Being paranoid does not mean that it is not happening: the remote control tools known affectionately as RAT (Remote Administration Tool) are a type of Trojan that allows controlling other people's computers remotely and, in most cases, undetectable.

There are old and obscure ones, like BackOrifice (presented in the Defcon of 1998 to demonstrate the numerous vulnerabilities of Windows 98) or corporate and modern as Symantec's pcAnywhere. Unlike other tools for hackers, RATs have become very popular because they are simple to use. Simply install the program and use the interface to manage all infected computers, including their webcams.

In this web, the cams are totally open, they are not private and are directed to a very specific public, the name of the web is cams xxxx and you can see as many as you want.

If our computer has been "ratted", the camera could be turned on without us knowing or taking pictures every X minutes, depending on the Trojan and our own configuration. Probably the hacker has full access to our system and can create, copy, delete and modify folders; read and answer emails, install new software and run programs, change operating system settings and even turn on and off the computer without us noticing to get gas light. In the RAT jargon, infected users are "slaves" that fans are exchanged in dedicated forums along with software updates and tips to catch more victims. This is also easier than it seems.

Social life of a trojan

To get a slave you have to make the user install the Trojan first but, obviously, nobody knowingly installs malicious software. The most common and effective ruse is to fill the exchange networks and hosting files with executables disguised as songs or movies. The movies are usually compressed to facilitate traffic and, when the user clicks to unzip the file, ends with an alien instead of the last episode of Game of Thrones. You have to fear files finished in .exe instead of .rar or .zip.

Another perfect site for slave fishing are social networks, where the artificial connection between "friends" provides a false sense of security. The most exquisite talk with their victims and convince them to open a link to a video or a photo. Others limit themselves to sending massive messages that say: Click to see an incredible video or Signing to end censorship in the Middle East.

It is not enough to avoid strangers. When you get the first slave, it's easy to use your personal email to infect your circle of friends and family. If a cousin sends you a message that says "click to see your e-card" it is best to make sure that the surprise card does not hide a poisoned gift, even if it is our birthday, holy or the day of the Constitution. Beware of suspicious attachments.

May the light be with you

The favorite victims are young and attractive girls with little interest in computers, many photos on social networks and the bad habit of leaving the laptop on and open in their room. Many rats are onlookers who boast of their conquests in specialized forums and distribute photos and videos of girls who often end up in the cloud or in child pornography networks. Sometimes they are classmates, workmates or ex-boyfriends that can cause even more harm.

Access to emails, telephone conversations and personal documents produces an omniscient effect that terrifies victims but intoxicates the perpetrator, who quickly develops God's complex. In recent years there have been cases of spies who have collected intimate material and then blackmail the victim and force her to undress in front of the camera, but the tendency is to troll the slave or make him gas light. The DarkComet panel had a poltergeist mode that allows you to move things from the site, change the names of things or have the system read texts aloft, to see how the victim reacts. Typically, slaves can watch videos of themselves in previous days or gross and unpleasant pictures. Some of these videos can be seen briefly on YouTube.

Trojans not only control cameras, but they can register passwords and listen to conversations, activating the microphone in addition to the camera. Interestingly, it is not easy to turn off the light that is turned on in some computers to indicate that the camera is active.

It's amazing how many people turn off that warning on their own initiative and there are many computers that simply do not have it (and hackers handle lists of all of them). It is best to unplug the camera when we are not using it or, if it is embedded in the notebook, put a sticker on it. Many companies have begun to launch sophisticated ways to cover the third eye but just a post-it or a piece of electrical tape.

Arcane Dragons Hack Cheats Tutorial [Unlimited Ruby and Gold] Android iOS

No need to look anywhere else, the most advanced Arcane Dragons Cheat is available right now for you to download. If you want to become the best player in the world and impress your friends, get the Arcane Dragons Hack by HacksCommunity which requires no root or jailbreaking to your device. Arcane Dragons Hack Cheats is very easy to use due to the user-friendly interface. Everyday the cheat is scanned for viruses or different exploits, so no need to worry about the hack safety.

Visit Webpage: www.hackscommunity.com/arcane-dragons-hack-cheats/

Arcane Dragons Hack Tool Features:

Add Unlimited Unlimited Ruby and GoldArcane Dragons [Latest & Updated Version] Created by : HacksCommunity.com Team! Arcane Dragons Cheats Undetectable, Safe & Effective! User-friendly interface & support Plug and Play [Connect Device, Start Hack] Arcane Dragons Hack works for all Android mobile phones and tablets & iPhone, iPad, iPod, iPad Mini and other iOS Devices! No root and jailbreak needed!

