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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>Using the precaution adoption process model to understand decision-making about the COVID-19 booster vaccine in England</strong> -
<div>
Background: COVID-19 continues to pose a threat to public health. Booster vaccine programmes are critical to achieve population-level immunity. Stage theory models of health behaviour can help our understanding of vaccine decision-making in the context of perceived threats of COVID-19. Purpose: To use the Precaution Adoption Process Model (PAPM) to understand decision-making about the COVID-19 booster vaccine (CBV) in England. Methods: An online, cross-sectional survey informed by the PAPM, the extended Theory of Planned Behaviour and Health Belief Model administered to people over the age of 50 residing in England, UK in October 2021. A multivariate, multinomial logistic regression model was used to examine associations with the different stages of CBV decision-making. Results: Of the total 2,004 participants: 135 (6.7%) were unengaged with the CBV programme; 262 (13.1%) were undecided as to whether to have a CBV; 31 (1.5%) had decided not to have a CBV; 1,415 (70.6%) had decided to have a CBV; and 161 (8.0%) had already had their CBV. Being unengaged was positively associated with beliefs in their immune system to protect against COVID-19, being employed, and low household income; and negatively associated with CBV knowledge, a positive COVID-19 vaccine experience, subjective norms, anticipated regret of not having a CBV, and higher academic qualifications. Being undecided was positively associated with beliefs in their immune system and having previously received the Oxford/AstraZeneca (as opposed to Pfizer/BioNTech) vaccine; and negatively associated with CBV knowledge, positive attitudes regarding CBV, a positive COVID-19 vaccine experience, anticipated regret of not having a CBV, white British ethnicity, and living in East Midlands (vs. London). Conclusions: Public health interventions promoting CBV may improve uptake through tailored messaging directed towards the specific decision stage relating to having a COVID-19 booster.
</div>
<div class="article-link article-html-link">
🖺 Full Text HTML: <a href="https://psyarxiv.com/j9kzd/" target="_blank">Using the precaution adoption process model to understand decision-making about the COVID-19 booster vaccine in England</a>
</div></li>
<li><strong>One for all - Human kidney Caki-1 cells are highly susceptible to infection with corona- and other respiratory viruses</strong> -
<div>
In vitro investigations of host-pathogen interactions of viruses are reliant on suitable cell and tissue culture models. Results are only as good as the model they have been generated in. However, choosing cell models for in vitro work often depends on what is available in labs or what has previously been used. Despite the vast increase in coronavirus research activity over the past few years, researchers are still heavily reliant on: non-human cells, for example Vero E6, highly heterogeneous or not fully differentiated cells, such as Calu-3, or naturally unsusceptible cells requiring overexpression of receptors and other accessory factors, such as ACE2 and TMPRSS2. Complex cell models, such as primary cell-derived air-liquid interface epithelial models are highly representative of human tissues but are expensive and time-consuming to develop and maintain. They have limited suitability for large-scale and high-throughput analysis. Using tissue-specific expression pattern as a selection criteria, we identified human kidney cells as an ideal target for severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2) and broader coronavirus infection. We show the use of the highly characterized human kidney cell line Caki-1 for infection with three human coronaviruses: Betacoronaviruses SARS-CoV-2 and Middle Eastern respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV) and Alphacoronavirus human coronavirus 229E (hCoV-229E). Caki-1 cells show equal or superior susceptibility to all three coronaviruses when compared to other commonly used cell lines for the cultivation of the respective virus. Antibody staining against SARS-CoV-2 N protein shows comparable replication rates. Using a panel of 21 antibodies in infected Caki-1 cells using immunocytochemistry shows the location of viral proteins during replication. In addition, Caki-1 cells were found to be susceptible to two other human respiratory viruses, influenza A virus and respiratory syncytial virus, making them an ideal model for cross-comparison of not only a broad range of coronaviruses but respiratory viruses in general.
</div>
<div class="article-link article-html-link">
🖺 Full Text HTML: <a href="https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2022.10.25.513760v2" target="_blank">One for all - Human kidney Caki-1 cells are highly susceptible to infection with corona- and other respiratory viruses</a>
</div></li>
<li><strong>Improving mRNA vaccine safety and efficiency with cationized lipid nanoparticle formula</strong> -
<div>
The widespread use of Covid-19 mRNA vaccines has highlighted the need to address rare but concerning side effects. Systemic off-target gene expression has been identified as a primary cause of acute adverse reactions and side effects associated with nucleoside-modified mRNA vaccines. In this study, we incorporated the permanent cationic lipid Dotap component into the mRNA-LNP formula associated with the FDA-approved mRNA vaccine Comirnaty to create a novel positively charged LNP carrier for mRNA vaccine delivery. Using the optimized LNP formula to prepare SARS-Cov-2 Spike mRNA vaccines for immunogenicity testing, Balb/c mice exhibited improved immunogenicity kinetics with initial antibody titers being lower but showing a continuous upward trend, ultimately reaching levels comparable to those of control mRNA vaccines 8 weeks after boost immunization. The mRNA vaccines encapsulated in the modified LNPs have demonstrated a superior safety profile in respect to systemic delivery of LNP constituents, off-target gene expression, and the systemic pro-inflammatory stimulation. Consequently, it may represent a safer alternative of conventional mRNA-LNP vaccines.
</div>
<div class="article-link article-html-link">
🖺 Full Text HTML: <a href="https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2023.03.29.534838v1" target="_blank">Improving mRNA vaccine safety and efficiency with cationized lipid nanoparticle formula</a>
</div></li>
<li><strong>Post-infection treatment with the E protein inhibitor BIT225 reduces disease severity and increases survival of k18-hACE2 transgenic mice infected with a lethal dose of SARS-CoV-2</strong> -
<div>
The Coronavirus envelope (E) protein is a small structural protein with ion channel activity that plays an important role in virus assembly, budding, immunopathogenesis and disease severity. The viroporin E is also located in Golgi and ER membranes of infected cells and is associated with inflammasome activation and immune dysregulation. Here we evaluated in vitro antiviral activity, mechanism of action and in vivo efficacy of BIT225 for the treatment of SARS-CoV-2 infection. BIT225 showed broad-spectrum direct-acting antiviral activity against SARS-CoV-2 in Calu3 and Vero cells with similar potency across 6 different virus strains. BIT225 inhibited ion channel activity of E-protein but did not inhibit endogenous calcium-induced ion channel activity or TMEM16A in Xenopus oocytes. BIT225 administered by oral gavage for 12 days starting 12 h before infection completely prevented body weight loss and mortality in SARS-CoV-2 infected K18 mice (100% survival, n=12), while all vehicle-dosed animals reached a mortality endpoint by day 9 across two studies (n=12). When treatment started at 24 h after infection, body weight loss, and mortality were also prevented (100% survival, n=5), while 4 of 5 mice maintained and increased body weight and survived when treatment started 48 hours after infection. Treatment efficacy was dependent on BIT225 dose and was associated with significant reductions in lung viral load (3.5 log10), virus titer (4000 pfu/ml) and lung and serum cytokine levels. These results validate viroporin E as a viable antiviral target and support the clinical study of BIT225 for treatment and prophylaxis of SARS-CoV-2 infection.
</div>
<div class="article-link article-html-link">
🖺 Full Text HTML: <a href="https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2023.03.29.534854v1" target="_blank">Post-infection treatment with the E protein inhibitor BIT225 reduces disease severity and increases survival of k18-hACE2 transgenic mice infected with a lethal dose of SARS-CoV-2</a>
</div></li>
<li><strong>Broad and potent neutralizing mAbs are elicited in vaccinated individuals following Delta/BA.1 breakthrough infection</strong> -
<div>
Despite the success of COVID-19 vaccines in preventing infection and/or severe disease, with the emergence of SARS-CoV-2 variants of concern (VOC) which encode mutations in Spike, and the waning of vaccine induced immunity, there has been an increase in SARS-CoV-2 infections in vaccinated individuals which leads to increased serum neutralization breadth. However, how exposure to a heterologous Spike broadens the neutralizing response at the monoclonal antibody (mAb) level is not fully understood. Through isolation of 119 mAbs from three individuals receiving two-doses of BNT162b2 vaccine before becoming delta or omicron/BA.1-infected, we show that breadth arises from re-activation and maturation of B cells generated through previous COVID-19 vaccination rather than a de novo response specific to the VOC Spike. Isolated mAbs frequently show reduced neutralization of current circulating variants including BA.2.75.2, XBB, XBB.1.5 and BQ.1.1 confirming continuous selective pressure on Spike to evolve and evade neutralization. However, isolation of mAbs that display effective cross-neutralization against all variants indicate the presence of conserved epitopes on RBD and a lesser extent NTD. These findings have implications for selection of Spike antigens for next-generation COVID-19 vaccines.
</div>
<div class="article-link article-html-link">
🖺 Full Text HTML: <a href="https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2023.03.30.534872v1" target="_blank">Broad and potent neutralizing mAbs are elicited in vaccinated individuals following Delta/BA.1 breakthrough infection</a>
</div></li>
<li><strong>NETosis Induced by Serum of Patients with COVID-19 is Reduced with Reparixin or Antibodies Against DEK and IL-8</strong> -
<div>
DEK locates in the nucleus of the cells or the cytoplasmic granules of neutrophils and plays different roles in cellular processes including NETosis, a suicide mechanism of neutrophils. Here we showed that the interaction of rDEK with CXCR2 leads to NETosis, which could be reduced by the CXCR1/CXCR2 inhibitor reparixin. We found that IL-8, IL-6, IL1-{beta}, MPO, and CitH3 were increased whereas DEK was decreased in the serum of COVID-19 patients. Interestingly, reparixin or anti-DEK antibody reduced the NETosis induced by the serums of patients , suggesting that initial cytokine stimulation may further induce the release of DEK. Our results support the use of reparixin as a potential therapeutic strategy in COVID-19 and suggest that DEK-CXCR2 interaction plays a role in NETosis.
</div>
<div class="article-link article-html-link">
🖺 Full Text HTML: <a href="https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2023.03.30.534873v1" target="_blank">NETosis Induced by Serum of Patients with COVID-19 is Reduced with Reparixin or Antibodies Against DEK and IL-8</a>
</div></li>
<li><strong>Total-Body Multiparametric PET Quantification of 18F-FDG Delivery and Metabolism in the Study of COVID-19 Recovery</strong> -
<div>
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Conventional whole-body <sup>18</sup>F-FDG PET imaging provides a semi-quantitative evaluation of overall glucose metabolism without gaining insight into the specific transport and metabolic steps. Here we demonstrate the ability of total-body multiparametric <sup>18</sup>F-FDG PET to quantitatively evaluate glucose metabolism using macroparametric quantification and assess specific glucose delivery and phosphorylation processes using microparametric quantification for studying recovery from coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). Methods: The study included thirteen healthy subjects and twelve recovering COVID-19 subjects within eight weeks of confirmed diagnosis. Each subject had a dynamic <sup>18</sup>F-FDG scan on the uEXPLORER total-body PET/CT system for one hour. Semiquantitative standardized uptake value (SUV) and SUV ratio relative to blood (SUVR) were calculated for regions of interest (ROIs) in different organs to measure glucose utilization. Tracer kinetic modeling was performed to quantify microparametric rate constants K<sub>1</sub> and k<sub>3</sub> that characterize <sup>18</sup>F-FDG blood-to-tissue delivery and intracellular phosphorylation, respectively, and a macroparameter K<sub>i</sub> that represents <sup>18</sup>F-FDG net influx rate. Statistical tests were performed to examine differences between the healthy controls and recovering COVID-19 subjects. Impact of COVID-19 vaccination was investigated. We further generated parametric images to confirm the ROI-based analysis. Results: We detected no significant difference in lung SUV but significantly higher lung SUVR and K<sub>i</sub> in the recovering COVID-19 subjects, indicating an improved sensitivity of kinetic quantification for detecting the difference in glucose metabolism. A significant difference was also observed in the lungs with the phosphorylation rate k<sub>3</sub>, but not with the delivery rate K<sub>1</sub>, which suggests it is glucose phosphorylation, not glucose delivery, that drives the observed difference of glucose metabolism in the lungs. Meanwhile, there was no or little difference in bone marrow metabolism measured with SUV, SUVR and K<sub>i</sub>, but a significant increase in bone-marrow <sup>18</sup>F-FDG delivery rate K<sub>1</sub> in the COVID-19 group (p&lt;0.05), revealing a difference of glucose delivery in this immune-related organ. The observed differences were lower or similar in vaccinated COVID-19 subjects as compared to unvaccinated ones. The organ ROI-based findings were further supported by parametric images. Conclusions: Higher lung glucose metabolism and bone-marrow glucose delivery were observed with total-body multiparametric <sup>18</sup>F-FDG PET in recovering COVID-19 subjects as compared to healthy subjects, which suggests continued inflammation due to COVID-19 during the early stages of recovery. Total-body multiparametric PET of <sup>18</sup>F-FDG delivery and metabolism can provide a more sensitive tool and more insights than conventional static whole-body <sup>18</sup>F-FDG imaging to evaluate metabolic changes in systemic diseases such as COVID-19.
</p>
</div>
<div class="article-link article-html-link">
🖺 Full Text HTML: <a href="https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2023.03.26.23287673v1" target="_blank">Total-Body Multiparametric PET Quantification of 18F-FDG Delivery and Metabolism in the Study of COVID-19 Recovery</a>
</div></li>
<li><strong>Lasting first impression: Pre-existing immunity restricts mucosal antibody responses during Omicron breakthrough</strong> -
<div>
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Understanding mucosal antibody responses from SARS-CoV-2 infection and/or vaccination is crucial to develop strategies for longer term immunity, especially against emerging viral variants. We profiled serial paired mucosal and plasma antibodies from: COVID-19 vaccinated only vaccinees (vaccinated, uninfected), COVID-19 recovered vaccinees (convalescent, vaccinated) and individuals with breakthrough Delta or Omicron BA.2 infections (vaccinated, infected). Saliva from COVID-19 recovered vaccinees displayed improved antibody neutralizing activity, FcγR engagement and IgA compared to COVID-19 uninfected vaccinees. Furthermore, repeated mRNA vaccination boosted SARS-CoV-2-specific IgG2 and IgG4 responses in both mucosa biofluids (saliva and tears) and plasma. IgG, but not IgA, responses to breakthrough COVID-19 variants were dampened and narrowed by increased pre-existing vaccine-induced immunity to the ancestral strain. Salivary antibodies delayed initiation of boosting following breakthrough COVID-19 infection, especially Omicron BA.2, however, rose rapidly thereafter. Our data highlight how pre-existing immunity shapes mucosal SARS-CoV-2-specific antibody responses and has implications for long-term protection from COVID-19.
