microglia population that was rare in the resting cortex but expanded 20-fold after whisker deprivation. The top gene candidate in this cluster, Ifitm3, marked a conserved but transient subset of microglia that were in the process of phagocytosing whole cells. IFITM3 protein identified this subset in vivo, where it was enriched in early microglial phagosomes. Loss of canonical IFN-I signaling in Ifnar1-/- animals resulted in abnormal ‘bubble’ microglia with deficient phagolysosomal processing. In a meta-analysis of transcriptomes, we identified the IFN-I signature in microglia across a range of pathologies. We identified phagocytic IFITM3+ microglia in two murine disease models: SARS-CoV-2 infection and Alzheimer’s Disease. These data reveal the potential of transcriptional profiling after defined perturbation to elicit transient microglial states, and identify a novel role for IFN-I signaling in regulating microglial phagocytosis.
</div>
<div class="article-link article-html-link">
🖺 Full Text HTML: <a href="https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2021.04.29.441889v1" target="_blank">A type I interferon response defines a conserved microglial state required for effective phagocytosis</a>
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<li><strong>Real-world effectiveness of Ad26.COV2.S adenoviral vector vaccine for COVID-19</strong> -
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In light of the massive and rapid vaccination campaign against COVID-19, continuous real-world effectiveness and safety assessment of the FDA-authorized vaccines is critical to amplify transparency, build public trust, and ultimately improve overall health outcomes. In this study, we leveraged large-scale longitudinal curation of electronic health records (EHRs) from the multi-state Mayo Clinic health system (MN, AZ, FL, WN, IA). We compared the infection rate of 2,195 individuals who received a single dose of the Ad26.COV2.S vaccine from Johnson &amp; Johnson (J&amp;J) to the infection rate of 21,950 unvaccinated, propensity-matched individuals between February 27th and April 14th 2021. Of the 1,779 vaccinated individuals with at least two weeks of follow-up, only 3 (0.17%) tested positive for SARS-CoV-2 15 days or more after vaccination compared to 128 of 17,744 (0.72%) unvaccinated individuals (4.34 fold reduction rate). This corresponds to a vaccine effectiveness of 76.7% (95% CI: 30.3-95.3%) in preventing SARS-CoV-2 infection with onset at least two weeks after vaccination. This data is consistent with the clinical trial-reported efficacy of Ad26.COV2.S in preventing moderate to severe COVID-19 with onset at least 14 days after vaccine administration (66.9%; 95% CI: 59.0-73.4%). Due to the recent authorization of the Ad26.COV2.S vaccine, there are not yet enough hospitalizations, ICU admissions, or deaths within this cohort to robustly assess the effect of vaccination on COVID-19 severity, but these outcomes will be continually assessed in near-real-time with our platform. Collectively, this study provides further evidence that a single dose of Ad26.COV2.S is highly effective in preventing SARS-CoV-2 infection and reaffirms the urgent need to continue mass vaccination efforts globally.
</p>
</div>
<div class="article-link article-html-link">
🖺 Full Text HTML: <a href="https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2021.04.27.21256193v1" target="_blank">Real-world effectiveness of Ad26.COV2.S adenoviral vector vaccine for COVID-19</a>
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<li><strong>Evaluation of serological tests for detecting SARS-CoV-2 antibodies: implementation in assessing post vaccination status</strong> -
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Background The anti SARS CoV 2 immunological assays have promising applications in the control and surveillance of the current COVID 19 pandemic. Therefore, large number of serological assays are developed in the commercial market to measure SARS CoV 2 antibodies, which requires evaluation before their application in large scale. Objectives To evaluate the performances of commercially available serological assays for detecting SARS CoV 2 antibodies. Methods The study compared the performances of six different methods for detection of antibodies against SARS CoV 2 which includes (i) Genscript SARS CoV 2 surrogate virus neutralization test kit [Test A] (ii) Diasorin SARS CoV 2 S1 S2 IgG detection [Test B] (iii) Alinity SARS CoV 2 IgG II [Test C] (iv) Diasorin SARS CoV 2 TrimericS IgG [Test D] (v) Roche Elecsys Anti SARS CoV 2 cobas [Test E] (vi) AESKULISA (AESKU Enzyme Linked Immunosorbent Assay) [Test F] against the gold standard Plaque Reduction Neutralization Test (PRNT). Results Test E had the highest sensitivity and Test A had the highest specificity The ROC for tests A, C, D and E showed optimum cutoffs that differed from the manufacturers recommendation. Test D had the best performance considering all the performance indicators with the highest agreement with the PRNT results. Parallel testing of test A with test D and test B had the optimum performance. Conclusion Serological assays that are commercially available are very promising and show good agreement with the standard PRNT results. Studies on large samples for optimization of the assay cutoff values and cost effective evaluations on parallel testing methods are needed to make recommendations on these commercial assays.
</p>
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<div class="article-link article-html-link">
🖺 Full Text HTML: <a href="https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2021.04.27.21256205v1" target="_blank">Evaluation of serological tests for detecting SARS-CoV-2 antibodies: implementation in assessing post vaccination status</a>
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<li><strong>COVID-19 Outcomes and Sequencing of SARS-CoV-2 isolated from Veterans in New England</strong> -
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Background: Clinical outcomes of Veterans with COVID-19 in New England and respective genomic variants of SARS-CoV-2 have not been described. Factors impacting outcomes will inform triage and management algorithms. We proposed to conduct these clinical and genomic evaluations. Methods: We recorded demographics, comorbidities, and outcomes for 274 patients with COVID-19 in 6 states (CT, MA, ME, NH, RI, VT) from 4/8/20-9/16/20, and used STATA v16 for logistic regressions. Peak disease severity was defined from grade 1-5 as no O2 requirement, 1-3 liters (L) by nasal cannula (NC), 4-6 L NC, &gt;6 L O2 or non-invasive positive pressure ventilation, and mechanical ventilation. We generated 64 whole genomes from 3/31/20-5/11/20 using Illumina (238) and Nanopore (61) platforms and built a phylogenetic tree (Nextstrain). Results: Of 274 Veterans, 92.7% were male, 83.2% white, and mean age was 63 years (IQR: 51 to 74 years). Over a third resided in a long-term care facility, and most common comorbidities were coronary artery disease (27%), diabetes (25%), and tobacco use (23%). 11.7% of patients required O2 within 24 hours of admission, with 20.8% of all patients requiring O2 support above their baseline during the hospitalization. Overall, 28.8% were hospitalized, with the highest rates in people with COPD (50%), CAD (45.9%), and those over age 80 years (44.4%). The overall mortality rate was 10.6%, with the highest rates in people with dementia (33.3%), age &gt;80 (28.9%), and those from LTC (23.9%). On multivariate regression, significant predictors of hospitalization were age (OR: 1.05) and Non-white race (OR: 2.39). Peak severity also varied by age (OR: 1.07) and O2 requirement on admission (OR: 45.7). Mortality was predicted by age (OR: 1.06), dementia (OR: 3.44), and O2 requirement on admission (OR: 6.74). Most of our samples were in the A (2.36%) and B (97.3%) lineages. One genome was part of the N.1 lineage. Notably, the majority of genomes (97%) are part of the B1 lineage, which is defined by a D614G substitution. Conclusions: Our study found that in an older cohort of Veterans from the six New England states with a high comorbidity burden, age was the single strongest predictor of hospitalization, peak severity, and mortality. Non-white Veterans were more likely to be hospitalized, and patients who required oxygen on admission were more likely to have severe disease and higher rates of mortality. Furthermore, patients with dementia were more likely to die. Multiple genomic variants of SARS-CoV-2 were distributed in patients in New England early in the COVID-19 era, mostly in the New York clade with a D614G mutation.
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🖺 Full Text HTML: <a href="https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2021.04.27.21256222v1" target="_blank">COVID-19 Outcomes and Sequencing of SARS-CoV-2 isolated from Veterans in New England</a>
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<li><strong>Estimating the early impact of immunization against COVID-19 on deaths among elderly people in Brazil: analyses of secondary data on vaccine coverage and mortality.</strong> -
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ABSTRACT Background Immunization against COVID-19 in Brazil started in January 2021, with health workers and the elderly as the priority groups. We assessed whether there was an impact of immunizations on the mortality of individuals aged 80+ years. Methods By April 22, 2021, 147,454 COVID-19 deaths had been reported to the Brazilian Mortality Information System. Denominators for mortality rates were calculated by correcting population estimates for all-cause deaths reported in 2020. Proportionate mortality at ages 80+ and 90+ years relative to deaths at all ages were calculated, and mortality rate ratios compared these two age groups with individuals aged 0-79 years. Vaccine coverage data were obtained from the Ministry of Health vaccination monitoring website. All results were tabulated by two-week periods from epidemiological weeks 1-14, 2021. Findings As the P.1 variant spread throughout Brazil, the total number of deaths increased over time starting in epidemiological week 9 of 2021. The proportion of all deaths occurring at ages 80+ years was over 25% in weeks 1-6 and declined rapidly to 13.1% in weeks 13-14. Mortality rates were over 13 times higher in the 80+ years age group compared to that of 0-79 year olds up to week 6, and declined to 6.9 times in weeks 13-14. Coronavac accounted for 77.3% and AstraZeneca for 15.9% of all doses administered. Vaccination coverage (first dose) increased rapidly among individuals aged 80+ years, reaching 49.1% in weeks 5-6 and over 90% after week 9. Interpretation Rapid scaling up of vaccination coverage among elderly Brazilians was associated with an important decline in relative mortality compared to younger individuals, in a setting where the P.1 variant predominates. Had mortality rates among the elderly remained proportionate to what was observed up to week 6, an estimated additional 13,824 deaths would have been expected up to week 14.