Blueberry juice feels rather decadent when you consider how many of the tiny fruits are required to produce just a glass or two of juice. Luckily, blueberry pulp is very easy to use. It becomes almost invisible when combined with chocolate or cocoa powder in baked goods, where it lends moisture and can even replace some of the oil or butter in your recipe.

www.foodthinkers.com/2010/05/blueberry-papaya-cucumber-ju...

BLUEBERRY PAPAYA CUCUMBER JUICE

Juice Ingredients

1¼ cup blueberries

1 medium papaya, peeled, and trimmed, seeds removed

1 large cucumber, peeled and seededjuice of 1 to 2 sweet limes or 1 Valencia orange

Juice Instructions

1. Process blueberries and cucumber in your juicer and reserve the pulp in one bag.

2. Juice papaya and reserve its pulp separately.

3. Add the sweet lime or orange juice to the mixture, stir, and enjoy.

Serves 3.

BLUEBERRY CHOCOLATE CAKE WITH DARK CHOCOLATE GANACHE AND TOASTED COCONUT

The above juice left me with about 4 ounces (½ cup) of cucumber-blueberry pulp and ¾ cup of papaya pulp. Using slightly more or less pulp in your recipe probably will not affect your finished product all that much.

Here I adapted my standard vegan chocolate cake recipe, with the pulp serving as a substitute for a large portion of the oil. As I mentioned above, the pulp in the batter is virtually undetectable and the cake came out incredibly moist and tender.

Cake Ingredients

1½ cups whole wheat pastry flour

1½ cups all purpose flour

⅔ cup unsweetened cocoa powder, plus extra for dusting

(I add a tablespoon or two of black onyx cocoa powder to my regular cocoa when I make chocolate cake — it gives a slightly richer product. Onyx cocoa powder can be ordered from the Savory Spice Shop.)

1½ cups sugar

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon salt

½ cup blueberry-cucumber pulp

½ cup vegetable oil

2 cups brewed black tea*, chilled

1 tablespoon vanilla

4 tablespoons apple cider vinegar

*Either coffee or tea works very well in this recipe — for best results be sure to use a strong brew.

Cake Instructions

1. Grease two 9-inch round cake pans and dust with cocoa powder. Line bottoms of the pans with parchment paper and grease the parchment as well.

2. Preheat oven to 375°F (190°C) with a rack in the middle.

3. Sift flours, sugar, cocoa, baking soda, and salt together in a large bowl.

4. In a separate bowl, combine the blueberry-cucumber pulp, vegetable oil, chilled tea, and vanilla.

5. Pour the wet ingredients into the dry and combine with a rubber spatula. Add the vinegar and mix in with as few strokes as possible (it’s okay if there are streaks in the batter).

6. Pour batter into the prepared pans and bake for 30 to 35 minutes, testing doneness with a wooden toothpick.

7. Let cakes cool in their pans for 5 to 10 minutes before running a knife around the edge of each pan and unmolding to cool completely.

While cakes are cooling, put the papaya pulp and a tablespoon or two or orange juice into a small saucepan and bring to a simmer. Add a tablespoon of sugar and stir as the mixture simmers gently for about 5 minutes. Cook until you have a thick, spreadable paste. Cool.

Filling Instructions

When the cake has cooled you may want to even out the surface of your first layer by slicing off the dome to create a flat, even round. Spread the papaya filling over the bottom cake layer and top with second cake.

Ganache Ingredients

8 ounces chopped dark chocolate, or chocolate chips (about 60% cocoa)

⅔ cup soy milk

4 tablespoons maple syrup

topping: ½ cup toasted* unsweetened shredded coconut

(*spread coconut onto a sheet pan and toast at 325°F (163°C) in a toaster oven for about 10 minutes)

Ganache Instructions

1. Heat the soy milk in a small saucepan until it begins to boil. Remove from heat and immediately add the chocolate.

2. Stir until all the chocolate has melted, then stir in maple syrup until the mixture is completely smooth.

3. Let cool slightly before pouring over the cake. Top your cake with the toasted coconut, and chill in fridge to set the ganache.

This cake keeps beautifully for 3 to 4 days at room temperature when wrapped in plastic or stored inside a cake dome.

Dr. Alan Bauman brought his patient, Kevin Nalts Nalty as an example of the minimally-invasive, natural hairline restorations that can be performed using the FUE/NeoGraft device. Physicians from around the world had an opportunity to examine Kevin's hairline and donor area. FUE NeoGraft Hair Transplantation leaves no linear scar in the donor and can yield undetectably natural results in the hairline. For more info on NeoGraft FUE, visit www.baumanmedical.com or www.neograft.info.