</p>
</div>
<div class="article-link article-html-link">
🖺 Full Text HTML: <a href="https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2023.03.28.23287848v1" target="_blank">Lasting first impression: Pre-existing immunity restricts mucosal antibody responses during Omicron breakthrough</a>
</div></li>
<li><strong>Looking under the lamp-post: quantifying the performance of contact tracing in the United States during the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic</strong> -
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Contact tracing forms a crucial part of the public-health toolbox in mitigating and understanding emergent pathogens and nascent disease outbreaks. Contact tracing in the United States was conducted during the pre-Omicron phase of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. This tracing relied on voluntary reporting and responses, often using rapid antigen tests (with a high false negative rate) due to lack of accessibility to PCR tests. These limitations, combined with SARS-CoV-2s propensity for asymptomatic transmission, raise the question how reliable was contact tracing for COVID-19 in the United States? We answered this question using a Markov model to examine the efficiency with which transmission could be detected based on the design and response rates of contact tracing studies in the United States. Our results suggest that contact tracing protocols in the U.S. are unlikely to have identified more than 1.65% (95% uncertainty interval: 1.62%-1.68%) of transmission events with PCR testing and 0.88% (95% uncertainty interval 0.86%-0.89%) with rapid antigen testing. When considering an optimal scenario, based on compliance rates in East Asia with PCR testing, this increases to 62.7% (95% uncertainty interval: 62.6%-62.8%). These findings highlight the limitations in interpretability for studies of SARS-CoV-2 disease spread based on U.S. contact tracing and underscore the vulnerability of the population to future disease outbreaks, for SARS-CoV-2 and other pathogens.
</p>
</div>
<div class="article-link article-html-link">
🖺 Full Text HTML: <a href="https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2023.03.27.23287812v1" target="_blank">Looking under the lamp-post: quantifying the performance of contact tracing in the United States during the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic</a>
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<li><strong>Single-cell analysis of bronchoalveolar cells in inflammatory and fibrotic post-COVID lung disease</strong> -
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Rationale: Persistent pulmonary sequelae are evident in many survivors of acute coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) but the molecular mechanisms responsible are incompletely understood. Post-COVID radiological lung abnormalities comprise two broad categories, organising pneumonia and reticulation, interpreted as indicative of subacute inflammation and fibrosis, respectively. Whether these two patterns represent distinct pathologies, likely to require different treatment strategies is not known. Objectives: We sought to identify differences at molecular and cellular level, in the local immunopathology of post-COVID inflammation and fibrosis. Methods: We compared single-cell transcriptomic profiles and T cell receptor (TCR) repertoires of bronchoalveolar cells obtained from convalescent individuals with each radiological pattern of post-COVID lung disease (PCLD). Measurements and Main Results: Inflammatory and fibrotic PCLD single-cell transcriptomes closely resembled each other across all cell types. However, CD4 central memory T cells (TCM) and CD8 effector memory T cells (TEM) were significantly more abundant in inflammatory PCLD. A greater proportion of CD4 TCM also exhibited clonal expansion in inflammatory PCLD. High levels of clustering of similar TCRs from multiple donors was a striking feature of both PCLD phenotypes, consistent with tissue localised antigen-specific immune responses, but there was no enrichment for known SARS-CoV-2 reactive TCRs. Conclusions: There is no evidence that radiographic organising pneumonia and reticulation in PCLD are associated with differential immmunopathological pathways. Inflammatory radiology is characterised by greater bronchoalveolar T cell accumulation. Both groups show evidence of shared antigen-specific T cell responses, but the antigenic target for these T cells remains to be identified.
</p>
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<div class="article-link article-html-link">
🖺 Full Text HTML: <a href="https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2023.03.28.23287759v1" target="_blank">Single-cell analysis of bronchoalveolar cells in inflammatory and fibrotic post-COVID lung disease</a>
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<li><strong>Coronavirus pathogenesis in mice explains the SARS-CoV-2 multi-organ spread by red blood cell hitch-hiking</strong> -
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SARS-CoV-2 infection causes a multisystemic disease that affects numerous organs beyond the respiratory system. Thus, it is well known that COVID-19 is associated with a wide range of hematological disorders; however, it remains unclear how the SARS-CoV-2 virus is able to navigate from tissue to tissue. In this work, we performed a comprehensive analysis of the pleiotropic effects of a prototypical coronavirus in its natural host, the validated preclinical model of murine hepatitis virus (MHV). Throughout this study we compared our results with the real-world data from COVID-19 patients (including autopsies). Thus, the presence of viral RNA was only detected in less than 25% of the human serum samples, whereas all had multiple positive nasal swabs for SARS-CoV-2. Notably, we found viral RNA not only in lungs, but also in heart and kidney of deceased COVID-19 patients. Subsequently, we investigated the association between viral organotropism and clinical manifestations employing the MHV murine model. Results from RT-qPCR and viral infectivity showcased the presence of viral RNA and infectious particles in multiple organs including liver, lung, brain, heart, kidney, spleen and pancreas, and even the blood of infected mice. Surprisingly, when comparing plasma and red blood cells (RBCs)-enriched fraction, higher viral load levels were detected in RBCs, with decreased RBC count, and hematocrit and hemoglobin levels in infected mice. Next, we treated infected mice with hemin triggering more aggressive symptoms. Strikingly, when combining hemin treatment with chloroquine (a compound that known to interact with the heme group and induces a conformational change in its structure) the infection and its clinical manifestations were distinctly attenuated. Computational docking suggested that heme is able to bind to MHV Spike protein in a similar way to the one, experimentally observed for SARS-CoV-2. Overall, our results lead to a global perspective of COVID-19 beyond the canonical focus on the respiratory system, and strongly support the multi-organ extent of coronavirus infection through specific interactions with RBC hemoproteins.
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🖺 Full Text HTML: <a href="https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2023.03.29.23287591v1" target="_blank">Coronavirus pathogenesis in mice explains the SARS-CoV-2 multi-organ spread by red blood cell hitch-hiking</a>
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<li><strong>Diagnosing and remediating harmful data shifts for the responsible deployment of clinical AI models</strong> -
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Harmful data shifts occur when the distribution of data used to train a clinical AI system differs significantly from the distribution of data encountered during deployment, leading to erroneous predictions and potential harm to patients. We evaluated the impact of data shifts on an early warning system (EWS) for in-hospital mortality that uses electronic health record (EHR) data from patients admitted to a general internal medicine service. We found model performance to differ across subgroups of clinical diagnoses, sex and age. To explore the robustness of the model, we evaluated potentially harmful data shifts across demographics, hospital types, seasons, times of hospital admission, and whether the patient was admitted from an acute care institution or nursing home, without relying on model performance. Interestingly, we found that models trained on community hospitals experience harmful data shifts when evaluated on academic hospitals, whereas the models trained on academic hospitals transfer well to the community hospitals. To improve model performance across hospital sites we employed transfer learning, a strategy that stores knowledge gained from learning one domain and applies it to a different but related domain. We found hospital type-specific models that leverage transfer learning, perform better than models that use all available hospitals. Furthermore, we monitored data shifts over time and identified model deterioration during the COVID-19 pandemic. Typically machine learning models remain locked after deployment, however, this can lead to model deterioration due to data shifts that occur over time. We used continual learning, the process of learning from a continual stream of data in a sequential manner, to mitigate data shifts over time and improve model performance. Overall, our study is a crucial step towards the deployment of clinical AI models, by providing strategies and workflows to ensure the safety and efficacy of these models in real-world settings.
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🖺 Full Text HTML: <a href="https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2023.03.26.23286718v1" target="_blank">Diagnosing and remediating harmful data shifts for the responsible deployment of clinical AI models</a>
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<li><strong>Effectiveness of nirmatrelvir-ritonavir for the treatment of patients with mild to moderate COVID-19 and at high risk of hospitalization: Systematic review and meta-analyses of observational studies</strong> -
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Abstract Objective To assess the effectiveness of nirmatrelvir-ritonavir in the treatment of outpatients with mild to moderate COVID-19 who are at higher risk of developing severe illness, through a systematic review with meta-analyses of observational studies. Methods A systematic search was performed, in accordance with the Cochrane search methods, to identify observational studies that met the inclusion criteria.  The outcomes of mortality and hospitalization were analyzed. Search was conducted on PubMed, EMBASE, and The Cochrane Library. Two reviewers independently screened references, selected the studies, extracted the data, assessed the risk of bias using ROBINS-I tool and evaluated the quality of evidence using the GRADE tool. This study followed the PRISMA reporting guideline. Results A total of 16 observational studies and 1,482,923 patients were finally included. The results of the meta-analysis showed that in comparison to standard treatment without antivirals, nirmatrelvir-ritonavir reduced the risk of death by 62% (OR= 0.38; 95% CI: 0.30-0.46; moderate certainty of evidence). In addition, a 53% reduction in the risk of hospital admission was observed (OR = 0.47; 95% CI: 0.36–0.60, with very low certainty of evidence). For the composite outcome of hospitalization and/or mortality, there was a 56% risk reduction (OR=0.44; 95% CI: 0.31-0.64, moderate certainty of evidence). Conclusion The results suggest that nirmatrelvir-ritonavir could be effective in reducing mortality and hospitalization. The results were valid in vaccinated or unvaccinated high-risk individuals with COVID-19. Data from ongoing and future trials may further advance our understanding of the effectiveness and safety of nirmatrelvir-ritonavir and help improve treatment guidelines for COVID-19.
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🖺 Full Text HTML: <a href="https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2023.03.27.23287621v1" target="_blank">Effectiveness of nirmatrelvir-ritonavir for the treatment of patients with mild to moderate COVID-19 and at high risk of hospitalization: Systematic review and meta-analyses of observational studies</a>
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<li><strong>Exploring the Impact of the Covid-19 Pandemic on Health-Related Behaviours: A Person-Centred Analysis of Two British Longitudinal Cohort Studies</strong> -
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The current study explored the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on health-related behaviours in the United Kingdom. We conducted a repeated measures latent class analysis with five indicators of health-related behaviours; frequency of alcohol consumption, binge drinking, smoking, BMI and sleep, to identify distinct subgroups of individuals with similar patterns of change across three timepoints during the first 9 months of the pandemic. We hypothesised that various psychosocial risk factors, such as a history of adverse childhood experiences would predict membership in latent classes with a higher probability of engaging in risky health behaviours, and that protective factors, like social support, would be associated with membership in classes with less risky health behaviours. We identified 5 latent classes, and multinomial logistic regression analyses revealed multiple predictors of class membership. Our findings did not support the relationship between poor mental health and the adoption of risky health behaviours. Keywords: Repeated Measures Latent Class Analysis, Covid-19, Adverse Childhood Experiences, Health Related Behaviours
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🖺 Full Text HTML: <a href="https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2023.03.28.23287685v1" target="_blank">Exploring the Impact of the Covid-19 Pandemic on Health-Related Behaviours: A Person-Centred Analysis of Two British Longitudinal Cohort Studies</a>
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<li><strong>Modelling Disease Mitigation at Mass Gatherings: A Case Study of COVID-19 at the 2022 FIFA World Cup.</strong> -
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The 2022 FIFA World Cup was the first major multi-continental sporting Mass Gathering Event (MGE) of the post COVID-19 era to allow foreign spectators. Such large-scale MGEs can potentially lead to outbreaks of infectious disease and contribute to the global dissemination of such pathogens. Here we adapt previous work and create a generalisable model framework for assessing the use of disease control strategies at such events, in terms of reducing infections and hospitalisations. This framework utilises a combination of meta-populations based on clusters of people and their vaccination status, Ordinary Differential Equation integration between fixed time events, and Latin Hypercube sampling. We use the FIFA 2022 World Cup as a case study for this framework. Pre-travel screenings of visitors were found to have little effect in reducing COVID-19 infections and hospitalisations. With pre-match screenings of spectators and match staff being more effective. Rapid Antigen (RA) screenings 0.5 days before match day outperformed RT-PCR screenings 1.5 days before match day. A combination of pre-travel RT-PCR and pre-match RA testing proved to be the most successful screening-based regime. However, a policy of ensuring that all visitors had a COVID-19 vaccination (second or booster dose) within a few months before departure proved to be much more efficacious. The State of Qatar abandoned all COVID-19 related travel testing and vaccination requirements over the period of the World Cup. Our work suggests that the State of Qatar may have been correct in abandoning the pre-travel testing of visitors. However, there was a spike in COVID-19 cases and hospitalisations within Qatar over the World Cup. The research outlined here suggests a policy requiring visitors to have had a recent COVID-19 vaccination may have prevented the increase in COVID-19 cases and hospitalisations during the world cup.