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🖺 Full Text HTML: <a href="https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2021.04.27.21256187v1" target="_blank">Estimating the early impact of immunization against COVID-19 on deaths among elderly people in Brazil: analyses of secondary data on vaccine coverage and mortality.</a>
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<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>Oestrogen Treatment for COVID-19 Symptoms</strong> - <b>Condition</b>:   COVID-19<br/><b>Intervention</b>:   Drug: Transdermal estradiol gel<br/><b>Sponsors</b>:   Hamad Medical Corporation;   Laboratoires Besins International<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>Virgin Coconut Oil as Adjunctive Therapy for Hospitalized COVID-19 Patients</strong> - <b>Condition</b>:   Covid19<br/><b>Intervention</b>:   Drug: Virgin Coconut Oil<br/><b>Sponsors</b>:   University of the Philippines;   Philippine Coconut Authority;   Philippine Council for Health Research &amp; Development<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>Impact of GSE and Xylitol (Xlear) on COVID-19 Symptoms and Time to PCR Negativisation in COVID-19 Patients</strong> - <b>Condition</b>:   Covid19<br/><b>Intervention</b>:   Drug: GSE and Xylitol<br/><b>Sponsor</b>:   Larkin Community Hospital<br/><b>Recruiting</b></p></li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Hydroxychloroquine (HCQ) as Post Exposure Prophylaxis (PEP) for Prevention of COVID-19</strong> - <b>Conditions</b>:   Covid19;   COVID-19 Prevention<br/><b>Interventions</b>:   Drug: Hydroxychloroquine (HCQ);   Other: Standard care;   Other: Placebo<br/><b>Sponsor</b>:   Postgraduate Institute of Medical Education and Research<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>Study to Evaluate a Single Dose of LTX-109 in Subjects With COVID-19 (Coronavirus Disease 2019) Infection.</strong> - <b>Condition</b>:   COVID-19<br/><b>Interventions</b>:   Drug: LTX-109 gel, 3%;   Drug: Placebo gel<br/><b>Sponsors</b>:   Pharma Holdings AS;   Clinical Trial Consultants AB<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>Detection of Covid-19 in Nasopharyngeal Swabs by Using Multi-Spectral Spectrophotometry</strong> - <b>Condition</b>:   Covid19<br/><b>Intervention</b>:   Diagnostic Test: AP-23<br/><b>Sponsor</b>:   Fable Biyoteknoloji San ve Tic A.S<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>Safety and Immunogenicity of Demi-dose of Two Covid-19 mRNA Vaccines in Healthy Population</strong> - <b>Condition</b>:   Covid19<br/><b>Intervention</b>:   Diagnostic Test: immunogenicity after first and second dose<br/><b>Sponsors</b>:   Sciensano;   Mensura EDPB;   Institute of Tropical Medicine, Belgium;   Erasme University 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>Safety and Efficacy of Niclosamide in Patients With COVID-19 With Gastrointestinal Infection</strong> - <b>Condition</b>:   Covid19<br/><b>Interventions</b>:   Drug: Niclosamide;   Drug: Placebo<br/><b>Sponsor</b>:   AzurRx BioPharma, 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>A Immunobridging and Immunization Schedules Study of COVID-19 Vaccine (Vero Cell), Inactivated</strong> - <b>Condition</b>:   Covid19<br/><b>Interventions</b>:   Biological: 3-doses schedule 1 of COVID-19 Vaccine (Vero Cell), Inactivated;   Biological: 3-doses schedule 2 of COVID-19 Vaccine (Vero Cell), Inactivated;   Biological: 3-doses schedule 3 of COVID-19 Vaccine (Vero Cell), Inactivated;   Biological: 2 doses of vaccine<br/><b>Sponsors</b>:   China National Biotec Group Company Limited;   Beijing Institute of Biological Products Co Ltd.<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>Estradiol and Progesterone in Hospitalized COVID-19 Patients</strong> - <b>Condition</b>:   Covid19<br/><b>Interventions</b>:   Other: Placebo injection and placebo pill;   Drug: Estradiol Cypionate 5 MG/ML;   Drug: Progesterone 200 MG Oral Capsule<br/><b>Sponsor</b>:   Tulane University<br/><b>Not yet recruiting</b></p></li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>COVID-19 Close Contact Self-Testing Study</strong> - <b>Condition</b>:   Covid19<br/><b>Interventions</b>:   Behavioral: COVID-19 self-test;   Behavioral: COVID-19 test referral<br/><b>Sponsors</b>:   University of Pennsylvania;   Public Health Management Corporation<br/><b>Not yet recruiting</b></p></li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>COVID-19 Vaccination Take-Up</strong> - <b>Conditions</b>:   Covid19;   Vaccination<br/><b>Interventions</b>:   Behavioral: Financial incentives;   Behavioral: Convenient scheduling link;   Behavioral: Race concordant;   Behavioral: Gender concordant<br/><b>Sponsors</b>:   University of Southern California;   Contra Costa Health Services;   J-PAL North America, State and Local Innovation Initiative;   National Bureau of Economic Research Roybal Center;   National Institute on Aging (NIA)<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>Lactoferrin in Covid-19 Hospitalized Patients</strong> - <b>Condition</b>:   Covid19<br/><b>Interventions</b>:   Dietary Supplement: Bovine lactoferrin;   Dietary Supplement: Placebo administration<br/><b>Sponsor</b>:   Paolo Manzoni<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>Remdesivir Efficacy In Management Of COVID-19 Patients</strong> - <b>Condition</b>:   Covid19<br/><b>Interventions</b>:   Drug: Remdesivir;   Drug: Standard of care_1;   Drug: Standard of care_2<br/><b>Sponsor</b>:   Ain Shams University<br/><b>Completed</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>Assessment of Efficacy of KAN-JANG® in Mild COVID-19</strong> - <b>Condition</b>:   Covid19<br/><b>Interventions</b>:   Drug: Kan Jang capsules;   Other: Placebo capsules<br/><b>Sponsors</b>:   Swedish Herbal Institute AB;   Tbilisi State Medical University;   Phytomed AB<br/><b>Not yet recruiting</b></p></li>
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<h1 data-aos="fade-right" id="from-pubmed">From PubMed</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>Supercoiling Structure-Based Design of a Trimeric Coiled-Coil Peptide with High Potency against HIV-1 and Human beta-Coronavirus Infection</strong> - Hexameric structure formation through packing of three C-terminal helices and an N-terminal trimeric coiled-coil core has been proposed as a general mechanism of class I enveloped virus entry. In this process, the C-terminal helical repeat (HR2) region of viral membrane fusion proteins becomes transiently exposed and accessible to N-terminal helical repeat (HR1) trimer-based fusion inhibitors. Herein, we describe a mimetic of the HIV-1 gp41 HR1 trimer, N3G, as a promising therapeutic against…</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>Screening for inhibitory effects of crude drugs on furin-like enzymatic activities</strong> - The spike (S) protein of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) contains a cleavage motif R-X-X-R for furin-like enzymes at the boundary of the S1/S2 subunits. The cleavage of the site by cellular proteases is essential for S protein activation and virus entry. We screened the inhibitory effects of crude drugs on in vitro furin-like enzymatic activities using a fluorogenic substrate with whole-cell lysates. Of the 124 crude drugs listed in the Japanese Pharmacopeia, aqueous…</p></li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>The dimer-monomer equilibrium of SARS-CoV-2 main protease is affected by small molecule inhibitors</strong> - The maturation of coronavirus SARS-CoV-2, which is the etiological agent at the origin of the COVID-19 pandemic, requires a main protease M^(pro) to cleave the virus-encoded polyproteins. Despite a wealth of experimental information already available, there is wide disagreement about the M^(pro) monomer-dimer equilibrium dissociation constant. Since the functional unit of M^(pro) is a homodimer, the detailed knowledge of the thermodynamics of this equilibrium is a key piece of information for…</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>Assessing Public Willingness to Wear Face Masks during the COVID-19 Pandemic: Fresh Insights from the Theory of Planned Behavior</strong> - Face masks are considered an effective intervention in controlling the spread of airborne viruses, as evidenced by the 2009’s H1N1 swine flu and 2003’s severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) outbreaks. However, research aiming to examine public willingness to wear (WTW) face masks in Pakistan are scarce. The current research aims to overcome this research void and contributes by expanding the theoretical mechanism of theory of planned behavior (TPB) to include three novel dimensions (risk…</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>Dysregulation of the Renin-Angiotensin-Aldosterone System (RAA) in Patients Infected with SARS-CoV-2-Possible Clinical Consequences</strong> - SARS-CoV-2 impairs the renin-angiotensin-aledosterone system via binding ACE2 enzyme. ACE2 plays a key role in the biosynthesis of angiotensin (1-7), catalyzing the conversion of angiotensin 2 into angiotensin (1-7) and the reaction of angiotensin synthesis (1-9), from which angiotensin is (1-7) produced under the influence of ACE (Angiotensin-Converting Enzyme). Angiotensin 2 is a potent vasoconstrictor and atherogenic molecule converted by ACE2 to reducing inflammation and vasodilating in…</p></li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Next-Generation Probiotics and Their Metabolites in COVID-19</strong> - Since December 2019, a global pandemic has been observed, caused by the emergence of a new coronavirus, SARS CoV-2. The latter is responsible for the respiratory disease, COVID-19. The infection is also characterized by renal, hepatic, and gastrointestinal dysfunctions suggesting the spread of the virus to other organs. A dysregulated immune response was also reported. To date, there is no measure to treat or prevent SARS CoV-2 infection. Additionally, as gut microbiota composition is altered in…</p></li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Plasmids Expressing shRNAs Specific to the Nucleocapsid Gene Inhibit the Replication of Porcine Deltacoronavirus In Vivo</strong> - Porcine deltacoronavirus (PDCoV) is a novel enteric coronavirus and is becoming one of the major causative agents of diarrhea in pig herds in recent years. To date, there are no commercial vaccines or antiviral pharmaceutical agents available to control PDCoV infection. Therefore, developing a reliable strategy against PDCoV is urgently needed. In this study, to observe the antiviral activity of RNA interference (RNAi), four short hairpin RNAs (shRNAs) specific to the nucleocapsid (N) gene 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>Baicalein and Baicalin Inhibit SARS-CoV-2 RNA-Dependent-RNA Polymerase</strong> - Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a deadly emerging infectious disease caused by Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). Because SARS-CoV-2 is easily transmitted through the air and has a relatively long incubation time, COVID-19 has rapidly developed into a global pandemic. As there are no antiviral agents for the prevention and treatment of this severe pathogen except for remdesivir, development of antiviral therapies to treat infected individuals remains highly…</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>Protective Role of a TMPRSS2 Variant on Severe COVID-19 Outcome in Young Males and Elderly Women</strong> - The protease encoded by the TMPRSS2 gene facilitates viral infections and has been implicated in the pathogenesis of SARS-CoV-2. We analyzed the TMPRSS2 sequence and correlated the protein variants with the clinical features of a cohort of 1177 patients affected by COVID-19 in Italy. Nine relatively common variants (allele frequency &gt; 0.01) and six missense variants which may affect the protease activity according to PolyPhen-2 in HumVar-trained mode were identified. Among them, p.V197M…</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>Inhibition of SARS-CoV-2 Virus Entry by the Crude Polysaccharides of Seaweeds and Abalone Viscera In Vitro</strong> - Much attention is being devoted to the potential of marine sulfated polysaccharides as antiviral agents in preventing COVID-19. In this study, sulfated fucoidan and crude polysaccharides, extracted from six seaweed species (Undaria pinnatifida sporophyll, Laminaria japonica, Hizikia fusiforme, Sargassum horneri, Codium fragile, Porphyra