COVID Nights: Crisis and Street-level Institutions in Montreal and Beyond

It is within a context of crisis, work and scene culture that this text takes an entry point to address ongoing challenges EDM scenes face in Montreal, Quebec. Particular attention is paid to the city’s politics of the night and some of its street-level institutions and venues including Never Apart (NVA), an EDM-focused LGBTQ+ non-profit organization. Giving attention to street-level institutions is especially pressing right now as many cities attempt to rearticulate the tenuous futures of their nighttime cultures. As discussions develop beyond the pandemic, it is vital that a broad range of sustainable cultural expressions are brought to the fore, including EDM events and parties. Local initiatives, along with more robust and equitable systems of exchange and patronage at a cultural level, provide some of the best options for imagining a post-pandemic future for EDM scenes. © 2021 Dancecult http://dj.dancecult.net .org.

Data Monitoring for the Chinese Clinical Trials of Remdesivir in Treating Patients with COVID-19 During the Pandemic Crisis.

Two phase-III, double-blind, randomized clinical trials of remdesivir plus SOC (standard of care) versus placebo plus SOC have been conducted in Wuhan hospitals by Chinese investigators during the urgent COVID-19 epidemic [ClincalTrials.gov NCT04257656 and NCT04252664]. These trials have been highly anticipated worldwide. We expect investigators of the trials will soon report the clinical and laboratory findings from the medical perspective. This manuscript provides documentary style information on the process of monitoring key data and making recommendations to the sponsor and investigators based on analytical insights when dealing with the emergent situation from the statistical viewpoint. Having monitored data sequentially from 237 patients, we comment on the strength and weakness of the study design and suggest the treatment effect of remdesivir on severe COVID-19 cases. Our experience with using the Dynamic Data Monitoring (DDM) tool has demonstrated its efficiency and reliability in supporting DSMB's instantaneous review of essential data during the emergent situation. DDM, when used properly by disciplined statisticians, has shown its capability of exploring the trial data flexibly and, in the meantime, protecting the trial's scientific integrity.