</p>
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<div class="article-link article-html-link">
🖺 Full Text HTML: <a href="https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2023.03.27.23287214v1" target="_blank">Modelling Disease Mitigation at Mass Gatherings: A Case Study of COVID-19 at the 2022 FIFA World Cup.</a>
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</ul>
<h1 data-aos="fade-right" id="from-clinical-trials">From Clinical Trials</h1>
<ul>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Evaluation of Safety &amp; Efficacy of MIR 19 ® Inhalation Solution in Patients With Mild COVID-19</strong> - <b>Condition</b>:   COVID-19<br/><b>Interventions</b>:   Drug: MIR 19 ®;   Combination Product: Standard therapy<br/><b>Sponsor</b>:   National Research Center - Institute of Immunology Federal Medical-Biological Agency of Russia<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>LACTYFERRIN™ Forte and ZINC Defense™ and Standard of Care (SOC) vs SOC in the Treatment of Non-hospitalized Patients With COVID-19</strong> - <b>Condition</b>:   COVID-19<br/><b>Interventions</b>:   Drug: Sesderma LACTYFERRIN™ Forte and Sesderma ZINC Defense™;   Drug: Placebo<br/><b>Sponsors</b>:   Jose David Suarez, MD;   Sesderma S.L.;   Westchester General Hospital Inc. DBA Keralty Hospital Miami;   MGM Technology Corp<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>MP0420 for Inpatients With COVID-19 (An ACTIV-3/TICO Treatment Trial)</strong> - <b>Condition</b>:   COVID-19<br/><b>Interventions</b>:   Drug: MP0420;   Drug: Placebo;   Biological: Remdesivir<br/><b>Sponsors</b>:   National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID);   International Network for Strategic Initiatives in Global HIV Trials (INSIGHT);   University of Copenhagen;   Medical Research Council;   Kirby Institute;   Washington D.C. Veterans Affairs Medical Center;   AIDS Clinical Trials Group;   National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI);   US Department of Veterans Affairs;   Prevention and Early Treatment of Acute Lung Injury (PETAL);   Cardiothoracic Surgical Trials Network (CTSN);   Molecular Partners AG;   University of Minnesota<br/><b>Active, not recruiting</b></p></li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>AZD7442 for Inpatients With COVID-19 (An ACTIV-3/TICO Treatment Trial)</strong> - <b>Condition</b>:   COVID-19<br/><b>Interventions</b>:   Biological: AZD7442;   Biological: Placebo;   Biological: Remdesivir<br/><b>Sponsors</b>:   National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID);   International Network for Strategic Initiatives in Global HIV Trials (INSIGHT);   University of Copenhagen;   Medical Research Council;   Kirby Institute;   Washington D.C. Veterans Affairs Medical Center;   AIDS Clinical Trials Group;   National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI);   US Department of Veterans Affairs;   Prevention and Early Treatment of Acute Lung Injury (PETAL);   Cardiothoracic Surgical Trials Network (CTSN);   AstraZeneca;   University of Minnesota<br/><b>Active, not recruiting</b></p></li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>VIR-7831 for Inpatients With COVID-19 (An ACTIV-3/TICO Treatment Trial)</strong> - <b>Condition</b>:   COVID-19<br/><b>Interventions</b>:   Biological: VIR-7831;   Biological: Placebo;   Biological: Remdesivir<br/><b>Sponsors</b>:   National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID);   International Network for Strategic Initiatives in Global HIV Trials (INSIGHT);   University of Copenhagen;   Medical Research Council;   Kirby Institute;   Washington D.C. Veterans Affairs Medical Center;   AIDS Clinical Trials Group;   National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI);   US Department of Veterans Affairs;   Prevention and Early Treatment of Acute Lung Injury (PETAL);   Cardiothoracic Surgical Trials Network (CTSN);   Vir Biotechnology, Inc.;   GlaxoSmithKline;   University of Minnesota<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>PF-07304814 for Inpatients With COVID-19 (An ACTIV-3/TICO Treatment Trial)</strong> - <b>Condition</b>:   COVID-19<br/><b>Interventions</b>:   Drug: PF-07304814;   Drug: Placebo;   Biological: Remdesivir<br/><b>Sponsors</b>:   National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID);   International Network for Strategic Initiatives in Global HIV Trials (INSIGHT);   University of Copenhagen;   Medical Research Council;   Kirby Institute;   Washington D.C. Veterans Affairs Medical Center;   AIDS Clinical Trials Group;   National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI);   US Department of Veterans Affairs;   Prevention and Early Treatment of Acute Lung Injury (PETAL);   Cardiothoracic Surgical Trials Network (CTSN);   Pfizer;   University of Minnesota<br/><b>Suspended</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>BRII-196/BRII-198 for Inpatients With COVID-19 (An ACTIV-3/TICO Treatment Trial)</strong> - <b>Condition</b>:   COVID-19<br/><b>Interventions</b>:   Biological: BRII-196;   Biological: BRII-198;   Biological: Placebo;   Biological: Remdesivir<br/><b>Sponsors</b>:   National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID);   International Network for Strategic Initiatives in Global HIV Trials (INSIGHT);   University of Copenhagen;   Medical Research Council;   Kirby Institute;   Washington D.C. Veterans Affairs Medical Center;   AIDS Clinical Trials Group;   National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI);   US Department of Veterans Affairs;   Prevention and Early Treatment of Acute Lung Injury (PETAL);   Cardiothoracic Surgical Trials Network (CTSN);   Brii Biosciences Limited;   University of Minnesota<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>LY3819253 (LY-CoV555) for Inpatients With COVID-19 (An ACTIV-3/TICO Treatment Trial)</strong> - <b>Condition</b>:   COVID-19<br/><b>Interventions</b>:   Biological: LY3819253;   Biological: Placebo;   Biological: Remdesivir<br/><b>Sponsors</b>:   National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID);   International Network for Strategic Initiatives in Global HIV Trials (INSIGHT);   University of Copenhagen;   Medical Research Council;   Kirby Institute;   Washington D.C. Veterans Affairs Medical Center;   AIDS Clinical Trials Group;   National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI);   US Department of Veterans Affairs;   Prevention and Early Treatment of Acute Lung Injury (PETAL);   Cardiothoracic Surgical Trials Network (CTSN);   Eli Lilly and Company;   University of Minnesota<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>RCT for Yinqiaosan-Maxingganshitang in the Treatment of COVID-19</strong> - <b>Condition</b>:   COVID-19<br/><b>Interventions</b>:   Drug: Chinese Herb;   Diagnostic Test: Placebo<br/><b>Sponsor</b>:   Chinese University of Hong Kong<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>Short-term Effects of Transdermal Estradiol on Female COVID-19 Patients</strong> - <b>Conditions</b>:   COVID-19;   Hormone Replacement Therapy<br/><b>Interventions</b>:   Drug: Climara 0.1Mg/24Hr Transdermal System;   Other: Hydrogel patch<br/><b>Sponsors</b>:   Istanbul University - Cerrahpasa (IUC);   Turkish Menopause and Osteoporosis Society;   Karakoy Rotary Club;   Rebul Pharmacy<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>Effect of a Health Pathway for People With Persistent Symptoms Covid-19</strong> - <b>Condition</b>:   COVID-19<br/><b>Interventions</b>:   Other: usual care and follow-up by a nurse;   Other: Personalized Multifactorial Intervention (IMP)<br/><b>Sponsor</b>:   Centre Hospitalier Universitaire de Saint Etienne<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 Clinical Study on Safety and Effectiveness of Mesenchymal Stem Cell Exosomes for the Treatment of COVID-19.</strong> - <b>Condition</b>:   COVID-19 Pneumonia<br/><b>Intervention</b>:   Biological: Extracellular Vesicles from Mesenchymal Stem Cells<br/><b>Sponsor</b>:   First Affiliated Hospital of Wenzhou Medical University<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>Teletechnology-assisted Home-based Exercise Program for Severe COVID-19</strong> - <b>Conditions</b>:   COVID-19;   Telerehabilitation<br/><b>Intervention</b>:   Behavioral: Teletechnology-assisted home-based pulmonary rehabilitation<br/><b>Sponsor</b>:   National Taiwan 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>Study of the Safety, Tolerability and Efficacy of NP-101 in Treating High Risk Participants Who Are Covid-19 Positive.</strong> - <b>Condition</b>:   COVID-19<br/><b>Interventions</b>:   Drug: NP-101;   Other: Placebo<br/><b>Sponsor</b>:   Novatek Pharmaceuticals<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>Cluster-Randomized Trial of Air Filtration and Ventilation to Reduce Covid19 Spread in Homes</strong> - <b>Condition</b>:   Covid19<br/><b>Interventions</b>:   Device: Filtration Fan;   Behavioral: Safe-home pamphlet;   Behavioral: Mid-week phone call<br/><b>Sponsor</b>:   Stanford University<br/><b>Enrolling by invitation</b></p></li>
</ul>
<h1 data-aos="fade-right" id="from-pubmed">From PubMed</h1>
<ul>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Hyper-inflammation and complement in COVID-19</strong> - COVID-19 is a complex disease manifesting in a broad severity spectrum and involving distinct organs and systems. Hyperinflammation, including complement over-activation, has a pivotal role in severe COVID-19 pathobiology, stimulating the inflammatory response, causing microangiopathy, platelet-neutrophil activation, and hypercoagulability. SARS-CoV-2 can directly activate the complement system by the classic, alternative, and lectin pathways, and infected cells can produce intracellular…</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>Susceptibility of SARS COV-2 nucleocapsid and spike proteins to reactive oxygen species and role in inflammation</strong> - Chemiluminescence was used to test the susceptibility of the SARS-CoV-2 N and S proteins to oxidation by reactive oxygen species (ROS) at pH7.4 and pH8.5. The Fenton’s system generates various ROS (H(2)O(2), ·OH, -OH, ·OOH). All proteins were found to significantly suppress oxidation (the viral proteins exhibited 25-60% effect compared to albumin). In the second system, H(2)O(2)was used both as a strong oxidant and as a ROS. A similar effect was observed (30-70%); N protein approached the effect…</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>Antimycotic effect of 3-phenyllactic acid produced by probiotic bacterial isolates against Covid-19 associated mucormycosis causing fungi</strong> - The Covid-19 associated mucormycosis (CAM) is an emerging disease affecting immunocompromised patients. Prevention of such infections using probiotics and their metabolites persist as effective therapeutic agents. Therefore, the present study emphasizes on assessment of their efficacy and safety. Samples from different sources like human milk, honey bee intestine, toddy, and dairy milk were collected, screened and characterized for potential probiotic lactic acid bacteria (LAB) and their…</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>Two Resveratrol Oligomers Inhibit Cathepsin L Activity to Suppress SARS-CoV-2 Entry</strong> - Cell entry of severe acute respiratory syndrome-coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) depends on specific host cell proteases, which are the key targets for preventing and treating viral infections. Herein, we describe miyabenol C and trans-ε-viniferin, two resveratrol oligomers that specifically inhibit SARS-CoV-2 entry by targeting host protease cathepsin L. Several cell-based assays were used to demonstrate the effect of resveratrol oligomers, and their target was identified via screening of antiviral…</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>Amuvatinib Blocks SARS-CoV-2 Infection at the Entry Step of the Viral Life Cycle</strong> - Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) is the causative agent of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). SARS-CoV-2 propagation is mediated by the protein interaction between viral proteins and host cells. Tyrosine kinase has been implicated in viral replication, and hence, it has become a target for developing antiviral drugs. We have previously reported that receptor tyrosine kinase inhibitor blocks the replication of hepatitis C virus (HCV). In the present study, we…</p></li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Investigating the potential of natural compounds as novel inhibitors of SARS-CoV-2 RdRP using computational approaches</strong> - COVID-19 is a highly contagious disease caused by SARS-CoV-2. Currently, no vaccines or antiviral treatments are available to combat this deadly virus; however, precautions and some repurposed medicines are available to contain COVID-19. RNA-dependent RNA polymerase (RdRP) plays an important role in the replication or transcription of viral mechanisms. Approved antiviral drug such as Remdesivir has shown inhibitory activity against SARS-CoV-2 RdRP. The purpose of this study was to carry out a…</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>Multifaceted involvements of Paneth cells in various diseases within intestine and systemically</strong> - Serving as the guardians of small intestine, Paneth cells (PCs) play an important role in intestinal homeostasis maintenance. Although PCs uniquely exist in intestine under homeostasis, the dysfunction of PCs is involved in various diseases not only in intestine but also in extraintestinal organs, suggesting the systemic importance of PCs. The mechanisms under the participation of PCs in these diseases are multiple as well. The involvements of PCs are mostly characterized by limiting intestinal…</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>Synthesis, molecular docking, and binding Gibbs free energy calculation of β-nitrostyrene derivatives: Potential inhibitors of SARS-CoV-2 3CL protease</strong> - The outbreak of novel coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), caused by the novel coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2), has had a significant impact on human health and the economic development. SARS-CoV-2 3CL protease (3CLpro) is highly conserved and plays a key role in mediating the transcription of virus replication. It is an ideal target for the design and screening of anti-coronavirus drugs. In this work, seven β-nitrostyrene derivatives were synthesized by Henry reaction and β-dehydration reaction, and…</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>Engineering Nanomolar Potent Protein-based Inhibitors for Papain-like Protease Guided by Residue Correlation Network</strong> - We developed a rational protocol with a minimal number of mutated residues to create highly potent and selective protein-based inhibitors. Guided by an interaction and dihedral correlation network of ubiquitin (Ub) and MERS coronaviral papain-like protease (PLpro) complex, our designed ubiquitin variant (UbV) with 3 mutated residues (A46F, K48E, and E64Y) resulted in a ~3,500-fold increase in functional inhibition as compared with the wildtype Ub (wtUb). Further optimization with C-terminal R74N…</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>Development of monoclonal antibody-based blocking ELISA for detecting SARS-CoV-2 exposure in animals</strong> - The global pandemic of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) poses a significant threat to public health. Besides humans, SARS-CoV-2 can infect several animal species. Highly sensitive and specific diagnostic reagents and assays are urgently needed for rapid detection and implementation of strategies for prevention and control of the infection in animals. In this study, we initially developed a panel of monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) against SARS-CoV-2 nucleocapsid (N)…</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>Cell Surface Nucleocapsid Protein Expression: A Betacoronavirus Immunomodulatory Strategy</strong> - We recently reported that SARS-CoV-2 Nucleocapsid (N) protein is abundantly expressed on the surface of both infected and neighboring uninfected cells, where it enables activation of Fc receptor-bearing immune cells with anti-N antibodies (Abs) and inhibits leukocyte chemotaxis by binding chemokines (CHKs). Here, we extend these findings to N from the seasonal human coronavirus (HCoV)-OC43, which is also robustly expressed on the surface of infected and non-infected cells by binding…</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>Totally-green cellulosic fiber with prominent sustained antibacterial and antiviral properties for potential use in spunlaced non-woven fabric production</strong> - The worldwide spread of COVID-19 has put a higher requirement for personal medical protective clothing, developing protective clothing with sustained antibacterial and antiviral performance is the priority for safe and sustaining application. For this purpose, we develop a novel cellulose based material with sustained antibacterial and antiviral properties. In the proposed method, the chitosan oligosaccharide (COS) was subjected to a guanylation reaction with dicyandiamide in the presence 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>Risk perception of compound emergencies: A household survey on flood evacuation and sheltering behavior during the COVID-19 pandemic</strong> - Compound hazards are derived from independent disasters that occur simultaneously. Since the outbreak of COVID-19, the coupling of low-probability high-impact climate events has introduced a novel form of conflicting stressors that inhibits the operation of traditional logistics developed for single-hazard emergencies. The competing goals of hindering virus contagion and expediting massive evacuation have posed unique challenges for community safety. Yet, how a community perceives associated…</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>Ginsenosides, potential TMPRSS2 inhibitors, a trade-off between the therapeutic combination for anti-PD-1 immunotherapy and the treatment of COVID-19 infection of LUAD patients</strong> - Background: Acting as a viral entry for coronavirus to invade human cells, TMPRSS2 has become a target for the prevention and treatment of COVID-19 infection. Before this, TMPRSS2 has presented biological functions in cancer, but the roles remain controversial and the mechanism remains unelucidated. Some chemicals have been reported to be inhibitors of TMPRSS2 and also demonstrated other pharmacological properties. At this stage, it is important to discover more new compounds targeting TMPRSS2,…</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>Efficient CRISPR-Cas13d-Based Antiviral Strategy to Combat SARS-CoV-2</strong> - The current SARS-CoV-2 pandemic forms a major global health burden. Although protective vaccines are available, concerns remain as new virus variants continue to appear. CRISPR-based gene-editing approaches offer an attractive therapeutic strategy as the CRISPR-RNA (crRNA) can be adjusted rapidly to accommodate a new viral genome sequence. This study aimed at using the RNA-targeting CRISPR-Cas13d system to attack highly conserved sequences in the viral RNA genome, thereby preparing for future…</p></li>
</ul>
<h1 data-aos="fade-right" id="from-patent-search">From Patent Search</h1>
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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>Israel’s Transformative Protest Movement</strong> - A wide-ranging resistance has halted Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s plans to remake the judiciary. - <a href="https://www.newyorker.com/news/letter-from-jerusalem/israels-transformative-protest-movement">link</a></p></li>
<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>The Starbucks Union Fight Comes to Congress</strong> - A hearing on illegal union-busting pitted Howard Schultz, the coffee company’s former C.E.O., against Bernie Sanders. - <a href="https://www.newyorker.com/news/daily-comment/the-starbucks-union-fight-comes-to-congress">link</a></p></li>
<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>After the Nashville School Shooting, a Faithless Remedy for Gun Violence</strong> - “I don’t see any real role that we could do other than mess things up, honestly,” Representative Tim Burchett, of Tennessee, said. “We gotta change people’s hearts.” - <a href="https://www.newyorker.com/news/daily-comment/after-the-nashville-school-shooting-a-faithless-remedy-for-gun-violence">link</a></p></li>
<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>The First Magician on the Vegas Strip</strong> - Gloria Dea began performing when she was five years old. Even then, she was sassy and self-assured. - <a href="https://www.newyorker.com/news/afterword/the-first-magician-on-the-vegas-strip">link</a></p></li>
<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>An American Tragedy, Act III</strong> - The indictment of the former President by a Manhattan grand jury begins a perilous new phase in the Trump saga. - <a href="https://www.newyorker.com/news/daily-comment/an-american-tragedy-act-iii">link</a></p></li>
</ul>
<h1 data-aos="fade-right" id="from-vox">From Vox</h1>
<ul>
<li><strong>Elon Musk wants to fill your Twitter feed with paid accounts</strong> -
<figure>
<img alt="" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/T7pOfNsHpmIASY2KGi2_-fJr1Mg=/322x0:3878x2667/1310x983/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/72133667/1246506636.0.jpg"/>
<figcaption>
Elon Musk outside court in San Francisco in January 2023. | Marlena Sloss/Bloomberg via Getty Images
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</figure>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
It’s a broken version of the digital town square.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="cxH0Qr">
When Elon Musk took over Twitter, he said he wanted to protect its place as a “digital town square,” where ideas from all corners of the internet could flourish. But soon, if you want your voice to really be heard in the town square, you’ll need to pay.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="X802Ri">
Earlier this week, Musk tweeted that, starting <a href="https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/1640502698549075972?s=20">April 15</a>, Twitter will only recommend content from paid accounts in the For You tab, the first screen users see when they open the app.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="EnyrSO">
This means that if you don’t start paying <a href="https://www.vox.com/recode/2022/11/4/23438917/twitter-verifications-blue-check-elon-musk">$8 a month for Twitter’s subscription plan, Twitter Blue,</a> you’ll have a harder time getting your tweets seen by the masses. For people viewing but not posting on Twitter, you’ll be seeing a lot more content from paid accounts, which currently make up only <a href="https://www.theinformation.com/articles/musks-twitter-has-just-180-000-u-s-subscribers-two-months-after-launch">0.2 percent of all users</a>. After Twitter users started complaining about the new plan, Elon <a href="https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/1640800519894736896">clarified</a> that people you follow will also show up in the For You feed. Plus, if users don’t like the For You feed, they can switch to the Following feed, which ranks tweets chronologically.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="Iz3sfG">
But the main point still stands: Musk wants to fill your Twitter feed with a higher ratio of paid accounts, and is pressuring more free users to pay for what was once considered a given.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="VgUqBb">
This move is the next step in Musk’s plan to try to get more people to subscribe to Twitter Blue. Musk says that on April 1 he’ll <a href="https://techcrunch.com/2023/03/23/twitter-will-kill-legacy-blue-checks-on-april-1/">remove “legacy” verification checkmarks from notable accounts</a> that had them for free, including news organizations, politicians, and researchers. The checkmark part of Musk’s plan <a href="https://www.vox.com/recode/2022/11/4/23438917/twitter-verifications-blue-check-elon-musk">has received a lot of attention</a> — in part because it involves famous people — but it’s the changes to Twitter’s feed that are potentially just as, if not more, impactful.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="fLIzRy">
That’s because Musk is changing the incentives to Twitter’s core product, its recommendation algorithms, to an extent that it could potentially fill the average user’s experience with lower-quality content.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="Avc57V">
“The notion that by virtue of being willing to pay $8 a month means that you are a higher-quality account or worthy of being verified is a really reductive analysis,” said Jason Goldman, a VP of product at Twitter from 2007 to 2010. “There’s plenty of people who are complete trolls and are looking to just get attention for ridiculous behavior for whom $8 a month is a pittance to pay.”