tenera) and Haliotis discus hannai (abalone viscera), were screened for their inhibitory activity against SARS-CoV-2 virus entry. Most of them showed significant…</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>Cardiovascular Outcomes in the Acute Phase of COVID-19</strong> - The cumulative number of cases in the current global coronavirus disease 19 (COVID-19) pandemic, caused by the novel severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), has exceeded 100 million, with the number of deaths caused by the infection having exceeded 2.5 million. Recent reports from most frontline researchers have revealed that SARS-CoV-2 can also cause fatal non-respiratory conditions, such as fatal cardiovascular events. One of the important mechanisms underlying the…</p></li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Pharmacological Modulators of Autophagy as a Potential Strategy for the Treatment of COVID-19</strong> - The family of coronaviruses (CoVs) uses the autophagy machinery of host cells to promote their growth and replication; thus, this process stands out as a potential target to combat COVID-19. Considering the different roles of autophagy during viral infection, including SARS-CoV-2 infection, in this review, we discuss several clinically used drugs that have effects at different stages of autophagy. Among them, we mention (1) lysosomotropic agents, which can prevent CoVs infection by alkalinizing…</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: Direct and Indirect Mechanisms of Statins</strong> - The virus responsible for the current COVID-19 pandemic is severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2): a new virus with high infectivity and moderate mortality. The major clinical manifestation of COVID-19 is interstitial pneumonia, which may progress to acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS). However, the disease causes a potent systemic hyperin-flammatory response, i.e., a cytokine storm or macrophage activation syndrome (MAS), which is associated with thrombotic…</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>Sinapic Acid Suppresses SARS CoV-2 Replication by Targeting Its Envelope Protein</strong> - SARS CoV-2 is still considered a global health issue, and its threat keeps growing with the emergence of newly evolved strains. Despite the success in developing some vaccines as a protective measure, finding cost-effective treatments is urgent. Accordingly, we screened a number of phenolic natural compounds for their in vitro anti-SARS CoV-2 activity. We found sinapic acid (SA) selectively inhibited the viral replication in vitro with an half-maximal inhibitory concentration (IC(50)) value 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>L-Carnitine Tartrate Downregulates the ACE2 Receptor and Limits SARS-CoV-2 Infection</strong> - Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) has been responsible for one of the worst pandemics in modern history. Several prevention and treatment strategies have been designed and evaluated in recent months either through the repurposing of existing treatments or the development of new drugs and vaccines. In this study, we show that L-carnitine tartrate supplementation in humans and rodents led to significant decreases of key host dependency factors, notably…</p></li>
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<h1 data-aos="fade-right" id="from-patent-search">From Patent Search</h1>
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<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>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>Compositions and methods for the treatment of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-COV-2) infection</strong> - - <a href="https://patentscope.wipo.int/search/en/detail.jsf?docId=AU321590214">link</a></p></li>
<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>METHOD FOR QUANTIFICATION OF PIRFENIDONE, A COVID-19 ANTI-FIBROTIC AGENT, BY SENSITIVE ANALYTICAL TECHNIQUES</strong> - This invention relates to the development of specific methods for quantification of pirfenidone, an anti-fibrotic drug which is used to treat Covid-19 for curing lung infections. Ultra-Violet spectroscopy detection and quantification conducted using HPLC grade water as solvent. Linearity constructed for the concentration range of 3-15µL for UV spectroscopy, 2-10 µg/ml for HPLC using methanol as diluent and 5-25µg/ml using methanol as diluent for HPTLC. The chromatographic system comprised of HPLC system equipped with quaternary gradient pump and Shim-Pack GIST C18 (250X 4.6 mm, 5µm) column with PDA detector monitored at 310nm. HPTLC performed on silica gel 60 F254 plates using mobile phase in the ratio of toluene and methanol 8:2 v/v. Analytical method validation done according to ICH Q2 (R1) guidelines. System suitability, intraday precision and inter day precision calculations performed and reported which found to be within limits (%RSD&lt;2%). Recovery studies performed and amount recovered is found between 98.20-102.20%. - <a href="https://patentscope.wipo.int/search/en/detail.jsf?docId=IN322881663">link</a></p></li>
<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>5-(4-TERT-BUTOXY PHENYL)-3-(4N-OCTYLOXYPHENYL)-4,5-DIHYDROISOXAZOLE MOLECULE (C-I): A PROMISING DRUG FOR SARS-COV-2 (TARGET I) AND BLOOD CANCER (TARGET II)</strong> - The present invention relates to a method ofmolecular docking of crystalline compound (C-I) with SARS-COV 2 proteins and its repurposing with proteins of blood cancer, comprising the steps of ; employing an algorithmto carry molecular docking calculations of the crystalized compound (C-I); studying the compound computationally to understand the effect of binding groups with the atoms of the amino acids on at least four target proteins of SARS-COV 2; downloading the structure of the proteins; removing water molecules, co enzymes and inhibitors attached to the enzymes; drawing the structure using Chem Sketch software; converting the mol file into a PDB file; using crystalized compound (C-I) for comparative and drug repurposing with two other mutated proteins; docking compound into the groove of the proteins; saving format of docked molecules retrieved; and filtering and docking the best docked results. - <a href="https://patentscope.wipo.int/search/en/detail.jsf?docId=IN320884617">link</a></p></li>
<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>新闻传播速度测评方法和系统</strong> - 本发明实施例提供一种新闻传播速度测评方法和系统，核心是基于新闻媒体权重计算新闻事件主题的传播速度，再通过聚类分析确定传播速度测评体系，最后评定新闻事件主题的传播等级。其中方法包括：确定待测评的新闻事件主题，获取新闻事件主题的新闻数据；基于新闻数据中每一新闻文本的传播媒体信息，计算新闻事件主题的初始传播速度；基于初始传播速度，以及预先设定的传播速度测评体系，确定新闻事件主题的传播速度等级；其中，传播速度测评体系包括多个传播速度等级与初始传播速度之间的对应关系。本发明实施例提供的方法和系统，实现了基于大数据的新闻事件舆情监测，能够有效提高新闻事件舆情响应效率，有利于决策管理者及时做出舆情应对。 - <a href="https://patentscope.wipo.int/search/en/detail.jsf?docId=CN322592921">link</a></p></li>
<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>AQUEOUS ZINC OXIDE NANOSPRAY COMPOSITIONS</strong> - Disclosed herein is aqueous zinc oxide nano spray compositions comprising zinc oxide nanoparticles and a synthetic surfactant for controlling the spread of Covid-19 virus. - <a href="https://patentscope.wipo.int/search/en/detail.jsf?docId=IN321836709">link</a></p></li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Bettverlängerungssystem</strong> -
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
</p><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">Bettverlängerungssystem (1) für in Bauchlage beatmungspflichtige Patienten in Gestalt mit zumindest einer Platte (16), dadurch gekennzeichnet, dass die Platte (16) im Kopflagerungsbereich einen Luftwegezugangsdurchbruch (8) mit einem den Luftwegezugangsdurchbruch (8) umgebenden Auflagerbereich für ein durchbrochenes Kopfauflagepolster (14) aufweist, durch den von der Bettunterseite her und durch das Kopfauflagepolster (14) hindurch die Ver- und Entsorgungsschläuche für eine orotracheale Intubation oder eine nasotracheale Intubation ventral an das Gesicht des Patienten herangeführt werden können, und dass die Platte (16) im Bereich ihrer dem Kopfende eines Bettrosts (15) zugeordneten Stirnseite (6) ein Fixierelement (2) zur Befestigung der Platte (16) am Bettrost (15) nach Art eines einseitig frei über das Kopfende des Bettrosts hinausragenden Kragträgers aufweist.</p></li>
</ul>
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<ul>
<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><a href="https://patentscope.wipo.int/search/en/detail.jsf?docId=DE322212040">link</a></p></li>
<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>一种肝素类药物组合物、喷鼻剂及其制备方法及应用</strong> - 本发明公开了一种肝素类药物组合物、喷鼻剂及其制备方法及应用。该肝素类药物组合物包括肝素钠和阿比朵尔。本发明中的肝素类药物组合物首次采用肝素钠和阿比朵尔联合使用，普通肝素钠联合1μM/L以上的阿比朵尔病毒抑制效率显著高于单独普通肝素钠或单独阿比多尔组（p&lt;0.05）。 - <a href="https://patentscope.wipo.int/search/en/detail.jsf?docId=CN321712860">link</a></p></li>
<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>USING CLINICAL ONTOLOGIES TO BUILD KNOWLEDGE BASED CLINICAL DECISION SUPPORT SYSTEM FOR NOVEL CORONAVIRUS (COVID-19) WITH THE ADOPTION OF TELECONFERENCING FOR THE PRIMARY HEALTH CENTRES/SATELLITE CLINICS OF ROYAL OMAN POLICE IN SULTANATE OF OMAN</strong> - - <a href="https://patentscope.wipo.int/search/en/detail.jsf?docId=AU320796026">link</a></p></li>
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<h1 data-aos="fade-down" id="daily-dose">Daily-Dose</h1>
<h1 data-aos="fade-right" data-aos-anchor-placement="top-bottom" id="contents">Contents</h1>
<ul>
<li><a href="#from-new-yorker">From New Yorker</a></li>
<li><a href="#from-vox">From Vox</a></li>
<li><a href="#from-the-hindu-sports">From The Hindu: Sports</a></li>
<li><a href="#from-the-hindu-national-news">From The Hindu: National News</a></li>
<li><a href="#from-bbc-europe">From BBC: Europe</a></li>
<li><a href="#from-ars-technica">From Ars Technica</a></li>
<li><a href="#from-jokes-subreddit">From Jokes Subreddit</a></li>
</ul>
<h1 data-aos="fade-right" id="from-new-yorker">From New Yorker</h1>
<ul>
<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Is There a Case for Legalizing Heroin?</strong> - The addiction researcher Carl Hart argues against the distinction between hard and soft drugs. - <a href="https://www.newyorker.com/news/annals-of-populism/is-there-a-case-for-legalizing-heroin">link</a></p></li>
<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Bargaining with China Today to Save the World Tomorrow</strong> - As climate czar, John Kerry has been tasked with a moral balancing act that few leaders have ever faced. - <a href="https://www.newyorker.com/news/daily-comment/bargaining-with-china-today-to-save-the-world-tomorrow">link</a></p></li>
<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Biden’s Speech Offers an Alternative Vision for Democrats to Love</strong> - The President, channelling his inner Elizabeth Warren, pitches an American utopia after a dystopian plague year. - <a href="https://www.newyorker.com/news/letter-from-bidens-washington/bidens-speech-offers-an-alternate-reality-for-democrats-to-love-after-four-years-of-trumpian-fantasy">link</a></p></li>
<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Kathryn Garcia Doesn’t Want Andrew Yang’s Praise</strong> - The city-government veteran and mayoral hopeful talks about management, wastewater, and the viability trap. - <a href="https://www.newyorker.com/news/our-local-correspondents/kathryn-garcia-doesnt-want-andrew-yangs-praise">link</a></p></li>
<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>The Bodies Piled High, Whatever Boris Johnson Said</strong> - The Prime Minister is known for his gaffes, but it’s hard to minimize the grief of the family members of those lost to COVID-19. - <a href="https://www.newyorker.com/news/letter-from-the-uk/the-bodies-piled-high-whatever-boris-johnson-said">link</a></p></li>
</ul>
<h1 data-aos="fade-right" id="from-vox">From Vox</h1>
<ul>
<li><strong>Why they’re not saying Ma’Khia Bryant’s name</strong> -
<figure>
<img alt="" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/T5IENnGTS23nRYRQMNm2a4M5mD0=/0x0:2668x2001/1310x983/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/69217835/1315480039.0.jpg"/>
<figcaption>
A funeral service is held for 16-year-old Ma’Khia Bryant at the First Church of God on April 30, 2021 in Columbus, Ohio. Bryant was shot and killed on April 20 by a Columbus police officer answering a domestic dispute call. | Scott Olson/Getty Images
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
The 16-year-old Black girl could never be the “perfect victim.”