Dr. Alan Bauman brought his patient, Kevin Nalts Nalty as an example of the minimally-invasive, natural hairline restorations that can be performed using the FUE/NeoGraft device. Physicians from around the world had an opportunity to examine Kevin's hairline and donor area. FUE NeoGraft Hair Transplantation leaves no linear scar in the donor and can yield undetectably natural results in the hairline. For more info on NeoGraft FUE, visit www.baumanmedical.com or www.neograft.info.

Another shot with the 11-24mm f/4L (same spot as this), this time at 24mm. Compare it to the breathtaking TS-E 24mm f/3.5L.

This is only stopped down one stop at f/5.6, while the TS-E was stopped down to f/8.

While I am more than happy (really, ecstatic) with the center-of-frame resolution of any of these three (the Samyang 14mm f/2.8, Canon 11-24mm f/4, or Canon TS-E 24mm f/3.5), they have a definite pecking order when it comes to:

Corner Sharpness

- Samyang 14: falls apart in the corner, although not as badly as many a Canon 16-35L or 17-40L

- Canon 11-24: starts to smear a little in the corners, but only at pixel-peeping levels

- Canon TS-E 24: keeps its near perfect image well past the corners into Shiftland.

Color

- Samyang 14: a distant third, with upper-end consumer glass levels of yellow-green color and color shift in the corners.

- Both Canons have the trademark L color - hard to tell them apart.

Contrast

- Samyang 14: while not as bad as the color, prone to flare

- Canon 11-24: that trademark L contrast that produces a consistently impactful image

- Canon TS-E 24: this is the breathtaking part; so close to life it makes the screen melt away.

Distortion

- Samyang 14: a marked moustache distortion that is rarely invisible; correcting this is a PITA because DPP does not recognize the lens (in part, because the camera doesn't recognize that there is a lens attached) and it makes the smeary corners even worse.

- Canon 11-24: pretty rectilinear by ultrawide standards - and this is the widest of them all. Not enough to avoid correction for most architectural applications, but because the distortion is mild, the image degradation in the corners after correction is also mild.

- Canon TS-E 24: All but undetectable; this is about as rectilinear as any wide-angle lens gets. I almost never correct it.

This contrived double portait, using trick photography, shows the same young man twice in the same photo. The photo was created by combining two images neatly seamed down the center. Such double exposures were a popular form of photographic novelty produced by numerous photographers during the 1860s. Here the same young man is seen standing on both sides of a hanging drape. This image is one of the better examples of blending in which the seam between the two halves is nearly undetectable.

CDV photograph by F. M. Yeager, Reading, Pennsylvania; with 2 cent Playing Cards tax stamp.

The major advantage of any FUE procedure is the lack of a linear scar. The tiny 0.8mm harvest sites close 50% in size within 24 hours and can be completely undetectable within a weeks time, depending on the quality of hair in the donor area. Eventually, when the surrounding hair reaches a certain length (approximately 8mm) the area is completely camouflaged. Patients have less discomfort and can return to vigorous physical activity much sooner with FUE/Neograft procedures. Bauman Medical Group is one of the first medical offices in the U.S. and the only office in Florida to have the Neograft device. Stay tuned for more photos of this patient as his donor area continues to heal and camouflage improves further.

Blueberry juice feels rather decadent when you consider how many of the tiny fruits are required to produce just a glass or two of juice. Luckily, blueberry pulp is very easy to use. It becomes almost invisible when combined with chocolate or cocoa powder in baked goods, where it lends moisture and can even replace some of the oil or butter in your recipe.

www.foodthinkers.com/2010/05/blueberry-papaya-cucumber-ju...

BLUEBERRY PAPAYA CUCUMBER JUICE

Juice Ingredients

1¼ cup blueberries

1 medium papaya, peeled, and trimmed, seeds removed

1 large cucumber, peeled and seededjuice of 1 to 2 sweet limes or 1 Valencia orange

Juice Instructions

1. Process blueberries and cucumber in your juicer and reserve the pulp in one bag.

2. Juice papaya and reserve its pulp separately.

3. Add the sweet lime or orange juice to the mixture, stir, and enjoy.

Serves 3.

BLUEBERRY CHOCOLATE CAKE WITH DARK CHOCOLATE GANACHE AND TOASTED COCONUT

The above juice left me with about 4 ounces (½ cup) of cucumber-blueberry pulp and ¾ cup of papaya pulp. Using slightly more or less pulp in your recipe probably will not affect your finished product all that much.