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="Upiu3E">
In his explanation of the upcoming feed change, Musk said that Twitter has to charge users to make sure people aren’t actually spam bots. But there’s a simpler reason that’s also driving this push: Twitter needs to make more money. The company, <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2023/mar/26/elon-musk-twitter-value-leaked-memo-less-than-half-paid">which is now valued at half</a> of what it was when Musk bought it, is <a href="https://www.vox.com/technology/2023/3/23/23651151/twitter-advertisers-elon-musk-brands-revenue-fleeing">still bleeding advertisers</a> that are put off by Musk’s antics. Not enough people have subscribed to Twitter Blue: There are only about 180,000 subscribers, <a href="https://www.theinformation.com/articles/musks-twitter-has-just-180-000-u-s-subscribers-two-months-after-launch?rc=eh9iin">according to the Information</a>. They bring in roughly $28 million in annual revenue, less than 1 percent of the $3 billion Musk aimed to make in 2022. Now, in an effort to get more people to sign up for Twitter Blue, Musk is essentially threatening to make using the app harder for Twitter users who don’t pay.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="g7g6MF">
Moreover, the fact that Musk is seriously proposing turning your Twitter homepage into a place where you don’t see tweets from the users you care about and only see the people who spent money shows how much he’s willing to compromise the basic utility of the app. He’s pushing an extreme version of an <a href="https://www.vox.com/recode/2023/2/21/23609375/meta-verified-twitter-blue-checkmark-badge-instagram-facebook">increasingly popular “pay-to-play”</a> model for social media, one that goes against some of the basic ideas that made apps like Twitter popular in the first place.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="wu8oXH">
Early signs that people are buying into Musk’s vision for social media are not looking good.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="zQhwFm">
First of all, the company is already planning major exceptions: Twitter’s top 500 advertisers and 10,000 most-followed organizations keep to their checkmarks for free, according to a <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2023/03/30/technology/elon-musk-ftc-chair.html">recent report in the New York Times</a>. That eliminates a major pool of potential customers that Twitter may have wisely realized were not going to pay.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="Olu52U">
Some of the largest newsrooms in the country, like the New York Times, the Los Angeles Times, and Politico,<em> </em>have said they <a href="https://twitter.com/oliverdarcy/status/1641460482480504832">will not be buying a Twitter Blue verification</a> for their company accounts (a one-year subscription for a company costs $12,000), nor do they intend to subsidize individual reporters’ subscriptions. In its rationale, the LA Times said that “verification no longer establishes authority or credibility.” A few celebrities, like Seinfeld star <a href="https://www.huffpost.com/entry/jason-alexander-twitter_n_6423e024e4b0a10577baa1ae">Jason Alexander</a>, <a href="https://twitter.com/WilliamShatner/status/1640706675295543302">William Shatner</a>, and <a href="https://twitter.com/FINALLEVEL/status/1641173898053009411">Ice-T</a> have recently joined other actors, writers, and comedians who <a href="https://twitter.com/StephenKing/status/1587042605627490304?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1587312517679878144%7Ctwgr%5Edfc9ca59f560b0ca49db06a858a4789a5d4642cf%7Ctwcon%5Es2_&amp;ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.9news.com.au%2Ftechnology%2Felon-musk-twitter-blue-tick-charge-stephen-king-lynda-carter-and-other-celebrities-threaten-to-leave%2Fb7c2eaae-81a6-41eb-95ae-7fd3fb2f977c">previously threatened</a> to leave if Musk took away their checkmark. If more famous people refuse to buy Twitter verification and subsequently find less value in Twitter, they could leave for other platforms.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="hsrxkb">
Meanwhile, Twitter’s <a href="https://www.vox.com/technology/2023/2/16/23603155/elon-musk-twitter-worse-degrading-quality-glitches-superbowl-boost-feed">technical quality has been degrading</a> since Musk took over. Features have been more frequently buggy, the site has had embarrassing outages, and source code <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2023/03/26/technology/twitter-source-code-leak.html">has been leaked online</a>.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="7Ge5L7">
“I think [changes to the For You feed and verification] are only going to expedite that decline and demise of a platform that is really in its death rattle right now,” said social media consultant Matt Navarra.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="qSRJgz">
Even though Musk acquired Twitter to democratize it from the hands of elite users, in many ways his actions are doing the opposite.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="ycp4or">
A major part of social media’s appeal in the past two decades of its existence is the idea that anyone, from anywhere, at any time, could go viral — for better or worse. And in turn, users see the most compelling, “engagement”-worthy media. Companies like Meta, TikTok, and YouTube are in the business of carefully fine-tuning algorithms that recommend the content they know we’ll want to click, whether that’s cat videos, political debates, or beauty tutorials. A major part of Twitter’s appeal was about seeing random interactions between powerful people and everyday citizens, like someone seeing a tweet from a senator, replying to it, and actually getting a reply back.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="m0YG0l">
If Musk starts making it harder for an average user to stumble on and participate in viral exchanges, he’s taking away from the basic democratic promise of social media.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="L2E0S0">
Already, under Musk’s leadership, Twitter has been promoting certain content according to the whims of the company’s new owner. Twitter has recently boosted <a href="https://www.platformer.news/p/yes-elon-musk-created-a-special-system">Musk’s own tweets</a>, and for months it has boosted those of certain people the company designated as VIPs, like LeBron James, Ben Shapiro, and (somewhat surprisingly, since she’s a known foe of Musk) Rep. Alexandria Ocasio Cortez, <a href="https://www.platformer.news/p/the-secret-list-of-twitter-vips-getting">according to recent reports in Platformer</a>.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="UxwgLX">
It’s important to note here that there’s a good chance Musk will not go through with this, given his track record of missing deadlines for major changes at Twitter. In the few months since he took over, Musk has promised to share revenue with creators (<a href="https://www.theverge.com/2023/3/3/23623927/twitter-blue-ad-revenue-one-month-missing">hasn’t happened</a>) and <a href="https://bgr.com/tech/elon-musk-says-twitter-will-open-source-its-recommendation-code-on-march-31/">to make Twitter’s recommendation algorithm open source</a> (delayed). He’s <a href="https://www.axios.com/2022/11/09/twitter-official-label-select-verified-accounts">warned</a> for months that Twitter will remove blue checkmarks, but he hasn’t actually done it yet.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="GxAWXj">
The chance that Musk changes his mind is even higher considering that his key deadline to rid “elites” of their blue checkmarks is literally on April Fools’ Day.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="nhJLoc">
Regardless of whether Musk executes his plans, he is to some extent doing what many social media platforms have often done in private: tinker with secretive algorithms and give special treatment to high-profile users. TikTok was found to be <a href="https://www.theverge.com/2023/1/20/23564242/tiktok-heating-view-boosts-creators-businesses">“heating” certain VIP user content</a>, showing it more in people’s For You feeds. Facebook and Instagram have let <a href="https://www.wsj.com/articles/facebook-files-xcheck-zuckerberg-elite-rules-11631541353">celebrities</a> get away with breaking the company’s policies. The two apps, which are owned by Meta, also recently started charging users for verification and some basic services like access to customer support.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="cskwvN">
But even if these companies give certain users benefits over others, they’re doing it within reason. Musk is pushing pay-to-play to the extreme. If he goes too far, celebrities and the everyday users who follow them could leave Twitter in a mass exodus. So far, though, they haven’t. Twitter’s biggest benefit is that there is <a href="https://www.vox.com/recode/2022/12/6/23496363/twitter-mastodon-hive-musk-replacement">no good Twitter alternative</a>. The most viable contender, Mastodon, while popular with some journalists, hasn’t reached nearly the same level of mainstream appeal as Twitter.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="2NXykk">
Regardless, if Musk wants Twitter Blue to succeed, he’ll need to get celebrities and everyday people not just to stay on Twitter, but to pay for an $8-a-month subscription service.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="xKC898">
We’ll see if his plan to turn Twitter into a for-sale popularity contest will work.
</p></li>
<li><strong>Trans people deserve better journalism</strong> -
<figure>
<img alt="a human face ripped into pieces, divided by newsprint and a red background " src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/d7v6Z4796NqCL_5f-bSvT6zJkak=/240x0:1680x1080/1310x983/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/72133548/Vox_bloodred.0.png"/>
<figcaption>
Much of the journalism about trans people isn’t telling a complete story. | Sargam Gupta for Vox
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
How the anti-trans movement took over legacy media.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="I45Q2q">
It’s true that conversations pertinent to trans people and trans identity are ongoing and evolving, and yes, often confusing. One of the downsides of living in a society that’s built around a pretty rigid gender binary is that it’s often extremely hard for anyone, sometimes even trans people, to push beyond that binary and see the possibilities of a world of many vast and varied expressions of gender. Doing so requires a paradigm shift, a sort of human software upgrade.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="bLM3iP">
Now add to this murky existential territory all of the insidious myths that circulate about the modern trans movement: that trans kids are transitioning at alarming rates, that trans activists are pushier and angrier than ever, and that doctors with a scary agenda are forcing risky, dangerous medical care on unsuspecting children and parents. It might be easy to believe such reports; after all, major, reputable media outlets like the<em> </em>New York Times have been publishing journalism arguing these very concerns.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="ULLNkV">
As far as trans health care is concerned, however, the medical consensus is well-established: <a href="https://www.glaad.org/blog/medical-association-statements-supporting-trans-youth-healthcare-and-against-discriminatory">Nearly a dozen</a> major medical associations, including the World Health Organization, the American Medical Association, and the American Academy of Pediatrics support and recommend gender-affirmative care.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="qrTDpP">
Yet the specific arguments about this care that make it into many mainstream media outlets result in stories that undermine the experts, stemming not from legitimate concerns but from a <a href="https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2023/03/anti-trans-transgender-health-care-ban-legislation-bill-minors-children-lgbtq/">larger orchestrated push</a> by the far right to mainstream transphobia.
</p>
<div class="c-float-right">
<aside id="yyIrFJ">
<q>Mainstream publications treat what should be understood as a fundamental human rights battle more like a semantic “debate”</q>
</aside>
</div>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="OX3n87">
Journalists are failing at more than just reporting on the science. Mainstream publications like the Times increasingly follow the lead of anti-trans agitators, treating what should be understood as <a href="https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/23281683/trans-kids-transition-medicine-surgery">a fundamental human rights battle</a> more like a semantic “debate,” fixating on terminology and labels and medical minutiae, instead of humanizing trans and nonbinary people and their experiences. In fact, this has become such a contentious pattern at the Times that this February, contributors and members of the Times’s staff posted an <a href="https://nytletter.com/">open letter</a> protesting the paper’s escalating bias toward anti-trans talking points and pointing out many of these tactics.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="Yu2DPk">
When reached for comment, a Times spokesperson told Vox in an email, “As an independent news organization, The Times’s newsroom does not advocate for or against the passage of any policy or legislation. Rather, we produce unbiased journalism driven by a pursuit of the truth and a mission to inform our readers. We cannot and do not try to control how others cite our work.” Yet as an in-depth examination shows, the Times’s recent coverage of trans issues arguably suggests an ongoing fear and concern over trans identity that does not align with reality.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="h4FEVV">
So what’s at the root of this problem? What’s causing many of our most prestigious and trusted media outlets to get this so wrong, so often?