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="2dMUbE">
After watching 15 seconds of police body camera footage last week, viewers of various races and political affiliations had made a decision: 16-year-old Ma’Khia Bryant was “the aggressor” — the “<a href="https://twitter.com/TimJDillon/status/1384871559039496192">fat</a>,” “<a href="https://twitter.com/InHerbiesWorld/status/1386055175627059204">huge</a>,” “<a href="https://twitter.com/Keg1968/status/1386266884534845443">knife-wielding attacker</a>” and “<a href="https://www.instagram.com/tv/CN812JvpF5H/">maniac</a>” who deserved to be fatally shot by the police on April 20 in Columbus, Ohio.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="vzXEVS">
According to these viewers, Nicholas Reardon, the police officer who immediately shot and killed Bryant, who was holding a knife, was justified. That she was a teenager in the middle of an altercation, in which she was presumed to be defending herself, did not matter.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="4Upjk8">
Reardon shot Bryant dead about 20 minutes before a judge announced that a jury found former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin guilty of murdering George Floyd, a killing that catalyzed worldwide protests against police violence. For a moment, those seeking justice for Black life exhaled in relief, knowing that the officer who callously took Floyd’s life would be imprisoned.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="DgSfTj">
But the cries for justice that applied to George Floyd did not ring out as loudly for Bryant. Even after it was discovered that Bryant was living in foster care, that she was in the middle of a fight with older women when police arrived, and that she was allegedly the one who summoned the police for help, people — some of the <a href="https://www.cbsnews.com/news/makhia-bryant-shooting-officer-trained-val-demings/">same people</a> <a href="https://www.wogx.com/video/690405">who called for justice</a> in Floyd’s case — used police talking points to justify the four bullets that Reardon unloaded into Bryant’s chest. She was brandishing a knife, many pointed out, which meant the other Black women needed to be protected.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="g3LZFK">
<a href="https://www.vox.com/first-person/22409527/makhia-bryant-deescalation">Crisis response experts noted</a>, however, that deescalation tactics — like commanding Bryant to drop the weapon, physically getting between the women, or simply communicating with her — could have kept everyone alive. In <a href="https://newsone.com/playlist/white-arrested-with-by-police/">many recorded encounters between the police and white people carrying weapons</a>, for instance, officers didn’t shoot first or even reach for their guns — they successfully managed to peacefully apprehend the suspect.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="DtVznk">
Bryant’s death has become a debate that questions a child’s actions — and worthiness to live — instead of another example of the racism of policing and the institution’s failure to provide wholesome support, care, and safety for the communities it serves. The insistence that Reardon had no other option than to take Bryant’s life to save others<strong> </strong>— though he risked everyone’s life in the process — displays the lack of consideration and value that society places on the lives of Black girls and women.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="M06S5b">
Treva Lindsey, a professor of African American women’s history at Ohio State University, told Vox that there are those who won’t see Bryant as a victim but as someone who brought this on herself. And even for those who do see her as a victim, they’ll still victim-blame, erasing the systemic oppression — including that Black children are <a href="https://www.childwelfare.gov/pubPDFs/racial_disproportionality.pdf">far more likely </a>to be in foster care than their white counterparts, and kids in foster care are often exposed to <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/publication/11987331_Violence_Exposure_Among_School-Age_Children_in_Foster_Care_Relationship_to_Distress_Symptoms">high levels of violence</a> — that brought her to being killed at the hands of the police.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="JSa6jN">
“People will say ‘I’m really sad this whole scenario happened, but had she not had that knife …’ That becomes the ‘but,’ the qualifier, the caveat. And too often we have a caveat when it comes to defending, protecting, and caring for Black girls,” Lindsey said.
</p>
<h3 id="iop686">
The debate over whether police should have shot a child
</h3>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="zBbOrs">
On the afternoon of April 20, Ma’Khia Bryant reportedly dialed 911. The call was dominated by screams, but the caller said that someone was “trying to stab us” and “put hands” on their grandmother. “We need a police officer here now,” the person said. Body camera footage shows that when officer Reardon exited his vehicle, there were seven people outside of the home.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="SIHpOY">
There was yelling, and a girl could be seen falling to the ground after being attacked by Bryant and kicked by an unidentified man standing nearby. Bryant, holding a knife, then lunged toward a woman dressed in pink who was standing up against a vehicle. Just moments after asking “What’s going on?” Reardon pulled out his gun yelled, “Hey! Hey! Get down! Get down!” (prompting the woman in pink to run away) and fired four shots at Bryant. Bryant immediately slumped to the ground next to the vehicle<strong>. </strong>
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="zZ8ldG">
Interim Columbus police chief Michael Woods<a href="https://apnews.com/article/shootings-88bf22bdbd035cebaa2a5ef7685ce6e5?utm_medium=AP&amp;utm_campaign=SocialFlow&amp;utm_source=Twitter"> called the shooting</a> a terrible tragedy for all those involved but said department policy states that an officer can use deadly force against someone when they appear to be inflicting harm on another person. He explained that the officers did not use a taser because there was an immediate threat of death. In addition, the chief said that officers aren’t required to verbalize to bystanders that they are about to fire their weapon.<strong> </strong>
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="pus4ok">
The Columbus Police Department has long disproportionately used excessive force against Black people, coming under fire in recent months for the police killings of Andre Hill, a Black man police shot in a garage, and Casey Goodson Jr., a Black man who was entering his home.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="A9B0Yt">
Almost <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2020/11/10/us/columbus-police-discrimination-lawsuits-ohio/index.html">55 percent of the department’s use-of-force incidents targeted Black people</a> who make up less than 30 percent of the population. Other reports show how <a href="https://theappeal.org/columbus-ohio-police-department-racism-retaliation-discrimination/">racism is rampant</a> within the department’s ranks. With renewed attention on the department, the Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigation is conducting a third-party investigation of Bryant’s shooting that will answer questions like what might have happened if Reardon did not shoot and what information he had upon approaching the scene.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="3mH6RO">
Sill, many have already drawn their own conclusions. Bryant’s death sparked debate across media and social media about whether the officer should have shot the 16-year-old.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="5QPhnj">
On <em>Face the Nation</em>, Rep. Val Demings (D-FL), a former Orlando police chief, vehemently defended the officers’ actions, saying that police are forced to make calls in the heat of the moment. “Everybody has the benefit of slowing the video down and seizing the perfect moment. The officer on the street does not have that ability. He or she has to make those split-second decisions, and they’re tough.”
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="byEMCM">
On the popular radio show <em>The Breakfast Club</em>, host DJ Envy stated, “The whole situation is tragic and it’s sad because that system failed that young lady.” But he also added, “Every case is different, and in this case, if I pull up to a scene and see a girl chasing another girl about to stab a girl, my job as a police officer is to make sure that girl doesn’t get killed. And the law allows me to stop that killing or that stabbing by any means necessary.”
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="kWb1QF">
But as crisis interventionists pointed out, the police officer could have taken steps to <a href="https://de-escalate.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/A-Practical-Overview-of-De-Escalation-Skills-in-Law-Enforcement.pdf">deescalate the situation</a>, savings all lives in the process. Psychologist Merushka Bisetty <a href="https://www.vox.com/first-person/22409527/makhia-bryant-deescalation">explained in an essay for Vox</a> that children like Bryant may “present with aggression and an inability to self-regulate their emotions and, consequently, engage in behaviors that can seem aggressive or involve weapons,” but that doesn’t mean that these situations “require or should be met with violent force.” Instead, it’s the role of intervening professionals to stop an aggressive interaction from becoming fatal.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="Zt3vy8">
That the reaction to Bryant’s killing has turned into a debate about whether the use of force is justified is an attempt to “displace blame onto the victim and their family rather than on the systems that created situations that led to her death,” Bisetty, who has provided services in shelters, schools, and jails, wrote. “It is worth considering whether Bryant might have still been alive today if a mental health expert — or someone else trained in nonviolent deescalation — had responded to the call.”