Here I adapted my standard vegan chocolate cake recipe, with the pulp serving as a substitute for a large portion of the oil. As I mentioned above, the pulp in the batter is virtually undetectable and the cake came out incredibly moist and tender.

Cake Ingredients

1½ cups whole wheat pastry flour

1½ cups all purpose flour

⅔ cup unsweetened cocoa powder, plus extra for dusting

(I add a tablespoon or two of black onyx cocoa powder to my regular cocoa when I make chocolate cake — it gives a slightly richer product. Onyx cocoa powder can be ordered from the Savory Spice Shop.)

1½ cups sugar

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon salt

½ cup blueberry-cucumber pulp

½ cup vegetable oil

2 cups brewed black tea*, chilled

1 tablespoon vanilla

4 tablespoons apple cider vinegar

*Either coffee or tea works very well in this recipe — for best results be sure to use a strong brew.

Cake Instructions

1. Grease two 9-inch round cake pans and dust with cocoa powder. Line bottoms of the pans with parchment paper and grease the parchment as well.

2. Preheat oven to 375°F (190°C) with a rack in the middle.

3. Sift flours, sugar, cocoa, baking soda, and salt together in a large bowl.

4. In a separate bowl, combine the blueberry-cucumber pulp, vegetable oil, chilled tea, and vanilla.

5. Pour the wet ingredients into the dry and combine with a rubber spatula. Add the vinegar and mix in with as few strokes as possible (it’s okay if there are streaks in the batter).

6. Pour batter into the prepared pans and bake for 30 to 35 minutes, testing doneness with a wooden toothpick.

7. Let cakes cool in their pans for 5 to 10 minutes before running a knife around the edge of each pan and unmolding to cool completely.

While cakes are cooling, put the papaya pulp and a tablespoon or two or orange juice into a small saucepan and bring to a simmer. Add a tablespoon of sugar and stir as the mixture simmers gently for about 5 minutes. Cook until you have a thick, spreadable paste. Cool.

Filling Instructions

When the cake has cooled you may want to even out the surface of your first layer by slicing off the dome to create a flat, even round. Spread the papaya filling over the bottom cake layer and top with second cake.

Ganache Ingredients

8 ounces chopped dark chocolate, or chocolate chips (about 60% cocoa)

⅔ cup soy milk

4 tablespoons maple syrup

topping: ½ cup toasted* unsweetened shredded coconut

(*spread coconut onto a sheet pan and toast at 325°F (163°C) in a toaster oven for about 10 minutes)

Ganache Instructions

1. Heat the soy milk in a small saucepan until it begins to boil. Remove from heat and immediately add the chocolate.

2. Stir until all the chocolate has melted, then stir in maple syrup until the mixture is completely smooth.

3. Let cool slightly before pouring over the cake. Top your cake with the toasted coconut, and chill in fridge to set the ganache.

This cake keeps beautifully for 3 to 4 days at room temperature when wrapped in plastic or stored inside a cake dome.

Edited Chandra Space Telescope image of the supernova remnant Cassiopeia A, with colors representing the various metals (to an astronomer, if it's not hydrogen or helium, it's a metal) in the nebula formed from the explosion. Silicon is red, sulfur is yellow, calcium is green, and iron is purple. (Blue is the blast wave.) Color/processing variant.

Original caption: Where do most of the elements essential for life on Earth come from? The answer: inside the furnaces of stars and the explosions that mark the end of some stars' lives.

Astronomers have long studied exploded stars and their remains — known as "supernova remnants" — to better understand exactly how stars produce and then disseminate many of the elements observed on Earth, and in the cosmos at large.

Due to its unique evolutionary status, Cassiopeia A (Cas A) is one of the most intensely studied of these supernova remnants. A new image from NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory shows the location of different elements in the remains of the explosion: silicon (red), sulfur (yellow), calcium (green) and iron (purple). Each of these elements produces X-rays within narrow energy ranges, allowing maps of their location to be created. The blast wave from the explosion is seen as the blue outer ring.

X-ray telescopes such as Chandra are important to study supernova remnants and the elements they produce because these events generate extremely high temperatures — millions of degrees — even thousands of years after the explosion. This means that many supernova remnants, including Cas A, glow most strongly at X-ray wavelengths that are undetectable with other types of telescopes.

Chandra's sharp X-ray vision allows astronomers to gather detailed information about the elements that objects like Cas A produce. For example, they are not only able to identify many of the elements that are present, but how much of each are being expelled into interstellar space.