</p>
<h3 id="ZWKiQD">
Myths about trans kids and health care were strategically spread
</h3>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="9qdEaU">
One of the most troubling recent trends in legacy media is that of allowing bad actors to weaponize the research around transgender identity. Eric Llaveria Caselles is a sociologist who analyzes <a href="http://gjss.org/sites/default/files/issues/chapters/papers/GJSS%20Vol%2014-2%208%20Caselles.pdf">neuroscience research</a> about trans brains, and the author of <a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/33869551/">an article examining biases</a> in such research. His work concluded that “the historical oppression of trans people as epistemic agents” — that is, the refusal to listen to trans people as arbiters of their own lived experiences — was an underlying problem. But still — “I see how my article gets thrown around in social media from totally opposite positions in the debate,” Caselles said in an email. He told Vox that as a trans person and a trans studies scholar, he believes trans issues are sociocultural rather than a matter of science — but he sees little room for nuanced arguments in the current cultural conversation surrounding trans identity.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="rRuZlU">
“The problem with this whole debate on the science on trans identity is that it plays into an instrumentalization of trans people’s existences,” Caselles said, “in order to mobilize a conservative anti-liberal sentiment.” He professed ambivalence about engaging with the debate on those terms, “but sadly, there is no other choice, since trans lives are at stake here.”
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="d4Gfjd">
Many of the arguments the anti-trans movement uses are deeply emotional, summoning uncertainty, indignation, and worry both about and for genderqueer people, even among people who might otherwise be supportive. Most of those arguments boil down to questions of granting trans people agency: When and how should people be “allowed” to self-identify as trans?
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="kO8tVc">
If you’re a cisgender person — that is, someone who fits comfortably into the gender you were assigned at birth — it might be hard to conceptualize that someone else could have a completely different experience. But trans identity has always existed; many trans and nonbinary people throughout history <a href="https://www.nationalgeographic.com/history/article/how-historians-are-documenting-lives-of-transgender-people">lived their lives instinctively</a>, even when the language we now use for their identities didn’t yet exist. For many people, blurring the gender binary isn’t a choice, or something they are “allowed” to do or not do — it’s simply how their brains work. Neurological research has shown that <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8955456/">trans people’s brains</a> are <a href="https://www.endocrine-abstracts.org/ea/0056/ea0056s30.3">more closely aligned</a> to <a href="https://health.clevelandclinic.org/research-on-the-transgender-brain-what-you-should-know/">the gender with which they identify</a>. They’re experiencing the world and their own gender differently than cisgender people.
</p>
<div class="c-float-right">
<aside id="bgniUf">
<q>Most of those arguments boil down to questions of granting trans people agency: When and how should people be “allowed” to self-identify as trans?</q>
</aside>
</div>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="jtpQtM">
This reality applies to trans children as well as adults. Trans children often know they’re trans from very young ages, often by age 7, according to <a href="https://www.cedars-sinai.org/newsroom/most-gender-dysphoria-established-by-age-7-study-finds/">a study from Cedars-Sinai</a>, and <a href="https://www.insider.com/gender-specialist-trans-children-are-not-too-young-to-know-2022-1">even as young as age 3</a>. While there’s <a href="https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-lgbt-parenting/u-s-parents-accept-childrens-transgender-identity-by-age-three-idUSKBN14B1C8">some debate</a> over how early such children should begin <a href="https://transcare.ucsf.edu/transition-roadmap">socially transitioning</a> (publicly expressing one’s gender through things like clothing choices and name changes), in the US medical experts <a href="https://www.columbiapsychiatry.org/news/gender-affirming-care-saves-lives">generally encourage</a> early social transitions, which have been found in <a href="https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/political-minds/202201/the-evidence-trans-youth-gender-affirming-medical-care">study after study</a>, including at least <a href="https://fenwayhealth.org/study-finds-that-early-social-transition-for-transgender-youth-results-in-good-mental-health-outcomes-but-unaccepting-school-environments-may-lead-to-greater-risk-of-suicidality/">one large-scale study</a> published by the <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1054139X21002834?dgcid=coauthor"><em>Journal of Adolescent Health</em></a>, to lead to improved health and happiness. In 2013, in keeping with this growing medical consensus, the American Psychiatric Association <a href="https://www.psychiatry.org/psychiatrists/diversity/education/transgender-and-gender-nonconforming-patients/gender-dysphoria-diagnosis#:~:text=The%20DSM%E2%80%935%20articulates%20explicitly,of%20sex%20development%20(DSD).">officially changed</a> its diagnostic manual to clarify for the first time that “gender non-conformity is not in itself a mental disorder,” formally acknowledging for the first time that trans identity is not a mental illness that requires fixing or curing.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="5O56sy">
The anti-trans movement likes to frame these issues as concerns, particularly for trans children. If more people understood and accepted that being trans, even at a young age, is a valid, legitimate thing, that framing might make fewer inroads with the mainstream. But unfortunately for trans kids, instead of validation, there’s confusion and pushback over trans identity. The handwringing, combined with the <a href="https://www.edweek.org/leadership/number-of-trans-youth-is-twice-as-high-as-previous-estimates-study-finds/2022/06">rapid rise</a> over the last decade in teens who are openly exploring their gender identities and the media’s willingness to air transphobic fearmongering, has opened the door for a well-orchestrated moral panic.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="yGTuE6">
Beginning around 2014, far-right social conservatives <a href="https://www.damemagazine.com/2021/06/24/the-far-right-and-anti-trans-movements-unholy-alliance/">began to strategically attack</a> trans rights on multiple fronts. They <a href="https://www.workersliberty.org/story/2022-09-13/collaboration-between-transphobic-feminists-and-far-right-some-facts">partnered</a> with <a href="https://www.vox.com/identities/2019/9/5/20840101/terfs-radical-feminists-gender-critical">ostensibly leftist</a> women’s rights organizations to try to <a href="https://www.rightwingwatch.org/post/values-voter-summit-panelist-divide-conquer-to-defeat-totalitarian-trans-inclusion-policies/">spread fear and divisiveness</a> toward trans people among feminists and the LGBTQ community. They peddled <a href="https://downloads.frc.org/EF/EF16I43.pdf">transphobic alarmism</a> that the trans rights movement was inherently a threat and a danger to children. Transgender ideology was invading classrooms. Inclusive school programs were <a href="http://thecolu.mn/15058/christian-radio-including-trans-students-high-school-sports-sign-end-times">a dark gateway</a> toward sexual exploitation of children, while other inclusive programs were <a href="https://www.rightwingwatch.org/post/anti-lgbt-groups-girls-scouts-running-a-dangerous-social-engineering-experiment-on-children/">running</a> “a social engineering experiment on children.” Trans children were threatening cisgender children by seeking to use bathrooms and changing rooms alongside them.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="0c7ZLw">
In the mainstream conservative sphere, these early organized anti-trans efforts focused on things like <a href="https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/politics-news/anti-trans-bathroom-debate-how-a-local-religious-right-faction-launched-a-national-movement-203248/">bathroom bills</a>. Online, however, a different anti-trans animus was brewing over trans health care. Three different <a href="http://juliaserano.blogspot.com/2019/02/origins-of-social-contagion-and-rapid.html">websites</a> <a href="https://juliaserano.medium.com/everything-you-need-to-know-about-rapid-onset-gender-dysphoria-1940b8afdeba">appeared</a> between 2015 and 2016, all serving as anonymous clearinghouses allegedly for the concerned parents of trans kids, but really <a href="https://genderanalysis.net/2017/07/fresh-trans-myths-of-2017-rapid-onset-gender-dysphoria/">spreading misinformation</a> about medical best practices. “The purpose of this blog is to give voice to an alternative to the dominant trans-activist and medical paradigm currently being touted by the media,” one blog, the still-online 4thWaveNow, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20150819121455/http://4thwavenow.com/">stated</a>. The theme of the sites was resisting, not supporting, a relative’s transition, and the blogs catered to transphobic biases and fears.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="jRrYiq">
These sites spread several key tropes that still form the core of the anti-trans movement’s concern over children. First, the “detransition” myth: That trans kids will regret their decision later on and detransition. Research overwhelmingly shows that teens who transition rarely regret their decisions. Multiple large-scale studies have found that trans kids <a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/feature/nbc-out/trans-children-sense-their-gender-identities-young-ages-study-suggests-n1107266">know they’re trans from a young age</a> and nearly 95 percent <a href="https://abcnews.go.com/Health/children-socially-transitioned-identify-transgender-years-study/story?id=84450021">remain committed to their transition</a> years later; one large, 50-year study conducted in Sweden found that only about 2 percent ever <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/publication/262734734_An_Analysis_of_All_Applications_for_Sex_Reassignment_Surgery_in_Sweden_1960-2010_Prevalence_Incidence_and_Regrets">express regret</a>.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="3Lmu8c">
Many trans teens also detransition not because they <em>want</em> to, but because <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8213007/">they feel pressured to</a>: One <a href="https://www.gendergp.com/detransition-facts/">large-scale study</a> of nearly 28,000 trans people in the US found that about 8 percent of the respondents detransitioned to some degree; of those, 62 percent “only did so temporarily due to societal, financial, or family pressures.” A <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8213007/">different large-scale study</a> further confirmed that external pressures were a major factor, and found that detransitioners often decide to retransition later in adulthood. Overall, the process of detransitioning is typically “<a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1002/icd.2402">non-linear</a>.” The argument these sites made that detransition was common <a href="https://www.vox.com/2016/8/9/12404246/transgender-children-detransitioning-transphobia">was a false narrative</a> that <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5951646/">distorted and reversed the conclusions</a> of the scientific studies it used as backing.
</p>
<div class="c-float-right">
<aside id="5lpkKU">
<q>A small number of kids who detransition shouldn’t prevent affirmative care for the ones who do want to transition</q>
</aside>
</div>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="7TStd5">
At minimum, the presence of a small number of kids who detransition is <a href="https://psycnet.apa.org/record/2021-80256-001">irrelevant to most medical concerns</a> — they <a href="https://www.vox.com/2018/10/22/18009020/transgender-children-teens-transition-detransition-puberty-blocking-medication">shouldn’t prevent affirmative care</a> for the ones who do want to transition. Yet somehow, detransition has become such a major part of the narrative around transitioning that it’s not uncommon to find detransitioners taking up more space in articles devoted to trans teens than do actual, happy trans teens.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="LVlWqp">
Next, the myth of “social contagion.” These anonymous anti-trans communities also spread the bizarre idea of a transgender “social contagion,” in which kids were picking up the idea that they could be gender-nonconforming from seeing other genderqueer kids on various social media sites like Tumblr. There’s no empirical evidence that this exists and <a href="https://juliaserano.medium.com/all-the-evidence-against-transgender-social-contagion-f82fbda9c5d4">plenty of evidence</a>, including from the <a href="https://publications.aap.org/pediatrics/article/150/3/e2022056567/188709/Sex-Assigned-at-Birth-Ratio-Among-Transgender-and?autologincheck=redirected">journal <em>Pediatrics</em></a>, <a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/nbc-out/out-health-and-wellness/social-contagion-isnt-causing-youths-transgender-study-finds-rcna41392">that it doesn’t</a>. Yet, buoyed by <a href="https://www.reuters.com/article/usa-lgbt-transgender/estimate-of-u-s-transgender-adults-doubles-amid-debate-on-rights-study-idUSL1N19M10C">a 2016 survey</a> that found the number of people identifying as trans had doubled from 2006 to 2016, the users on these websites seeded the idea that kids were picking up gender-nonconformity from their friends online. “Children now have access to reddit, Tumblr and Youtube sites which promote transgender [identity] as a lifestyle choice,” one <a href="https://notthenewsinbriefs.wordpress.com/2016/04/07/bigoted-or-brave-a-response-to-cbbc/">blogger wrote</a>, linking to a <a href="https://4thwavenow.com/2015/04/03/she-just-gets-in-my-head/">dismissive post</a> on 4thWaveNow about trans-allied Tumblr users.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="mL4tCG">
This myth is entangled with another idea that grew out of these websites: “rapid-onset gender dysphoria,” or “ROGD.” The term was popularized via a single, methodologically flawed study: The researcher, Lisa Littman, <a href="https://www.technologyreview.com/2022/08/18/1057135/transgender-contagion-gender-dysphoria/">polled the parents on these anti-trans sites</a> and drew her conclusions from their responses, without verifying whether these parents or their children even existed — or considering whether anonymous internet users posting on transphobic websites were the best judges of children’s trans identities.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="hvH4Ud">
When Littman’s study was published in 2018, it drew so much <a href="https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/shannonkeating/rapid-onset-gender-dysphoria-flawed-methods-transgender">backlash</a> and <a href="https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10508-019-1453-2">criticism</a> that it was retracted and <a href="https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0214157">republished</a> with a disclaimer that ROGD was “not a formal mental health diagnosis.” Two years later, the <em>Journal of Pediatrics</em> published a study <a href="https://www.jpeds.com/article/S0022-3476(21)01085-4/fulltext">definitively debunking</a> the idea that “ROGD” was ever a real thing. By then it was too late. The anti-trans movement ran wild with claims of the false phenomenon Littman had “found.”
</p>
<h3 id="Ucuk4w">
The media uncritically allowed these anti-trans myths to proliferate
</h3>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="xFxWKP">
Once the anti-trans movement had successfully created the narrative that transgender identity was some sort of alarming fad that children were succumbing to, it was easy to systematically question every aspect of treatment designed to help them transition. The understanding of medical experts for how to provide gender-affirming care — often using hormone replacement therapy, puberty blockers, surgical treatments, and/or social transitioning — has evolved over decades and easily rises to the level of a firm <a href="https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/what-the-science-on-gender-affirming-care-for-transgender-kids-really-shows/">medical consensus</a>. However, all of these methods are now under increased scrutiny. As with the anti-abortion movement, anti-trans agitators try to undermine an individual’s right to bodily autonomy and decisions over their own health care. <a href="https://cole.house.gov/planned-parenthood-should-be-defunded">Just as it had</a> with abortions, the narrative runs that doctors with agendas are <a href="https://www.dailysignal.com/2022/05/17/with-new-book-pediatricians-try-to-ensnare-kids-in-gender-ideology/">aggressively pushing</a> medical procedures and “gender ideology” onto vulnerable patients.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="jsdGGb">
In 2018, the Atlantic published a now-notorious cover story pushing a transphobic regret narrative. The story, by Jesse Singal, took its subjects from those same three anonymous websites, misgendered trans teens, and spoke to zero successfully transitioned teens or their parents about their experiences. The piece was roundly denounced by <a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/family/archive/2018/06/i-detransitioned-but-not-because-i-wasnt-trans/563396/">trans people</a>,<a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/membership/archive/2018/06/what-do-the-parents-of-trans-kids-have-to-say/563507/"> parents of trans kids</a>, <a href="https://www.transgendermap.com/politics/media/jesse-singal/critics/">journalists</a>, and <a href="https://www.emilygorcenski.com/post/jesse-singal-got-more-wrong-than-he-thinks">scientists</a>.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="KuBgXH">
A 2021 <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/outlook/2021/11/24/trans-kids-therapy-psychologist/">op-ed</a> in the Washington Post urged the need for more mental health assessments for transitioning teens. The piece was co-written by <a href="https://www.transgendermap.com/medical/psychotherapy/usa/california/erica-anderson/">two psychologists and controversial</a> <a href="https://www.transgendermap.com/medical/psychotherapy/usa/oregon/laura-edwards-leeper/">conservative members</a> of the trans medical community, Laura Edwards-Leeper and Erica Anderson. Edwards-Leeper serves on multiple committees for the World Professional Association for Transgender Health, or WPATH, the organization that creates the global medically established standard of care for trans people. Anderson was serving as president of USPATH, the US sub-branch of WPATH, at the time the op-ed was published. Despite both women’s direct involvement with the organization responsible for creating affirmative health care standards, the Post op-ed reads like a bingo card for anti-trans talking points, conflating trans identity with mental illness, quoting Singal, and decrying “the messages that teens get from TikTok.”