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="Zo6qTE">
It’s also worth considering whether the police officer would have fired shots if Bryant or the people involved in the altercation were white. There are countless examples <a href="https://twitter.com/ramseyboltin/status/1299851359659925507">of police</a> peacefully apprehending white boys and men wielding weapons. Just last year police officers in Kenosha, Wisconsin, <a href="https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/factcheck/2020/08/29/fact-check-video-police-thanked-kyle-rittenhouse-gave-him-water/5661804002/">handed water bottles to and thanked</a> 17-year-old Kyle Rittenhouse, a self-described militia member who carried an AR-15-style rifle during the unrest that followed the police shooting of Jacob Blake. Rittenhouse was allowed to leave the scene after fatally shooting two people and harming another, though the police had been informed that he was the shooter.
</p>
<div id="063eOg">
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" dir="ltr" lang="en">
For anyone saying “but she had a knife” let me remind you. <a href="https://t.co/L7isgyXsho">pic.twitter.com/L7isgyXsho</a>
</p>
— Mic Feel (<span class="citation" data-cites="micfeel__">@micfeel__</span>) <a href="https://twitter.com/micfeel__/status/1384942845463773186?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 21, 2021</a>
</blockquote></div></li>
</ul>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="wUklUN">
In other cases, white men have verbally threatened police officers and pointed weapons at them. In those situations, the police did not reach for their guns at all or ever use them. In 2019, <a href="https://www.cbs42.com/news/triple-homicide-suspect-leads-virginia-police-on-naked-chase/">19-year-old Matthew Bernard who killed two women and a child</a> led Virginia authorities, who tried to stop him with mace and a stun gun, on a naked chase before they eventually took him into custody.
</p>
<div id="zn2xrm">
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" dir="ltr" lang="en">
Didn’t reach for his gun once… <a href="https://t.co/QtRNzG3v5n">pic.twitter.com/QtRNzG3v5n</a>
</p>
— Arlong (<span class="citation" data-cites="ramseyboltin">@ramseyboltin</span>) <a href="https://twitter.com/ramseyboltin/status/1299851359659925507?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">August 29, 2020</a>
</blockquote>
</div>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="9g7D17">
White women, too, often get a softer side of law enforcement handling. Several white women who were part of the Capitol insurrection on January 6 <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G9hjfQ3xgIA">could be seen on video</a> being peacefully escorted down the steps of the Capitol building amid the chaos. In a tense <a href="https://www.detroitnews.com/story/news/local/oakland-county/2020/07/02/angry-exchange-video-shows-gun-being-pulled-mom-teen-orion-township-chipotle/5361865002/">July 2020 Detroit-area encounter</a>, a white woman in a minivan pointed a gun at a Black mother while the Black woman’s 15-year-old daughter watched and screamed nearby. When the police arrived after six 911 calls, they ordered the white woman out of the van, put her on the ground, handcuffed her, and took her gun, <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2020/07/02/us/michigan-woman-pulls-gun.html">according to the police</a>.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="oKZsAI">
Black women aren’t treated with the same patriarchal protections, however problematic, that are afforded to white women, Lindsey points out. The idea that Black women should be handled with care because they are women just doesn’t exist.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="598WZw">
“We see an incredibly disparate treatment gap between what white women experience with police and what Black women experience with police,” she said.
</p>
<h3 id="NYd0VQ">
In police encounters, racism and sexism work against Black girls and women
</h3>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="fxm94A">
The level of dismissal and scrutiny that Black female victims face when they die at the hands of the police is unmatched. Bryant’s name is no longer trending, and even though her funeral was Friday, headlines about the fatal incident have dwindled. What narrative there is surrounding fatal police violence and police brutality often centers Black cisgender men and boys, leaving out Black women, girls, and trans people.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="LdKmV9">
The focus on Black men and boys is warranted since they face the highest risk of being killed by the police: About 1 in 1,000 Black men and boys in America can expect to die at the hands of police, according to a <a href="https://www.pnas.org/content/116/34/16793">2019 study</a>, a risk that is 2.5 times higher than for white men.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="JTIdvd">
Likewise, the same study found that out of all women, Black women face the highest risk of being killed by the police. Black women make up 20 percent (48 total) of the 247 women fatally shot by the police and 28 percent of unarmed killings since 2015, according to a 2020 Washington Post <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/graphics/2020/investigations/police-shootings-women/">analysis</a>. All of this research does not include violent encounters between Black women and the police that do not result in death — such as cases of sexual harassment and assault.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="c1blp8">
But the realities of these statistics often don’t make the front page, or any pages at all. The invisibility of Black girls and women persists, many scholars note, because they stand at the complex intersection of their gender and Black racial identity. When it comes to their blackness, they’re not recognized as a group that needs protection. And this coupled with their status as women means that they cannot be trusted or believed.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="NU4nGh">
“We still read blackness through the lens of masculinity,” Lindsey told Vox. “The strange fruit hanging from the tree is still Black men.” As a result, when Black women end up in encounters with police, society always asks, “Well, what did she do wrong?”
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="8L7eSD">
Lindsey said that we’re entrenched in a narrative that the police violence against Black women “is more of a blip and not a pattern for an investment,” though police violence always had a penchant for Black life across all genders.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="vPYfBq">
These ideas go back to slave patrols, progenitors of policing in the United States. It was Black women who were on “wanted” posters<strong> </strong>for escaping, Lindsey explained — like, for example, Harriet Tubman, who would have been killed by patrols for defying the state. And as Michelle F. Jacobs wrote in “<a href="https://scholarship.law.ufl.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1828&amp;context=facultypub">The Violent State: Black Women’s Invisible Struggle Against Police Violence</a>,” both Black men and women were killed, maimed and mutilated at the will of slave holders, but Black women were violently raped and sexually abused by both the slave holder and his employees as an economic necessity.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="2gYNzq">
Jacobs points out that by the time the country gets to the Jim Crow era, stereotypes about Black women (they’re governed by libido and loose morals, are liars, and are aggressive) are solidified and become cemented in state policy. “Public benefits law, educational law, delinquency and neglect policy, and all aspects of criminal law have embedded the stereotypes as the normative foundation for how government evaluates, judges, and punishes Black women,” she wrote.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="4Tge08">
While state violence against Black bodies is often seen through the narratives of Emmett Till, Amadou Diallo, Mike Brown, and George Floyd, “What about Carol, Denise, Addy, and Cynthia — the four little girls bombed in Alabama?” Lindsey said.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="Yxp0CD">
Black women’s experience with the police — and the police’s desire to avoid accountability for killing — even gave birth to the intentionally passive term “officer-involved shooting.” In 1979, Los Angeles police officers shot Eula Love eight times in her front yard. The two officers were escorting a gas company employee to cut off her service.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="c9u3gu">
According to the police, Love had a $22.09 money order for the gas company in her purse and a kitchen knife in her hand. One of the officers described Love as a “raging, frothing at the mouth, knife-wielding woman” and newspapers described her as “unemployed and overweight.” Love’s killing was <a href="https://www.jacobinmag.com/2016/09/eula-love-officer-involved-shooting-black-lives-matter">one of the earliest instances in which police used the phrase “officer-involved shooting”</a> to blur the truth, as opposed to the more direct language that the police shot and killed Love <a href="https://www.cjr.org/analysis/officer-involved-shooting.php">that is being advocated for today</a>.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="LmRQap">
This decentering of the Black women’s experiences when it comes to state violence detracts from the bigger trends, forcing Breonna Taylor, whose name and face turned into a meme and unit of commodification, to become an exceptional case and not an example of a larger issue, Lindsey said.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="LX35A8">
Taylor’s death, in fact, only rose to prominence after video of Floyd’s death went viral. She was also perhaps the closest example we have of “perfect” Black woman victimhood since she was asleep in her bed when the encounter began. And yet people still found ways to blame her, claiming that she should not have engaged with a drug dealer who led police officers to her door that night.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="mxVo9B">
Sandra Bland, another one of the more well-known recent cases of police violence against a Black woman, was blamed for being “combative” with the police when she was pulled over on a Texas road in 2015 for failing to signal a lane change. Police took Bland into custody at a local jail where she was pronounced dead, her death ruled a suicide. Right-wing commentators, white liberals, and people within the Black community itself said that Bland should have followed the police’s directions and not been confrontational in order to save her life.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="yOYOuj">
For Black girls, criminalization and adultification start early. According to the 2017 Georgetown Law <a href="https://genderjusticeandopportunity.georgetown.edu/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/girlhood-interrupted.pdf">study</a> “Girlhood Interrupted: The Erasure of Black Girls’ Childhood,” Black girls face “adultification bias” from as young as 5, which means adults perceive them to be less innocent and thus less worthy of nurturing, protection, and comfort. This too stems back to slavery, the report noted, since Black children were put to work as young as two and three years old and were punished for showing child-like behavior.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="PBPYUr">
This can be seen in other instances of police violence against Black girls caught on camera. In a 2015 case of police brutality that went viral, an officer tackled, dragged, and pinned 15-year-old Dajerria Becton to the ground at a pool party in McKinney, Texas, after officers were called to the home over alleged trespassing. In February, police in Rochester, New York, pepper sprayed a 9-year-old Black girl after they <a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/you-did-it-yourself-officer-tells-9-year-old-girl-n1257630">responded to a report</a> about “family trouble.”<strong> </strong>Video footage shows that the girl repeatedly screamed for her father as police handcuffed her. When she refused to get into the police vehicle, police pepper sprayed her. “Don’t do this do to me” she exclaimed, and officers responded “You did it to yourself.”
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="x6yVSS">
It is also how people have referred to Bryant.<strong> </strong>When Columbus Mayor Andrew Ginther <a href="https://twitter.com/MayorGinther/status/1384650492303732740">shared the news of Bryant’s killing</a> on Twitter, he wrote of the 16-year-old, “a young woman tragically lost her life.” People immediately reminded him that she was “just a girl.”
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="i7KslH">
As scholar and activist Brittany Cooper noted, it was a Black girl that helped the world see what happened to Floyd. Darnella Frazier was 17 when she recorded Floyd’s death and accompanied by her 8-year-old cousin who also witnessed the murder so that the world could eventually see it. Without these Black girls, the small dose of justice that brought many people relief last week would have likely never happened.