</p>
<div class="c-float-right">
<aside id="7gbG99">
<q>As with the anti-abortion movement, anti-trans agitators try to undermine an individual’s right to bodily autonomy and decisions over their own health care</q>
</aside>
</div>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="QKXyzF">
As an alternative to what they argue is premature transitioning, the authors promote the idea of “gender exploratory therapy,” a mental health assessment they argue is necessary to ensure a child is fully committed to transitioning. This method has been <a href="https://xtramagazine.com/health/gender-exploratory-therapy-243833">compared to conversion therapy</a>; opponents argue that its long-term goal is to delay transitioning indefinitely. (In an email to Vox, Edwards-Leeper pushed back on claims that any of her work supports conversion therapy, citing support from the American Psychological Association, and saying that providers who fail to follow WPATH standards of care are the real danger.) Anderson ultimately resigned from her roles in WPATH and USPATH in 2021, <a href="https://quillette.com/2022/01/06/a-transgender-pioneer-explains-why-she-stepped-down-from-uspath-and-wpath/">stating</a> she could “no longer continue in good conscience to support the direction of USPATH,” after the two organizations jointly authored <a href="https://www.wpath.org/media/cms/Documents/Public%20Policies/2021/Joint%20WPATH%20USPATH%20Letter%20Dated%20Oct%2012%202021.pdf">a statement</a> opposing her numerous appearances in conservative media, in which she criticized gender-affirming standards of care. Maddie Deutsch, a clinical therapist who succeeded Anderson as president of USPATH, told Vox the organization had been blindsided by Anderson’s claims to the press, which were concerns she had chosen never to raise internally or address formally during her tenure as president.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="90MBrf">
In June 2022, the New York Times published <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2022/06/15/magazine/gender-therapy.html">a lengthy piece</a> wondering whether children should have access to gender therapy at all, even though most of the medical experts writer Emily Bazelon spoke to were in agreement that it was necessary. Still, “could some of the teenagers coming out as trans today be different from the adults who transitioned in previous generations?” Bazelon wrote. There’s no real evidence to suggest that trans teens today are markedly different from trans teens of yesteryear. We do know that <a href="https://www.insider.com/more-lgbt-young-people-identify-nonbinary-2021-7">more people</a> in general are exploring <a href="https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2022/06/07/about-5-of-young-adults-in-the-u-s-say-their-gender-is-different-from-their-sex-assigned-at-birth/">more aspects</a> of their gender identities, but that seems to suggest a societal shift rather than internal change.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="h4yhRN">
A Times spokesperson told Vox that nothing presented in the story supports the idea of banning gender therapy, saying the piece “was about the debate <em>among</em> gender-affirming providers, all of whom help teenagers physically transition, and several of whom are trans themselves, over what kind of assessment to do when young people seek medical treatment.” (Anti-trans lawmakers, however, saw the piece differently; more on that later.)
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="7mJpyu">
The Times <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2022/11/14/health/puberty-blockers-transgender.html">exhausted 6,000 words</a> a few months later in November, litigating the use of puberty blockers, a well-established medical therapy that’s been <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7430465/">in use since the ’80s for both trans and cisgender kids</a>. Rather than examine the existing science and the medical consensus around puberty blockers, the Times instead did its own survey of relevant medical literature and commissioned a private analysis, which WPATH found so flawed that it issued a <a href="https://www.wpath.org/media/cms/Documents/Public%20Policies/2022/USPATHWPATH%20Statement%20re%20Nov%2014%202022%20NYT%20Article%20Nov%2022%202022.pdf?_t=1669173834">statement</a> eviscerating the research, pointing out that the analyst is a physician with “no experience in clinical medicine, child and identity development, bone density, or any aspect of the field of transgender health.”
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="AaTFL8">
It’s <a href="https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/23281683/trans-kids-transition-medicine-surgery">well-established</a> that providing trans teens gender-affirming health care lowers their rates of depression, suicide, and hopelessness, among countless other benefits. That didn’t stop the Times from opining that there <em>could</em> be a vague, unspecified “cost” to allowing trans teens to access puberty blockers. The cost, we learn, is a reduction in bone density over time — the same side effect found in common acne treatments for teens, like Accutane. Yet, as journalist Tom Scocca <a href="https://popula.com/2023/01/29/the-worst-thing-we-read-this-week-why-is-the-new-york-times-so-obsessed-with-trans-kids/">notes</a>, “the Times isn’t publishing multiple front-page stories about whether teens are endangering their bodies by getting treated for cystic acne.”
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="6zQlnl">
The Times article also downplayed the fact that eventually introducing sex hormones as part of the normal course of gender therapy typically causes bone density to increase significantly; as WPATH put it, “Bone density loss is generally not a concern once hormone therapy has begun.” Yet the Times piece seems unable to move beyond the worry that all of this is unwarranted medical risk-taking. Indeed, a Times spokesperson insisted to Vox that “A full accounting of blockers’ risk to bones is not possible.”
</p>
<div class="c-float-right">
<aside id="KxDtcq">
<q>She described the piece as “a fairly sophisticated false equivalency”</q>
</aside>
</div>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="fZMwuC">
The Times spokesperson refuted characterizations of the piece as harmful, noting that no one quoted in the piece disbelieves gender dysphoria exists. “Instead, it illuminated debate among those who provide medical care to these adolescents on how to best use puberty blockers as a first line of treatment, while highlighting the experiences of young people who took the drug. The use of blockers on adolescents with normally timed puberty has not been approved by the FDA and there is little research on it.” Yet as many people have <a href="https://medicine.yale.edu/lgbtqi/research/gender-affirming-care/florida%20report%20final%20july%208%202022%20accessible_443048_284_55174_v3.pdf">pointed out</a>, “off-label” or unapproved use, “when supported by scientific evidence, as is the case here, is extremely common in medical practice and especially in pediatrics.”
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="KOjarE">
The truth is that none of this should be viewed as a problem unless you view transitioning itself — i.e., more trans people — as a problem. <a href="https://www.healthline.com/health/are-puberty-blockers-reversible#risks-of-withholding">Puberty blockers aren’t permanent</a>; people who transition are allowed to change their minds, as a small number do. Most doctors support social transitioning <a href="https://www.texastribune.org/2023/03/24/texas-transgender-kids-transition-related-health-care/">well in advance</a> of any physical transition. These early decisions are not fixed in stone.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="5tSIbT">
“I found that story to be a bit reckless,” Kelly McBride told Vox. McBride is the public editor for NPR, as well as the senior vice president and chair of the Craig Newmark Center for Ethics and Leadership at the <a href="https://www.poynter.org/author/kellymcbride/">Poynter Institute</a>. She described the piece as “a fairly sophisticated false equivalency, because it suggests that there is an equal level of both support and doubt about puberty blockers among the medical experts with the most knowledge about treating children with gender dysphoria.” When in fact, she noted, “there were many more people quoted in the article who support the use of puberty blockers than who expressed doubts. But the views of the people who expressed the doubts were presented with equal weight.” She noted this is a longstanding problem in journalism, something we’ve seen in coverage of everything from <a href="https://www.bloomsbury.com/us/merchants-of-doubt-9781608193943/">climate change to tobacco use</a>.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="6PPyq7">
There’s a larger false equivalence at work here as well: the idea that letting people transition is equal to the harm of preventing their transition.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="q74JrJ">
Any concern that teens might be mistaken about whether they’re trans, as my former colleague Emily St. James has <a href="https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/23281683/trans-kids-transition-medicine-surgery">argued eloquently</a>, is nothing compared to the far greater risk of deep unhappiness and suicidal ideation that trans teens face when they’re prevented from transitioning.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="bNBPH1">
So, yes, much of the science is difficult, and debate persists about exact methods and timelines for transitioning teens and pre-teens. But that science is also overwhelmingly clear on one important point: We lose nothing by simply letting trans people, including trans kids, be who they say they are.
</p>
<h3 id="NZ70E1">
The harm of “just asking questions”
</h3>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="Wgf6MX">
What all of these pieces have in common is a form of “just asking questions.” On its face, “just asking questions” might seem like the fundamental role of a journalist. It often is — journalists may walk us through explorations of important issues by getting us to ask questions alongside them. But context is crucial; some questions might seem innocent, but what ends up happening is <a href="https://www.huffpost.com/entry/how-to-spot-antitrans-con_b_8055816">far more problematic</a> and leads to undermining, derailing, or even <a href="https://www.damemagazine.com/2023/03/30/real-journalists-dont-just-ask-questions/">distorting our understanding</a> of the subject.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="Vsvjhd">
“There is, of course, nothing wrong with asking questions on behalf of the audience,” McBride told Vox. “That’s what journalists do. But there is an ethical obligation to find the best sources to answer those questions and then explain to the audience why those are the best sources. And, when sources disagree, it’s important to include the context of their connection to the issue as they disagree.”
</p>
<div class="c-float-right">
<aside id="3UEJyd">
<q>“You just can’t understand what it’s like for these kids until you’ve listened to them tell you the urgent, burning need that they’re having”</q>
</aside>
</div>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="Lba2VB">
“I too am concerned about the way that we deliver trans care to youth, including making sure that assessments are done appropriately by qualified physicians,” Deutsch said. “And I don’t think you’re gonna find too many US path or WPATH board members who disagree.”
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="ehEPjO">
Deutsch pointed out that ideally, the trans medical establishment should be treated like every other medical establishment and allowed to police itself — to root out problems and issues within the community without undermining the community itself. If, for example, a medical practice was found to be ignoring the standards of care established by WPATH, “then the answer should not be ban care,” she told Vox. “The response should be [that] we need to make sure they follow the standards of care,” or else determine why they aren’t. The issue, then, is ensuring trans kids are treated <em>well</em> — not that they aren’t treated at all.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="ukuYXk">
“There’s a public health emergency with trans kids,” Deutsch emphasized. “When you have sat in a room with a 15-year-old kid or a 13-year-old kid who is melting down because any day they’re gonna start menstruating or their voice is gonna start changing and they’re suicidal … You just can’t understand what it’s like for these kids until you’ve sat in the room with them and listened to them tell you the urgent, burning need that they’re having.”
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="uuHtzD">
The constant battle over the right of trans people to exist playing out at national media outlets has a human cost. Much of this coverage happens in newspaper opinion sections, where pieces may receive less fact-checking and editorial scrutiny than they do in news sections. Op-ed columnists who traffic in anti-trans views are therefore able to <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2022/07/03/opinion/the-far-right-and-far-left-agree-on-one-thing-women-dont-count.html">dominate</a> discussion about trans identity, uncritically promoting <a href="https://www.currentaffairs.org/2021/11/why-all-the-anti-trans-arguments-are-bogus">debunked science</a> and <a href="https://www.glaad.org/releases/glaad-responds-new-york-times-hiring-anti-lgbtq-attorney-opinion-columnist">platforming</a> <a href="https://www.transgendermap.com/politics/medicine/pediatrics/julia-w-mason/">agenda-driven</a> views.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="HdsA62">
The missing element of such pieces isn’t simply information, but also an acknowledgment that transitioning <em>matters</em>: that it’s a huge aspect of trans identity and that delaying or forestalling it does harm. When journalists do acknowledge this, such pieces read very differently.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="Mb66Vx">
For instance, <a href="https://www.reuters.com/investigates/special-report/usa-transyouth-care/">Reuters ran a story</a> similar in scope to Bazelon’s New York Times article that raised questions about gender therapy, but it raised those questions while centering them on a happy transitioning teen and her supportive parents, showing her living her best life without ever undermining her right to transition. It’s not about simply portraying positive stories about transitioning, it is about asking questions and providing full context. The Washington Post’s <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/dc-md-va/2021/04/22/transgender-child-sports-treatments/">transgender teen FAQ</a> acknowledges the risk of bone density loss but also immediately contextualizes this risk and then reaffirms the rights of teens to weigh their own health care options. This framing stands in stark contrast to the many other articles devoted to handwringing over trans agency and trans health care.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="LOIpKs">
That so many editors and journalists at legacy media outlets are willing to cede points to extremists, allowing their worry about trans issues to dictate coverage, speaks to the difficult nature of the conversation. Journalists who would otherwise find the nuance in the debate too often settle for a superficial claim to even-handedness on trans issues, without ever having to acknowledge that both “sides” of the debate are drastically unequal.
</p>
<div class="c-float-right">
<aside id="YCijiL">
<q>“When trans people do anything, it’s pathologized and it becomes an offense”</q>
</aside>
</div>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="FZ40d3">
“Most people aren’t trans and have nothing at stake here,” Zinnia Jones told Vox. Jones, an independent trans researcher, co-founded the blog <a href="https://genderanalysis.net/">Gender Analysis</a> in order to dissect and critique anti-trans talking points within the media and government. In 2017, she was one of the first people to point out the significance of anonymous blogs like 4thWaveNow underpinning the rise in transphobic rhetoric around teens transitioning. “This could be two sides of a chessboard,” she said. “To them, this is something to idly debate, and the outcome either way won’t be particularly concerning to them. But these are our lives. And there’s also this, this drive from the New York Times to try and make it seem like there’s two legitimate sides to this.”
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="h8NT26">
Once you begin questioning the wisdom of letting trans people transition at all, it becomes easy to question everything else — as many media outlets have. <em>Should</em> trans people be <a href="https://www.vox.com/culture/23025505/leftist-groomers-homophobia-satanic-panic-explained">allowed to teach kids</a>? <em>Should</em> trans kids be <a href="https://www.reuters.com/investigates/special-report/usa-transyouth-topsurgery/">allowed</a> to <a href="https://www.wsj.com/articles/when-teens-question-their-gender-social-media-can-provide-supportand-pressure-11634994000">use the internet</a>? <em>Should</em> trans athletes <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2022/02/16/science/lia-thomas-testosterone-womens-sports.html">be allowed to compete</a>? <em>Should</em> trans teens be <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2022/09/26/health/top-surgery-transgender-teenagers.html">allowed to have top surgery</a>? <em>Are</em> trans women somehow <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-57853385">predatorily forcing lesbians to sleep with them</a>?
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="vcLakB">
“When trans people do anything, it’s pathologized and it becomes an offense,” Jones said. “We can’t do anything without it being treated as something conniving, something nefarious, something that must be causing a problem,” Jones said. “There seems to be this assumption that there’s no way that us going about our lives could be inherently benign. So [the media has] to find all of these ways that this must be objectionable in some way. Like, are you <em>sure</em> it’s okay when these people go to the bathroom? Are you <em>sure</em> it’s okay when these people have children? It is dehumanizing. It removes from us these basic amenities and expectations and dignity that other people are entitled to.”
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="dH98dq">
That kind of constant undermining of the rights and dignity of trans people ultimately forms a rhetoric that effectively questions whether trans people should exist at all.
</p>
<h3 id="12bf6V">
Where all this leads: to the state-sanctioned endangerment of trans people
</h3>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="Mpf7Rv">
This type of media coverage inevitably gets used to bolster anti-trans legislation, at a moment when conservative lawmakers across the US are targeting trans people through a <a href="https://www.vox.com/politics/23631262/trans-bills-republican-state-legislatures">wave of dehumanizing, transphobic laws</a> at a state level, designed to restrict them from public life. The notorious Atlantic piece <a href="https://affordablecareactlitigation.files.wordpress.com/2019/05/state-plaintiffs-sj-reply-5-3-19.pdf">was cited</a> by seven state attorneys general in 2019 in support of anti-trans health care legislation in Texas. Last year, the state of Texas <a href="https://www.texasobserver.org/emily-bazelon-transgender-healthcare-debate-new-york-times/">cited</a> Bazelon’s Times article in direct support of its unsupported claim that “there exists enormous controversy and disagreement among experts” about how to treat trans kids as part of its ongoing legal battle to investigate families with transgender children. A Times spokesperson insisted, “The Texas litigation did not reference the reporting in the piece, which made clear that many young people benefit from gender-affirming medical treatment and indeed find it critical to their well-being. Instead, the litigation simply cited the headline and subheadline.” Still, both the headline and subheadline served to question and undermine the medical consensus around transitioning.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="I6S9Nf">
In other words, such journalism directly and literally harms trans people, particularly when it relies on distorted and disingenuous readings of science and medical opinions.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="8F9R6G">
<a href="https://medicine.yale.edu/profile/meredithe-mcnamara/">Meredithe McNamara</a> is an assistant professor of pediatrics at the Yale School of Medicine. She was so frustrated by the disinformation of the anti-trans movement, and the use of it in lawmaking attempts to criminalize transgender identity, that she co-founded the <a href="https://law.yale.edu/centers-workshops/integrity-project">Yale Integrity Project</a>, which has issued thorough responses and rebuttals to many of the inaccurate claims used in anti-trans legislation.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="X5CUmj">
McNamara told Vox that although she spoke to the Times extensively for <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2022/11/04/health/florida-gender-care-minors-medical-board.html">a piece about Florida’s ban on trans affirmative health care</a>, explaining the <a href="https://medicine.yale.edu/lgbtqi/research/gender-affirming-care/florida%20report%20final%20july%208%202022%20accessible_443048_284_55174_v3.pdf">disinformation</a> that underpinned it, the paper ultimately declined to make room in its article for that context — context that, McNamara argued, was crucial to understanding the ban. A Times spokesperson responded to Vox that the article “reported on the medical board’s decision fairly and accurately, while providing readers with key context on other states’ restrictions of gender-affirming care and the wider medical debate over such care for minors.”
</p>
<div class="c-float-right">
<aside id="03DH8I">
<q>“With the right kind of media coverage, these issues don’t really have legs”</q>
</aside>
</div>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="IPVUxw">
Some outlets are working to contextualize the insidious bad faith behind the legislation. For example, <a href="https://www.vice.com/en/article/m7gg54/florida-transgender-healthcare-minors">Vice’s dissection</a> of the intentionally distorted research that went into the Florida ban stands out for both its thoroughness — Vice spoke to 10 scientists whose works were misused for the health department memo underpinning the ban — and its singularity. That sort of fact-checking and crucial context rarely makes it into the reporting on trans people.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="xXHhrF">
Jones speculated that outlets like the Times not only give their sources the benefit of the doubt, but expect their readers to do so as well, even though journalists should always question where their sources’ ideas have originated, and what motives might lie behind them.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="fLMhN9">
Indeed, in early March, <a href="https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2023/03/anti-trans-transgender-health-care-ban-legislation-bill-minors-children-lgbtq/">Mother Jones published a feature uncovering</a> a widespread anti-trans network across a range of legal, medical, and political professions, including major national organizations like the conservative legal advocacy and lobby group Alliance Defending Freedom (which the Southern Poverty Law Center has designated <a href="https://www.splcenter.org/fighting-hate/extremist-files/group/alliance-defending-freedom">a hate group</a>). Members of these groups, per Mother Jones, appeared to be working together to advance the cause of transphobic legislation across the US.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="Onz3ee">
McNamara believes that more accurate coverage of these laws, framed as the anti-science transphobia that they are, could actually make a real impact in combating such large-scale organization.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="Nb0TBc">
“With the right kind of media coverage, these issues don’t really have legs,” she told Vox.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="wijYvd">
She pointed out that some Republican lawmakers have <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2023/03/02/opinion/trans-gender-attacks-republican-party.html?showTranscript=1">expressed reluctance</a> to join the anti-trans bandwagon, and that reporting that bolsters the science and upholds the medical establishment could assist them in shutting down what is essentially manufactured debate. After all, as Jon Stewart <a href="https://www.them.us/story/jon-stewart-nathan-dahm-gop-drag-guns">recently noted in exasperation</a>, GOP lawmakers spending more time legislating drag queens than, say, gun control look like hypocrites, which arguably hurts them politically. Rather than framing the <a href="https://www.vox.com/culture/23025505/leftist-groomers-homophobia-satanic-panic-explained">moral panic</a> around trans people as the nonsense it is, McNamara said, “this both sides-y journalism is really fueling the ideologues and pigeonholing politicians into untenable positions.”
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="U5Kbhq">
Compounding this problem is one of scarcity: There are so, so few trans people — <a href="https://williamsinstitute.law.ucla.edu/publications/trans-adults-united-states/">only about 1.6 million</a> Americans over 13 identify as trans, or a bit over one-half of 1 percent of the total US population — and they are frequently completely left out of the public discourse about their own identities. This imbalance nearly always favors anti-trans agitators like <a href="https://www.vox.com/culture/23622610/jk-rowling-transphobic-statements-timeline-history-controversy">J.K. Rowling</a> (a very rich, very powerful person) over trans people (one of the smallest, most vulnerable minority communities). It makes it more difficult, just statistically, to find qualified trans journalists who are willing to try combating the overwhelming, endless deluge of disinformation about their identities. The onus is on all journalists, not just trans journalists, to understand these issues and represent trans people fairly.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="49sb1w">
The burden of this journalism, furthermore, should not fall primarily on trans journalists, who often also have to deal with the exhaustion of the soul that comes from having to repeatedly debunk the same bad arguments, only to see them pop up in ever-larger, ever-more influential news outlets.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="7d0Vrv">
Again, it’s not that “just asking questions” is inherently bad. But when journalists ask those questions by undermining the established scientific research, the standardized medical practices, and especially the dignity and lived experiences of trans people, they cater to those who would deny basic rights to trans people. And attacks on trans people, as <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2023/02/10/opinion/trump-desantis-transgender-rights.html">many have eloquently argued</a>, aren’t “just” attacks on a tiny minority.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="bxvAiP">
Even if one isn’t moved by the <a href="https://williamsinstitute.law.ucla.edu/press/ncvs-trans-press-release/">alarmingly high</a> (<a href="https://thehill.com/blogs/blog-briefing-room/news/3898187-hate-crimes-up-by-double-digits-last-year-fbi/">and rising</a>) rates of hate crimes, violence, <a href="https://www.thetrevorproject.org/survey-2022/">depression</a>, and <a href="https://www.hcplive.com/view/mortality-rate-higher-transgender-people">death</a> that trans people face as they struggle for acceptance, most people would be alarmed at what critics like Judith Butler have <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/commentisfree/2021/oct/23/judith-butler-gender-ideology-backlash">deemed</a> a form of cultural fascism — the systematic use of propaganda and disinformation to seed hate and resentment from a majority group against a perceived enemy. <a href="https://www.vox.com/2018/9/19/17847110/how-fascism-works-donald-trump-jason-stanley">As history teaches us</a>, such violent rhetoric rarely rests with a single target.
</p>
<div class="c-float-right">
<aside id="scyyMB">
<q>Our concept of gender needn’t be frightening or intimidating. In fact, what if more journalism framed gender exploration as wondrous? </q>
</aside>
</div>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="u9xBkB">
Trans people deserve to live safely, to live lives of joy — a state many describe as trans <a href="https://queerkentucky.com/gender-euphoria-the-bright-side-of-trans-experience/">euphoria</a>, the opposite of dysphoria. That joy needn’t be siloed away; our concept of gender needn’t be frightening or intimidating. In fact, what if more journalism framed gender exploration as wondrous? As a marvelous opportunity to evolve our humanity, to explore and understand the self?
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="JzV7Jz">
What if we are all, even the raging angry transphobes among us, genderfluid, futuristic, <a href="https://www.vox.com/future-perfect/2019/6/25/18682583/biohacking-transhumanism-human-augmentation-genetic-engineering-crispr">transhumanist</a>, <a href="https://www.vox.com/2015/9/17/9347303/steven-universe-cartoon-network-best"><em>Steven Universe</em></a><em> </em>gemstones, <a href="https://www.vox.com/22925529/left-hand-of-darkness-ursula-le-guin-amatonormativity-romance">Ursula Le Guin</a> aliens, <a href="https://www.vox.com/culture/23024945/everything-everywhere-all-at-once-multiverse-explained-quantum-physicist">hot dog-handed</a> quantum entities? Trans people perceive gender and identity in wild and wonderful ways. What isn’t exciting about that? What isn’t exciting about a trans kid undergoing a joyous self-discovery? What isn’t exciting about our expanded awareness of gender, and all the things we have yet to discover?
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="3iyA1r">
Nearly all of the headlines about trans identity right now are headlines born of ostracism, fear, oppression. Imagine how much more vibrant, how much more joyful, this American era might be if we were telling a different story about the trans experience — a story of love and wonder, of human evolution in the making.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="ypJBwX">
Who better than journalists to elevate that story instead?
</p></li>
<li><strong>What we know about Donald Trump’s unprecedented indictment</strong> -
<figure>
<img alt="Trump tieless in a navy suit and white shirt, is seen in profile, standing between rows of flapping US flags, his plane, reading TRUMP behind him. He’s looking down, his MAGA hat in his hand." src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/jpw-iSsMQi8ku-Z632apTJ5L4pc=/367x0:5156x3592/1310x983/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/72132716/GettyImages_1476380379.0.jpg"/>
<figcaption>
Former President Donald Trump at his first 2024 campaign rally, days before reports of his indictment. | Brandon Bell/Getty Images
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
Donald Trump has been indicted. Here’s what happens next.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="ADQfGZ">
A Manhattan grand jury voted Thursday to indict former President Donald Trump in connection to <a href="https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2023/1/31/23579526/trump-indictment-grand-jury-stormy-daniels-felony">hush money payments</a> to the porn actress Stormy Daniels during his 2016 campaign, according to multiple news reports. He is the first former US president to be charged with a crime.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="JMw1mC">
It’s not clear exactly what the charges are yet, though previous reports have indicated he’d be charged with falsification of business records to cover up a crime. The indictment was filed under seal, and the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office is expected to announce the charges in the coming days.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="sEAusf">
A spokesperson for the office said in a <a href="https://twitter.com/ManhattanDA/status/1641579988360019968?s=20">statement</a> Thursday that Trump’s attorney had been contacted to request that he surrender to their office for arraignment and that the office would provide further guidance once an arraignment date had been selected. The New York Times <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/live/2023/03/30/nyregion/trump-indictment-news/3ce23bed-105f-5584-8dc3-40630afce111?smid=url-share">reported</a> that Trump is expected to turn himself in as early as Tuesday.<strong> </strong>
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="VpUnM9">
Michael Cohen, a former lawyer for the Trump Organization and the star witness in the case, who paid Daniels $130,000 to stay silent about her relationship with Trump, suggested in a statement Thursday that he wanted to see Trump held to account. Cohen stood by his testimony and the evidence he provided to the prosecutor’s office, but also urged the public to give the former president the “presumption of innocence.”
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="pWK4kV">
“I do take solace in validating the adage that no one is above the law; not even a former President,” he said. “Today’s indictment is not the end of this chapter; but rather, just the beginning. Now that the charges have been filed, it is better for the case to let the indictment speak for itself.”
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="sVVezl">
It might be only <a href="https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/23306941/donald-trump-crimes-criminal-investigation-mar-a-lago-fbi-january-6-election-georgia-new-york">the first of several indictments to drop</a>. Trump is also facing probes into his business dealings, interference in the 2020 election in Georgia, withholding of classified documents after he left office, and his role in inciting the January 6 insurrection.
</p>
<aside id="GFdD9M">
<div>
</div>
</aside>
<h3 id="SnjUnV">
How have Trump and the GOP reacted?
</h3>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="FnQ4XG">
In a statement Thursday, Trump called the indictment “Political Persecution and Election Interference at the highest level in history,” framing it as another partisan “Witch Hunt” and compared it to his two impeachments and the FBI raid on his home at Mar-a-Lago to retrieve classified documents. Trump also took aim at Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg, who pushed the case, and urged his supporters to throw Democrats out of office, using it as an opportunity to fundraise.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="1q17NH">
“The Democrats have lied, cheated and stolen in their obsession with trying to ‘Get Trump,’ but now they’ve done the unthinkable - indicting a completely innocent person in an act of blatant Election Interference,” he wrote.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="xoXYeT">
MAGA-world figures rushed to Trump’s defense Thursday. His son Eric Trump called it “<a href="https://twitter.com/EricTrump/status/1641560639385780225">third world prosecutorial misconduct</a>.” Mike Pompeo, Trump’s former secretary of state, <a href="https://twitter.com/mikepompeo/status/1641560624470663170">warned </a>that it was “undermining America’s confidence in our legal system.”