</p>
<h3 id="XuhulH">
Justice begins with visibility and accountability
</h3>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="6yLKNL">
A reason why there is debate over Bryant’s death is that it is difficult to educate the public if stories like hers rarely make the news — so when they do, there are preconceived notions that preclude nuanced views about policing and the sanctity of Black girlhood.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="OD0nux">
“There’s definitely an internalization of misogynoir inside and outside of our communities,” Lindsey said, referring to the <a href="https://nyupress.org/9781479865109/misogynoir-transformed/">term coined by Moya Bailey</a> to explain how anti-Blackness and misogyny manifest in Black women’s lives. “So even beyond the sheer hatred of Black women, people really don’t understand these stories. [Black women and girls] are not legible. So even when we gain visibility, like in the Ma’Khia Bryant case, her story will remain illegible to folks.” People will continue to see a knife-wielding suspect as opposed to a traumatized 16-year-old girl.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="qh7pnz">
To address this problem, Black legal scholars and feminist activists, primarily Kimberlé Crenshaw and Andrea J. Ritchie, launched the #SayHerName campaign in 2014 and released a corresponding <a href="http://static1.squarespace.com/static/53f20d90e4b0b80451158d8c/t/560c068ee4b0af26f72741df/1443628686535/AAPF_SMN_Brief_Full_singles-min.pdf">report</a>, “Say Her Name: Resisting Police Brutality Against Black Women,” to bring awareness to the forgotten victims of police brutality.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="Fhe1we">
The report pointed out that Black girls as young as 7 (<a href="https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2010/09/aiyana-stanley-jones-detroit/">Aiyana Stanley-Jones</a>) and women as old as 93 (<a href="https://www.cnn.com/2014/05/11/us/texas-fatal-shooting">Pearlie Golden</a>) have been killed by the police, with officers escaping prosecution or conviction. “<em>Say Her Name</em> sheds light on Black women’s experiences of police violence in an effort to support a gender-inclusive approach to racial justice that centers all Black lives equally,” Crenshaw and Ritchie wrote.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="Wd9NhY">
But in the years since the campaign launched, people have muddled the meaning behind #SayHerName, even if inadvertently. The phrase has morphed into #SayHisName whenever a Black boy or man is killed by the police, and the collective #SayTheirNames became widespread in 2020 in the months following Floyd’s death to further elevate the movement for Black lives. But the crowding out of #SayHerName in favor of these other versions, takes away from the campaign’s original purpose and furthers the erasure of Black girls and women.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="5cduvk">
According to Lindsey, protests since Bryant’s death led by Black women, Black queer folks, and Black gender non-binary folks, have been ongoing. “There’s a good amount of non-Black allies and accomplices who have been present in this, but it still looks nothing like what we tend to see when Black men or boys are killed by police, in terms of sheer number,” she said.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="AkPaTI">
Each time a Black girl, woman, trans, or gender nonbinary person is killed, it’s an uphill battle to bring awareness to their story. For Lindsey, the goal should never be to debate whether Black people are human or matter.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="EEv01E">
“It’s important for us to continuing highlighting and vocalizing how the inhumanity of white supremacy shows up in the lives of Black women and girls,” Lindsey said. “When we’re equipped with the full truth of how it operates, we have a better chance at rooting out the operating system of white supremacy and anti-Blackness.”
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="XMKXmr">
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="YHVOtc">
</p>
<ul>
<li><strong>How the Indian government is silencing its critics</strong> -
<figure>
<img alt="A protester shouts and raises a fist in front of a red flag." src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/fXa_WmuL3R1DmtRQ6_LN3Ee5uKg=/309x0:4940x3473/1310x983/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/69217762/1193179872.0.jpg"/>
<figcaption>
A protester participating at a January 2020 rally against the arrival of Prime Minister Narenda Modi in Kolkata, India. | Indranil Aditya/NurPhoto via Getty Images
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
The Indian government is silencing its critics on Twitter and Facebook.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="2ZYgDu">
As the <a href="https://www.vox.com/world/22403722/india-covid-19-vaccine-variant-cases-coronavirus">coronavirus pandemic rages in India</a>, claiming thousands of lives, many Indians are turning to social media to demand that the government handle the public health crisis better. And now, the government is silencing these critics in its latest threat to the future of free speech on the internet in the world’s second-most populous country.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="7Inzfd">
In recent weeks, the Indian government has requested that companies like <a href="https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/pranavdixit/twitter-blocking-tweets-india">Twitter take down content</a> that it says contains misinformation about the Covid-19 pandemic. But critics say that India’s political leadership under Prime Minister Narendra Modi is using the premise of misinformation to overreach and suppress criticism of the administration’s handling of the pandemic.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="T9ghsu">
A similar debate has also played out in the US around how companies like Twitter and Facebook should moderate harmful speech on their platforms, <a href="https://www.vox.com/technology/2019/5/6/18528250/facebook-speech-conservatives-trump-platform-publisher">particularly when that speech comes from world leaders</a>. But the issue has taken on an increased intensity in India, where the government is more aggressively and directly pressuring tech companies to block content it takes issue with.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="1nFApr">
“Internet companies are stuck between a rock and a hard place,” said Anupam Chander, a law professor at Georgetown University who focuses on the regulation of international speech online. “They face a government that is accusing them of essentially abetting a violation of law. At the same time, there are huge free expression concerns here.”
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="jwaJtn">
India is the world’s biggest democracy and has a history of robust political debate. Its constitution protects people’s rights to freedom of speech and expression — with some exceptions including for content it deems defamatory.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="iyAF2T">
But under the Modi administration of the past several years, the country has <a href="https://time.com/5946092/india-internet-rules-impact/">expanded its internet regulation laws</a>, giving it more power to censor and surveil its citizens online. The government has several levers to pressure US-based tech companies into compliance: It could arrest Facebook and Twitter staff in India if their employers don’t follow orders. Even further, India could yank Twitter or Facebook off the local internet in India entirely, as it recently did with <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2020/06/29/world/asia/tik-tok-banned-india-china.html">TikTok and several major Chinese apps</a> in June. And the government resorted to effectively <a href="https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/pranavdixit/no-email-no-whatsapp-no-internet-this-is-now-normal-life-in">shutting down the internet in Kashmir</a> in February 2020 when it wanted to quiet political dissent in the region.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="IBOf01">
Now, the tension between US social media companies and the Indian government has reached an all-time high because of the fierce debate around Modi’s handling of the Covid-19 pandemic. And what happens next could determine whether Indians will continue to have the same kind of access to a relatively open social media environment or if the walls around what people are allowed to say online in India will close up even more. Some fear that the country may become more like China, where the government tightly controls its residents’ access to information and where US tech giants like Google and Facebook have tried — and failed — to operate successfully.
</p>
<h3 id="6vuyAV">
What happened with recent takedowns
</h3>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="FYdgCf">
In recent days, Twitter and Facebook have taken down or blocked political content that’s critical of the Indian government.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="SRXttB">
On Wednesday, Facebook confirmed that it <a href="https://techcrunch.com/2021/04/28/facebook-hides-posts-calling-for-pm-modis-resignation-in-india/">temporarily blocked posts with a #ResignModi</a> hashtag in India, but it later said it was a mistake because of content associated with the hashtag that violated its policies. Facebook has since restored access to the hashtag.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="MulZFw">
Facebook declined to comment on how many or what takedown requests it has received from the Indian government in recent weeks. A source familiar with the company said Facebook only took down a small portion of the total requests it received.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="WaWqs1">
In sharp contrast to Facebook, Twitter is more transparent and discloses takedown requests through an outside organization, Lumen. Twitter acknowledged that the Indian government asked it to take down several dozen tweets recently, which were about the Covid-19 pandemic in India, as first reported by <a href="https://www.medianama.com/2021/04/223-twitter-mp-minister-censor/">Indian news site MediaNama</a>.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="zAOXrs">
Recode reviewed the <a href="https://twitter.com/lumendatabase/status/1387576048695525379">more than 50 tweets</a> that Twitter blocked or deleted at the request of the Indian government in recent weeks. While some could be considered misleading — including one viral image showing devastation<strong> </strong>in India supposedly related to the pandemic which Indian <a href="https://www.altnews.in/a-three-year-old-image-of-a-woman-and-her-son-carrying-oxygen-cylinder-viral-as-recent/?utm_source=website&amp;utm_medium=social-media&amp;utm_campaign=newpost">fact-checker AltNews reported to be outdated</a> — it wasn’t clear what was misleading about several other posts, which appeared to be straightforward news and political commentary.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="nAKQLR">
One of the blocked tweets, for example, is <a href="https://twitter.com/IAMCouncil/status/1382073337787121665">a link to a Vice news article</a> about a mass Hindu religious bathing ritual being held in the river Ganges during the most recent Covid-19 surge — which has been <a href="https://www.npr.org/sections/coronavirus-live-updates/2021/04/13/986686352/millions-flock-to-hindu-festival-amid-coronavirus-spike">widely reported in other outlets</a> as well. Another is a <a href="https://twitter.com/ikaur_deep/status/1384690449785491457">satirical cartoon showing a caricature of Modi</a> making a speech over burning coffins, with the prime minister saying, “Have never seen such huge crowds at a rally.”
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="Q0qHBn">
The Indian Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology, which issues takedown requests to social media companies on behalf of the Indian government, did not respond to a request for comment. A spokesperson for Modi’s BJP Party also did not respond to a request for comment.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="RjZyu7">
In response to Recode’s questions about how Twitter decides which posts to block or take down, a spokesperson for Twitter emailed Recode the following statement:
</p>
<blockquote>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="APKnqK">
When we receive a valid legal request, we review it under both the Twitter Rules and local law. If the content violates Twitter’s Rules, the content will be removed from the service. If it is determined to be illegal in a particular jurisdiction, but not in violation of the Twitter Rules, we may withhold access to the content in India only.
</p>
</blockquote>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="QW4faS">
The company also said it notified account holders directly when they receive a legal order pertaining to their account.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="0FgycF">
Many free speech advocates are quick to accuse social media companies like Twitter of too easily giving in to pressure from the Indian government. In the past, the company has taken a more aggressive and public stance against the Modi administration — such as in February when <a href="https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/pranavdixit/twitter-says-it-wont-block-journalists-activists-and">it refused to block political activists</a> and journalists who used Twitter to criticize the Indian government’s new agricultural reforms, which many <a href="https://www.vox.com/videos/22205334/indias-huge-farmer-protests-explained">farmers in India had been protesting for months</a>.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="y3yONd">
Now, during the pandemic, companies like Twitter are again being tested about how much they’re willing to follow the Indian government’s orders — and run the risk of being shut down entirely if they disobey them.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="z9I8nE">
“It’s easy for us to say Twitter shouldn’t do this. But the question is whether it wants to continue operating in the Indian market,” said Chander. “It’s a very complicated dance.”
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="xBFCI1">
One route US social media companies could take is to try to contest the government’s recent takedown requests in the Indian courts, which Chander said are relatively independent of Modi.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="WoV9qk">
The US government, which has a close relationship with India, could also pressure Modi’s administration to loosen its grip on social media. On Monday, White House press secretary <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3LDSzjWKzOg&amp;t=1950s">Jen Psaki said</a> that the Indian government ordering social media companies to block posts critical of the government “certainly wouldn’t be aligned with our view of freedom of speech around the world.”
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="tKpVaB">
The White House has other diplomatic leverage it could use, like threatening to cut off trade agreements or other diplomatic relations between the two countries. For now, the White House is focused on the larger issue of vaccine distribution in India. This week, the administration announced — under increasing global pressure — that it will reverse course and <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/live/2021/04/25/world/covid-vaccine-coronavirus-cases">export Covid-19 vaccine materials to the country</a>. So far there’s been no public indication that the Biden administration is considering taking any diplomatic action around the country’s stance toward social media.<strong> </strong>
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="BNOdC6">
Regardless, it’s clear that there’s a growing battle between the Indian government and US social media companies. What happens next will be a sign of where the future of free speech in the country seems to be heading.
</p></li>
<li><strong>Apple, Fortnite, and the Apple App Store: What’s at stake in the antitrust court case</strong> -
<figure>
<img alt="" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/ZrxvnmuU2pfrdNAwaV0oFSj-S-U=/56x0:3612x2667/1310x983/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/69217634/1228530553.0.jpg"/>
<figcaption>
Apple CEO Tim Cook introducing new products at a virtual launch event. | Daniel Acker/Bloomberg via Getty Images
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
Suddenly, Apple has multiple antitrust fights on its hands. A new one starts Monday.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="tJU3Md">
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="SrIeXy">
The trial that kicks off in a federal courtroom in San Francisco on Monday is extraordinary: Epic Games, one of the world’s most popular and valuable game companies, <a href="https://www.vox.com/recode/2020/8/20/21373780/fortnite-epic-apple-lawsuit-app-store-antitrust">is suing Apple</a>, the world’s most valuable company.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="FkSuAJ">
Epic wants Apple to make fundamental changes to its powerful Apple App Store. If it succeeds, it would change the way the app economy works.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="Sb7KYn">
One sign of the trial’s importance to both companies: Apple CEO Tim Cook and Epic CEO Tim Sweeney are both scheduled to testify during the trial. Sweeney even plans on attending the proceedings in person for three weeks.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="NioyLX">
But even though the Epic trial is … epic, it’s more of a leading indicator for Apple than a one-off. Apple has been able to run its app store by its own rules — no matter how much grumbling from big and little developers that created — for more than a decade. Now, a growing list of lawmakers, regulators, and companies are trying to change that using antitrust arguments. Even if Epic doesn’t succeed, someone else might.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="IL4njN">
If that happens, it won’t just affect a $2 trillion company and a constellation of companies that depend on its iPhone to get their software into your hands. It could affect iPhone users, too. In theory, if Apple is forced to loosen its grip on its app store, it could reduce prices for the apps you pay for today. Or, in Apple’s version of the story, it could make its iOS ecosystem more vulnerable to scams and malware.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="zMf7SN">
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="Cmopsa">
The battle lines of the Epic-Apple fight were drawn last summer. That’s when <a href="https://www.vox.com/recode/2020/8/13/21366340/fortnite-epic-apple-app-store-ios-antitrust">Epic tried selling virtual currency</a> on its popular Fortnite game without going through Apple’s app store, where it would have to pay a 30 percent tax to Apple. Apple responded, as Epic expected, by kicking Fortnite out of its app store, and then Epic responded by filing an antitrust lawsuit.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="yOzSMc">
Epic wasn’t the first developer to complain about <a href="http://allthingsd.com/20110609/steve-jobs-blinks-apple-backs-down-on-app-subscription-rules/">the rules Apple has set up</a> around its app store, which is the only way developers can get their software onto Apple’s phones. Magazine and newspaper publishers, Netflix, and Spotify have also complained about the arrangement. All of them say that the 30 percent fee Apple takes from every transaction —that number can drop to 15 percent in some cases — is too onerous.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="1sYqIp">
There are other complaints as well, like the way that Apple controls access to subscribers’ and buyers’ personal information or the way Apple prevents developers from telling customers they can also pay for services outside of the app store ecosystem — which could save customers or developers money.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="NcwV5a">
But until Epic sued Apple last summer, no developer had taken on Apple directly. Instead, they tended to agree to Apple’s terms, or as Netflix and Spotify did, they stopped trying to sell things through the Apple App Store altogether.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="A6xGx7">
Epic’s decision to sue seems to be driven partly by business reasons. If it didn’t have to pay Apple’s 30 percent tax, Epic could generate a lot more revenue from the sales of its digital currency, which players use to buy <a href="https://progameguides.com/fortnite-skins-list/">funny costumes and other ephemera</a>. But other platforms that Epic uses to distribute Fortnite, including Sony and Microsoft, also take 30 percent cuts from microtransactions, and Epic doesn’t complain about that. Which is why the suit also seems driven by Tim Sweeney’s personal conviction that Apple, a company he says he used to idolize, is choking off developers’ ability to build interesting and innovative businesses.
</p>
<div id="rGNptj">
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" dir="ltr" lang="en">
Apple believes you should have a choice! Just not about payments. Nor stores. Nor a choice to play Fortnite. Nor a choice for developers to distribute apps directly. Apple thinks those choices should be Apple’s alone.
</p>
— Tim Sweeney (<span class="citation" data-cites="TimSweeneyEpic">@TimSweeneyEpic</span>) <a href="https://twitter.com/TimSweeneyEpic/status/1387256953475239943?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 28, 2021</a>
</blockquote></div></li>
</ul>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="UAe6yp">
Last fall, Sweeney even compared his suit to the efforts of <a href="https://techcrunch.com/2020/11/18/epic-games-founder-tim-sweeney-likens-fight-against-apple-to-fight-for-civil-rights/?tpcc=ECTW2020">civil rights activists in the 1960s</a>. And when criticized for that overreach, doubled down:
</p>
<div id="dOPdQy">
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" dir="ltr" lang="en">
It’s a good article. Hey critics, please read what I said and tell me if it’s actually wrong: When the rules were wrongful, it was right to disobey them. That’s the comparison to the civil rights movement. <a href="https://t.co/WMomQXwEjr">pic.twitter.com/WMomQXwEjr</a>
</p>
— Tim Sweeney (<span class="citation" data-cites="TimSweeneyEpic">@TimSweeneyEpic</span>) <a href="https://twitter.com/TimSweeneyEpic/status/1329135035073650688?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">November 18, 2020</a>
</blockquote>
</div>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="zgyCfF">
And unlike some other people who complain about Apple, Sweeney has the resources to do something about it: Epic is a very <a href="https://www.epicgames.com/site/en-US/news/announcing-a-1-billion-funding-round-to-support-epics-long-term-vision-for-the-metaverse">profitable software company</a> currently valued at $29 billion — about $10 billion more than it was prior to suing Apple last summer — and Sweeney himself is worth an estimated $7 billion to $9 billion.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="lJQuIV">
None of which means Epic will win its case. Its main argument is that Apple’s control of distribution for its iOS devices constitutes an illegal monopoly. But there isn’t a long legal history of courts ruling against companies that control the market for their own brand of products.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="fwi38x">
One major exception is a <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/business/1992/06/09/antitrust-case-ruling-goes-against-kodak/42f08ac9-3d44-48be-b19d-b05f2ba3a163/">1992 ruling against Kodak</a>, which had been sued by vendors who repaired its copy machines; in that case, the Supreme Court said vendors who complained that Kodak forced them to use Kodak-made or Kodak-approved parts to fix Kodak machines had a viable antitrust argument. The vendors eventually won their case and received damages plus the ability to buy Kodak parts at reasonable prices.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="tpIdoR">
Another example that Epic will likely reference is the Department of Justice’s campaign against Microsoft in the 1990s, when the software company essentially owned the PC market, but that case ended in a settlement. (Epic has hired antitrust expert Christine Varney, who headed up the DOJ’s antitrust division during Barack Obama’s tenure and also represented Netscape, the internet browser company, during the DOJ-Microsoft trial.)
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="JEwwqc">
Apple’s counterargument is fairly simple: The company says it can’t be a monopoly because it doesn’t own the phone market — it shares it with Google’s Android — and because Fortnite players can play the game on devices made by lots of other companies, including Sony, Microsoft, and Nintendo. Apple also argues, more or less, that it built the Apple App Store and the iPhone, and so it should be able to set the terms that govern the ecosystem around them. Epic, it says, wants to run its own store, on its own terms, on Apple’s property.