</p>
<aside id="s9jP1Z">
<div>
</div>
</aside>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="pRoiES">
And Trump’s opponents in the 2024 Republican primary rallied behind him. Right-wing activist Vivek Ramaswamy, who announced his candidacy in February<a href="https://twitter.com/VivekGRamaswamy/status/1641559434307547142">, called</a> the indictment “politically motivated” and marking a “dark moment in American history.” And Nikki Haley, Trump’s former US ambassador to the United Nations who called for a “new generation of leadership” in her 2024 announcement video, said that the indictment was more about “<a href="https://twitter.com/NikkiHaley/status/1641581659458863107?s=20">revenge than it is about justice</a>.”
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="eD6var">
Though Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis has not formally announced his 2024 candidacy, he is widely considered to be the top challenger to Trump. He previously took a shot at Trump over the case, suggesting in a <a href="https://www.semafor.com/article/03/21/2023/desantis-knocked-trump-over-stormy-daniels-dont-expect-other-republicans-to-follow">news conference</a> earlier this month that he couldn’t relate to being accused of “paying hush money to a porn star to secure silence over some type of alleged affair.” But he still accused Bragg Thursday of turning “rule of law on its head” and “stretching the law to target a political opponent.”
</p>
<div id="c22q3J">
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" dir="ltr" lang="en">
The weaponization of the legal system to advance a political agenda turns the rule of law on its head. <br/><br/>It is un-American. <br/><br/>The Soros-backed Manhattan District Attorney has consistently bent the law to downgrade felonies and to excuse criminal misconduct. Yet, now he is…
</p>
— Ron DeSantis (<span class="citation" data-cites="GovRonDeSantis">@GovRonDeSantis</span>) <a href="https://twitter.com/GovRonDeSantis/status/1641575007552778243?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 30, 2023</a>
</blockquote></div></li>
</ul>
<h3 id="FR0CPL">
What was Trump indicted for? And how strong is the case against him?
</h3>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="lE2M8f">
As of now, we do not know what the specific charges against Trump will be. But this case could potentially spark as much debate within the appellate courts as it will in the press and in the public.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="P4kLcj">
As a <a href="https://www.brookings.edu/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/BR_Trump_Report_final.pdf">2021 report by the Brookings Institution</a> explains, Trump’s payments to Stormy Daniels could violate a New York law governing false business records. According to the report, criminal charges could arise out of “<a href="https://www.brookings.edu/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/BR_Trump_Report_final.pdf">any mischaracterization of hush payment reimbursements and of fringe benefits in the Trump Organization’s bookkeeping</a>.”
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="k48fQi">
Bragg’s office was reportedly investigating Trump’s<a href="https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2023/1/31/23579526/trump-indictment-grand-jury-stormy-daniels-felony"> payment to Daniels</a> under<a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/donald-trump/law-enforcement-agencies-are-prepping-possible-trump-indictment-early-rcna75493"> a felony statute that prohibits falsifying certain business records</a>. So there are outward signs that Bragg may be pursuing the same legal theory laid out by the Brookings report.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="aUlK7w">
Under that statute, Trump could potentially be charged with a crime if he <a href="https://www.nysenate.gov/legislation/laws/PEN/175.05">faked or destroyed such a record to cover up the payment to Daniels</a>. But even if Bragg can prove that, the felony statute also requires him to prove that Trump did so “<a href="https://www.nysenate.gov/legislation/laws/PEN/175.10">to commit another crime or to aid or conceal the commission thereof</a>.”
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="IVUsiK">
That may seem like a light lift, because Trump’s former lawyer Michael Cohen<a href="https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2023/1/31/23579526/trump-indictment-grand-jury-stormy-daniels-felony"> pleaded guilty to a federal campaign finance violation</a> related to this Daniels payment. But it is also unclear whether New York law permits Bragg to link Trump to a federal crime in this indictment, as opposed to connecting Trump to a second violation of New York’s own criminal laws.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="4rEcf4">
“No appellate court in New York” has ever decided whether a defendant can be charged with a felony for falsifying a business record to cover up a federal crime, according to a<a href="https://www.amazon.com/People-vs-Donald-Trump-Account-ebook/dp/B0BGQHPZQ8"> book</a> by Mark Pomerantz, a former prosecutor in the Manhattan DA’s office.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="r8tTih">
Of course, the grand jury could have voted to indict Trump on additional, or completely separate, charges. The formal legal documents laying out the specific allegations against Trump are not yet public.
</p>
<h3 id="jtvBrn">
Who is Stormy Daniels?
</h3>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="90yJ8n">
Stormy Daniels, whose real name is Stephanie Clifford, claims that she had a sexual encounter with Trump in his hotel room in Lake Tahoe in 2006 after meeting him at a charity golf tournament. That was after Trump married his current wife, Melania Trump, who at that point had just given birth.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="ABY0aN">
Trump has long denied that the encounter occurred. While he has acknowledged that he reimbursed Cohen for paying off Daniels to keep her quiet, he said in 2018 that was just to prevent her from publicly making <a href="https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/991994433750142976?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E991994433750142976%7Ctwgr%5Ef11472f82f41179796dcba8e63d1d17aef76c13e%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&amp;ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.reuters.com%2Fworld%2Fus%2Fwho-is-stormy-daniels-what-did-she-say-happened-with-trump-2023-03-30%2F">“false and extortionist accusations</a>.”
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="xNxUB9">
Daniels later said in a <a href="https://www.cbsnews.com/news/stormy-daniels-describes-her-alleged-affair-with-donald-trump-60-minutes-interview/"><em>60 Minutes</em> interview </a>that she accepted the money because she was worried about her and her daughter’s safety, recounting how she was approached by a strange man who told her to “leave Trump alone” after she had agreed to a magazine interview about the encounter. But she only went public with the story in 2018. She claimed then that the hush money agreement was null and void because Trump never signed it.
</p>
<h3 id="vgz8n7">
What happens next? Will Trump be arrested? Will Trump go to jail?
</h3>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="8RlIiX">
Once Trump submits himself to the DA’s office and faces arraignment, he’ll appear in court to hear the charges against him and submit a plea. He has reportedly <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2023/03/21/us/politics/trump-pending-indictment.html">expressed enthusiasm </a>at the idea of being taken away in handcuffs in front of cameras, seemingly believing that he can turn the situation to his political advantage. But that probably won’t happen; the Secret Service will reportedly coordinate with law enforcement to quietly bring him to New York.
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Trump voluntarily meeting with law enforcement will also save DeSantis facing pressure to turn in the former president: The Florida governor said that he would not abide by <a href="https://twitter.com/GovRonDeSantis/status/1641575007552778243?s=20">any extradition request</a> to return Trump, who has been hunkering down in Mar-a-Lago, to New York to face the charges.
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Trump will likely be released shortly after his arraignment, given that he doesn’t pose any flight risk as a presidential candidate. But he would likely be processed just like anyone else accused of a crime: He would be photographed, fingerprinted, and instructed of his right to remain silent.
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We don’t yet know the charges in the case, which makes it difficult to ascertain what the minimum sentence might be or whether he might have to serve prison time at all if convicted.
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<em>This is a breaking news story and will be updated. </em>
</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>Northern Lights pleases</strong> -</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>Wimbledon drops ban on Russians, lets them play as neutrals</strong> - The players must comply with “appropriate conditions,” including not expressing support for Russia’s invasion of Ukraine</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 2023 | Mumbai Indians name Sandeep Warrier as replacement for injured Jasprit Bumrah</strong> - Bumrah was ruled out of the entire tournament due to a back injury</p></li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Najam Sethi never spoke to ICC about playing WC matches in Bangladesh: PCB</strong> - The Pakistan Cricket Board clarified that the concept of a “hybrid model” of tournament was strictly pertaining to Asia Cup since India will not travel to Pakistan</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>World Test Championship final | India have firepower in pace department to trouble Australia, says Ross Taylor</strong> - Taylor is confident that even without Bumrah, India have enough options in the pace department to make an impact in English conditions.</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>Legendary composer Baburaj’s family moves court against makers of Neelavelicham</strong> - They claim songs in the upcoming movie violate copyrights</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>Urbanrise acquires land parcel from Mahindra Life Spaces</strong> - Urbanrise intends to build around 2,000 plus units; work will commence in August and the units will be priced between ₹45 lakh and ₹90 lakh</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>10% discount on metro rail fares during off-peak hours</strong> - Another offer is the unlimited travel on 100 notified holidays at ₹99 only</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>PD Act to be invoked against ganja peddlers, smugglers in NTR district</strong> - Regular visitors to Agency habitations being tracked, says Police Commissioner</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>IIT Madras announces IPL contest for data science enthusiasts</strong> -</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>Austria’s far right walks out of Zelensky speech</strong> - The politicians left behind placards on their desks that read “space for neutrality”.</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>Russia arrests US journalist Evan Gershkovich on spying charge</strong> - The US condemns Evan Gershkovich’s detention and his employer has vehemently denied the accusation.</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>Turkey approves Finland Nato membership bid</strong> - Turkish MPs vote to admit Finland to the West’s defensive alliance, after blocking it for months.</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>Alexei Moskalev: Father of girl who drew anti-war picture arrested on run in Minsk</strong> - After his 12-year-old daughter drew a picture, Alexei Moskalev was arrested and sentenced in Russia.</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>Pope expected to leave hospital on Saturday</strong> - The Vatican says doctors will decide on the 86-year-old pontiff’s discharge from hospital.</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>Rocket Report: ULA Centaur stage has an ‘anomaly,’ Virgin Orbit funding is dire</strong> - “This is why we thoroughly &amp; rigorously exercise every possible condition on the ground.” - <a href="https://arstechnica.com/?p=1927547">link</a></p></li>
<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>510K CPUs, HDDs &amp; more seized as smugglers keep trying to sneak tech into China</strong> - A stuffed silicone stomach and other extreme smuggling attempts thwarted. - <a href="https://arstechnica.com/?p=1927944">link</a></p></li>
<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>3CX knew its app was flagged as malicious, but took no action for 7 days</strong> - “It’s not exactly our place to comment on it,” 3CX rep says of malicious detection. - <a href="https://arstechnica.com/?p=1928121">link</a></p></li>
<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>The long-rumored Starfleet Academy TV series will finally get made</strong> - The show will be led by a writer known for <em>Nancy Drew</em> and <em>The Magicians</em>. - <a href="https://arstechnica.com/?p=1928027">link</a></p></li>
<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>AI-generated video of Will Smith eating spaghetti astounds with terrible beauty</strong> - Open source “text2video” ModelScope AI made the viral sensation possible. - <a href="https://arstechnica.com/?p=1927886">link</a></p></li>
</ul>
<h1 data-aos="fade-right" id="from-jokes-subreddit">From Jokes Subreddit</h1>
<ul>
<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>A nun walks into the Mother Superior’s office and plunks down into a chair.</strong> - <!-- SC_OFF --></p>
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She lets out a sigh, heavy with frustration.
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“What troubles you, Sister?” asked the Mother Superior. “I thought this was the day you spent with your family.”
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
“It was,” sighed the Sister. “And I went to play golf with my brother. We try to play golf as often as we can. You know I was quite a talented golfer before I devoted my life to Christ.”<br/> “I seem to recall that,” the Mother Superior agreed. “So I take it your day of recreation was not relaxing?”
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
“Far from it,” snorted the Sister. “In fact, I took the Lord’s name in vain today!”<br/> “Goodness, Sister!” gasped the Mother Superior, astonished. “You must tell me all about it!”<br/> “Well, we were on the fifth tee — and this hole is a monster, Mother — 540 yard par 5, with a nasty dogleg right and a hidden green … and I hit the drive of my life. The sweetest swing I’ve ever made. And it’s flying straight and true, right along the line I wanted … and it hits a bird in mid-flight!”<br/> “Oh my!” commiserated the Mother Superior. “How unfortunate! But surely that didn’t make you blaspheme, Sister!”
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
“No, that wasn’t it,” admitted the Sister. “While I was still trying to fathom what had happened, this squirrel runs out of the woods, grabs my ball and runs off down the fairway!”<br/> “Oh, that would have made me blaspheme!” sympathized the Mother Superior.<br/> “But I didn’t, Mother!” sobbed the Sister. “And I was so proud of myself! And while I was pondering whether this was a sign from God, this hawk swoops out of the sky and grabs the squirrel and flies off, with my ball still clutched in his paws!”
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
“So that’s when you cursed,” said the Mother Superior with a knowing smile.<br/> “Nope, that wasn’t it either,” cried the Sister, anguished, “because as the hawk started to fly out of sight, the squirrel started struggling, and the hawk dropped him right there on the green, and the ball popped out of his paws and rolled to about 18 inches from the cup!”<br/> The Mother Superior sat back in her chair, folded her arms across her chest, fixed the Sister with a baleful stare and said …
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
“You missed the fucking putt, didn’t you?”
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"> submitted by <a href="https://www.reddit.com/user/TravellingBeard"> /u/TravellingBeard </a> <br/> <span><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/Jokes/comments/127844v/a_nun_walks_into_the_mother_superiors_office_and/">[link]</a></span> <span><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/Jokes/comments/127844v/a_nun_walks_into_the_mother_superiors_office_and/">[comments]</a></span></p></li>
<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>I like my steak like sex</strong> - <!-- SC_OFF --></p>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
Extremely rare
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"> submitted by <a href="https://www.reddit.com/user/The_DeathDuck"> /u/The_DeathDuck </a> <br/> <span><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/Jokes/comments/127chdo/i_like_my_steak_like_sex/">[link]</a></span> <span><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/Jokes/comments/127chdo/i_like_my_steak_like_sex/">[comments]</a></span></p></li>
<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Why do gay people suck at telling jokes?</strong> - <!-- SC_OFF --></p>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
They can’t keep a straight face.
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"> submitted by <a href="https://www.reddit.com/user/do_yu_koto_da"> /u/do_yu_koto_da </a> <br/> <span><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/Jokes/comments/1278lc1/why_do_gay_people_suck_at_telling_jokes/">[link]</a></span> <span><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/Jokes/comments/1278lc1/why_do_gay_people_suck_at_telling_jokes/">[comments]</a></span></p></li>
<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>My girlfriend left me because of my abandonment issues…</strong> - <!-- SC_OFF --></p>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
Oh wait. She’s back. She just went to get some milk.
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"> submitted by <a href="https://www.reddit.com/user/Risperdali"> /u/Risperdali </a> <br/> <span><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/Jokes/comments/126iu7t/my_girlfriend_left_me_because_of_my_abandonment/">[link]</a></span> <span><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/Jokes/comments/126iu7t/my_girlfriend_left_me_because_of_my_abandonment/">[comments]</a></span></p></li>
<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>“Waiter, my soup is cold!” “It’s gazpacho”</strong> - <!-- SC_OFF --></p>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
“Gazpacho, my soup is cold!”
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"> submitted by <a href="https://www.reddit.com/user/TheBaltimoron"> /u/TheBaltimoron </a> <br/> <span><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/Jokes/comments/12753js/waiter_my_soup_is_cold_its_gazpacho/">[link]</a></span> <span><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/Jokes/comments/12753js/waiter_my_soup_is_cold_its_gazpacho/">[comments]</a></span></p></li>
</ul>
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