</p>
<h3 id="6OiCJd">
Apple’s antitrust problems are growing
</h3>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="Zzy36L">
No matter who wins the Apple-Epic case in the first round of this battle, there is almost certain to be an appeal, so whatever happens in Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers’s courtroom won’t be the end of the story.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="1F9a2w">
But it’s also not the only Apple antitrust story right now. Spotify says its music service operates at a disadvantage against Apple’s music service because Apple wants Spotify to pay a 30 percent fee on subscription revenue that it doesn’t charge itself. Spotify hasn’t sued Apple directly, but it has been pressing lawmakers in the United States and Europe to pursue antitrust actions against Apple, and it has made headway: On Friday, the <a href="https://www.vox.com/recode/2021/4/30/22407918/eu-european-commission-apple-spotify-app-store">EU issued a preliminary finding</a> supporting Spotify’s argument.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="qmUjR6">
In theory, an EU ruling could eventually result in a fine of up to 10 percent of Apple’s annual revenue. But any changes the EU eventually extracts from Apple could be huge because its app store is the core driver for Apple’s growing push to sell “services” instead of just hardware. Right now, services account for nearly 20 percent of Apple’s revenue.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="HNu8U0">
Other charges could be coming in other countries. The United Kingdom <a href="https://www.wsj.com/articles/apple-faces-u-k-antitrust-probe-over-app-store-rules-11614861789">is investigating Apple over similar charges</a>, and this week the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission said Apple — as well as Google — needs “to improve outcomes for app developers and consumers” or face additional regulation. And in the US, where anti-Big Tech scrutiny has mostly focused on social media companies, a growing number of lawmakers have started to pay attention to the way Apple runs its app store.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="IGsSer">
Earlier this month, Sen. Amy Klobuchar held a hearing that focused primarily on Apple’s control of iOS apps, and included testimony from app-makers that have gone out of their way to support Epic in its court case, including Spotify and Match Group, the online dating company. Klobuchar, who just published <a href="https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08SQ85Q6S/?ots=1&amp;slotNum=1&amp;imprToken=88bc8f9c-5d47-57f3-bbb&amp;tag=theverge02-20&amp;ascsubtag=%5B%5Dvg%5Bp%5D22168534%5Bt%5Dw%5Br%5Dgoogle.com%5Bd%5DD" rel="sponsored nofollow noopener" target="_blank">a book about digital-age monopolies</a>, appears set on making Apple her biggest test case. “You could still have a successful Apple, but still demand more consumer protections to make it easier for people to compete,” she <a href="https://www.theverge.com/2021/4/27/22404493/amy-klobuchar-interview-antitrust-book-hearings-big-tech">told The Verge’s Nilay Patel</a> earlier this month.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="1t3O0t">
I’m skeptical about the overall narrative of a rising “techlash,” especially in Washington, where Democrats and Republicans don’t appear to be living on the same planet — which makes creating legislation that will rein in big tech companies quite challenging. But a variety of observers think that Apple and Amazon may be easier targets for lawmakers who want to slow down tech: Both companies run marketplaces and sell their own products in the same marketplaces. Forcing them to stop doing that may be a much easier task than determining how much free speech Facebook or Twitter should allow on their platforms.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="1NM2FW">
So yes: For the next three weeks, watch the Apple-Epic fight — at the very least, it’s a chance to see two tech billionaires duke it out in public. But pay attention to every other antitrust battle Apple is fighting at the same time. Collectively, there’s a good chance they could change the way Apple — and your iPhone — works.
</p>
<h1 data-aos="fade-right" id="from-the-hindu-sports">From The Hindu: Sports</h1>
<ul>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Indian Premier League 2021 | Sunrisers Hyderabad remove Warner from captaincy, Williamson takes charge</strong> - SRH statement indicated that David Warner could be dropped from the playing XI.</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>Indian Premier League 2021 | Delhi aims for consolidation, Punjab wants spin trick to work again</strong> - The Narendra Modi Stadium track has shown that balls tend to grip and batting becomes difficult as the game progresses.</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>Indian Premier League 2021 | Seeking revival, Hyderabad changes leadership as they prepare to take on Rajasthan</strong> - Rajasthan Royals have won two out of their six matches so far while the Sunrisers Hyderabad have one victory from six games.</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>IPL 2021 | Wanted to bowl dot ball to De Villiers but ended up getting his wicket: Harpreet</strong> - Harpreet Brar clean-bowled Kohli and Maxwell and then set up an off-side trap to force De Villiers into trying a lofted shot without any success.</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>Shikhar Dhawan donates ₹20 lakh for buying oxygen cylinders</strong> - Dhawan has also decided to donate his prize money received in various IPL matches, at the end of the event.</p></li>
</ul>
<h1 data-aos="fade-right" id="from-the-hindu-national-news">From The Hindu: National News</h1>
<ul>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Over 79 lakh COVID-19 vaccine doses available with States/UTs: Centre</strong> - The Centre has so far provided nearly 16.37 crore vaccine doses to States/UTs free of cost</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>Coronavirus | Scientists flag virus mutations that could ‘evade immune response’</strong> - The forum of advisers, known as the Indian SARS-CoV-2 Genetics Consortium, or INSACOG, has now found more mutations in the coronavirus that it thinks need to be tracked closely.</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 death rate in second wave is less than in first wave: Sudhakar</strong> - Health Minister appeals to the people not to panic, but take precautions</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>OPD service in Jammu GMC, its associated hospitals to be suspended from May 3</strong> - Decision taken in view of recent surge of COVID-19 pandemic and increase in patient load</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 vaccination for people in 18-44 age group begins at some private hospitals</strong> - Some private hospital chains commenced the COVID-19 immunisation drive for the 18-44 age group at limited centres in the country on May 1, officials</p></li>
</ul>
<h1 data-aos="fade-right" id="from-bbc-europe">From BBC: Europe</h1>
<ul>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Apple charged over ‘anti-competitive’ app policies</strong> - The tech giant faces a huge fine and may be forced to make changes to the App Store.</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>Bronze Age treasure found in Swedish forest by mapmaker</strong> - A man stumbled on ancient jewellery while surveying a forest for his orienteering club.</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>Haiti: Seven abducted Catholic clergy released</strong> - The case led to the resignation of the government in Haiti, where kidnappings have surged recently.</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>Eurozone suffers double-dip recession as pandemic impact continues</strong> - Activity in the bloc has been hit by a renewed surge in infections this year and Covid-related restrictions.</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>Brexit: Anger over government’s failure to get Norway fishing deal</strong> - One Hull-based trawler, which catches 10% of fish for UK chip shops, will be out of action for a year.</p></li>
</ul>
<h1 data-aos="fade-right" id="from-ars-technica">From Ars Technica</h1>
<ul>
<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>An ambitious plan to tackle ransomware faces long odds</strong> - Heavyweight task force proposes framework to tackle a major cybersecurity problem. - <a href="https://arstechnica.com/?p=1761651">link</a></p></li>
<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Ford’s ever-smarter robots are speeding up the assembly line</strong> - A transmission factory shows how AI may gradually creep into industrial processes - <a href="https://arstechnica.com/?p=1761646">link</a></p></li>
<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Disney gets special “theme park” exception to Florida’s anti-tech bill</strong> - A legal challenge to the new law seems inevitable. - <a href="https://arstechnica.com/?p=1761665">link</a></p></li>
<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>More US agencies potentially hacked, this time with Pulse Secure exploits</strong> - Zeroday vulnerability under attack has a severity rating of 10 out of 10. - <a href="https://arstechnica.com/?p=1761727">link</a></p></li>
<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Mysterious health attacks like those seen in Cuba have come to DC</strong> - US security official was reportedly sickened outside the White House last year. - <a href="https://arstechnica.com/?p=1761709">link</a></p></li>
</ul>
<h1 data-aos="fade-right" id="from-jokes-subreddit">From Jokes Subreddit</h1>
<ul>
<li><strong>I asked my wife, “I’m stuck on a crossword clue—Overworked Postman— can you help me?”</strong> - <!-- SC_OFF -->
<div class="md">
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
She said, “Sure. How many letters?”
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
I said, “I’m guessing—too many.”
</p>
</div>
<!-- SC_ON -->
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"> submitted by <a href="https://www.reddit.com/user/porichoygupto"> /u/porichoygupto </a> <br/> <span><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/Jokes/comments/n29vpv/i_asked_my_wife_im_stuck_on_a_crossword/">[link]</a></span> <span><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/Jokes/comments/n29vpv/i_asked_my_wife_im_stuck_on_a_crossword/">[comments]</a></span></p></li>
<li><strong>My wife is a sex object</strong> - <!-- SC_OFF -->
<div class="md">
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
Every time I ask for sex she objects.
</p>
</div>
<!-- SC_ON -->
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"> submitted by <a href="https://www.reddit.com/user/JesterFX"> /u/JesterFX </a> <br/> <span><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/Jokes/comments/n1w27u/my_wife_is_a_sex_object/">[link]</a></span> <span><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/Jokes/comments/n1w27u/my_wife_is_a_sex_object/">[comments]</a></span></p></li>
<li><strong>“Your sign outside says 3 strippers for 4.99… We talking topless or fully nude?”</strong> - <!-- SC_OFF -->
<div class="md">
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
“Sir this is Dominoes pizza. They’re chicken strippers.”
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
“Ok ok, now the price makes sense… How long is each dance?”
</p>
</div>
<!-- SC_ON -->
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"> submitted by <a href="https://www.reddit.com/user/Got-a-PhD-in-THC"> /u/Got-a-PhD-in-THC </a> <br/> <span><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/Jokes/comments/n1t9ce/your_sign_outside_says_3_strippers_for_499_we/">[link]</a></span> <span><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/Jokes/comments/n1t9ce/your_sign_outside_says_3_strippers_for_499_we/">[comments]</a></span></p></li>
<li><strong>A wife decides to take her husband, Dave, to a strip club for his birthday.</strong> - <!-- SC_OFF -->
<div class="md">
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
They arrive at the club and the doorman says, “Hey, Dave! How ya doin’?”
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
His wife is puzzled and asks if he’s been to this club before.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
“Oh no,” says Dave. “He’s on my bowling team.”
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
When they are seated, a waitress asks Dave if he’d like his usual and brings over a Budweiser.His wife is becoming increasingly uncomfortable and says," How did she know that you drink Budweiser?"
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
“She’s in the Ladies Bowling League, honey. We share lanes with them.”
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
A stripper then comes over to their table, throws her arms around Dave, and says “Hi Davey. Want your usual table dance, big boy?”
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
Daves wife, now furious, grabs her purse and storms out of the club.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
Dave follows and spots her getting into a cab. Before she can slam the door, he jumps in beside her.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
He tries desperately to explain how the stripper must have mistaken him for someone else, but his wife is having none of it.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
She is screaming at him at the top of her lungs, calling him every name in the book.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
The cabby turns his head and says, "Looks like you picked up a real bitch tonight, Dave.
</p>
</div>
<!-- SC_ON -->
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"> submitted by <a href="https://www.reddit.com/user/Noempathy4me"> /u/Noempathy4me </a> <br/> <span><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/Jokes/comments/n2gii6/a_wife_decides_to_take_her_husband_dave_to_a/">[link]</a></span> <span><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/Jokes/comments/n2gii6/a_wife_decides_to_take_her_husband_dave_to_a/">[comments]</a></span></p></li>
<li><strong>I phoned the wife earlier and asked if she wanted me to pick up Fish and Chips on the way home, but she just grunted at me.</strong> - <!-- SC_OFF -->
<div class="md">
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
I think she still regrets letting me name the twins.
</p>
</div>
<!-- SC_ON -->
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"> submitted by <a href="https://www.reddit.com/user/GuvSingh"> /u/GuvSingh </a> <br/> <span><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/Jokes/comments/n1pu1o/i_phoned_the_wife_earlier_and_asked_if_she_wanted/">[link]</a></span> <span><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/Jokes/comments/n1pu1o/i_phoned_the_wife_earlier_and_asked_if_she_wanted/">[comments]</a></span></p></li>
</ul>
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