The Chandra data indicate that the supernova that produced Cas A has churned out prodigious amounts of key cosmic ingredients. Cas A has dispersed about 10,000 Earth masses worth of sulfur alone, and about 20,000 Earth masses of silicon. The iron in Cas A has the mass of about 70,000 times that of the Earth, and astronomers detect a whopping one million Earth masses worth of oxygen being ejected into space from Cas A, equivalent to about three times the mass of the Sun. (Even though oxygen is the most abundant element in Cas A, its X-ray emission is spread across a wide range of energies and cannot be isolated in this image, unlike with the other elements that are shown.)

Astronomers have found other elements in Cas A in addition to the ones shown in this new Chandra image. Carbon, nitrogen, phosphorus and hydrogen have also been detected using various telescopes that observe different parts of the electromagnetic spectrum. Combined with the detection of oxygen, this means all of the elements needed to make DNA, the molecule that carries genetic information, are found in Cas A.

Oxygen is the most abundant element in the human body (about 65% by mass), calcium helps form and maintain healthy bones and teeth, and iron is a vital part of red blood cells that carry oxygen through the body. All of the oxygen in the Solar System comes from exploding massive stars. About half of the calcium and about 40% of the iron also come from these explosions, with the balance of these elements being supplied by explosions of smaller mass, white dwarf stars.

While the exact date is not confirmed (PDF), many experts think that the stellar explosion that created Cas A occurred around the year 1680 in Earth's timeframe. Astronomers estimate that the doomed star was about five times the mass of the Sun just before it exploded. The star is estimated to have started its life with a mass about 16 times that of the Sun, and lost roughly two-thirds of this mass in a vigorous wind blowing off the star several hundred thousand years before the explosion.

Earlier in its lifetime, the star began fusing hydrogen and helium in its core into heavier elements through the process known as "nucleosynthesis." The energy made by the fusion of heavier and heavier elements balanced the star against the force of gravity. These reactions continued until they formed iron in the core of the star. At this point, further nucleosynthesis would consume rather than produce energy, so gravity then caused the star to implode and form a dense stellar core known as a neutron star.

The exact means by which a massive explosion is produced after the implosion is complicated, and a subject of intense study, but eventually the infalling material outside the neutron star was transformed by further nuclear reactions as it was expelled outward by the supernova explosion.

Chandra has repeatedly observed Cas A since the telescope was launched into space in 1999. The different datasets have revealed new information about the neutron star in Cas A, the details of the explosion, and specifics of how the debris is ejected into space.

NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama, manages the Chandra program for NASA's Science Mission Directorate in Washington. The Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory in Cambridge, Massachusetts, controls Chandra's science and flight operations.

Learn More About U.S. Army in Korea

Screening Program helps Soldiers stay safe

By Harvey Hall

hall.harvey@amedd.army.mil

YONGSAN GARRISON - Yongsan Health Clinic started a new screening program in July, 2011. The Re-Engineering Systems of Primary Care and Treatment in the Military (RESPECT-MIL) program is designed to screen service members, including KATUSAs, for depression and post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).

This program first started at Fort Bragg, North Carolina and is now present in 32 out of 37 Army posts, to include overseas locations in Europe and Korea. Since the program’s inception in 2007, over 1.1 million visits were screened for depression and PTSD. About 13 percent of those visits were positive for either a possible depression and/or PTSD assessment. Of those who had positive screens, about 1 percent had a risk for suicide.

Initial screening is provided by medics and nurses. The screening information is then presented to the primary care manager (PCM) who can determine if any treatment options are needed. Each case is individualized, confidential and assessed according to the needs of the service member.

A key feature of the program is telephonic interaction with a nurse care facilitator; Once a month and as needed calls with a trusted nurse advocate assists the service member with adherence to the treatment plan that was worked out with the service member and the PCM. The nurse communicates with the patient, PCM and Behavioral Health Specialists’ to maximize adherence and service member well-being. The goal of the program is remission.

Currently, the screening process has yielded patients in the program who are progressing towards remission. Although the treatment plans vary for each individual, most patients respond within the first few months. The benefit of treatment from the PCM and monitoring from the Nurse Care Facilitator for the soldier is often far-reaching, impacting both the soldier and his/her loved ones.

Lt. Col. Amal Chatila, the Yongsan Health Clinic Officer-In-Charge (OIC) and a Family Nurse Practitioner, highlights the key program features: an objective method of screening for depression and PTSD, the patient is treated by their PCM, and there is interaction with the nurse care facilitator. Without this additional screening, some service members may be experiencing signs and symptoms that may have been previously undetectable, or unnoticeable by even the service member.

Finally, the Yongsan Health Clinic staff is committed to service members and their healthcare needs, and “our team stands ready to make a positive difference,” states LTC Chatila.

The RESPECT-MIL program expects to expand throughout the Korean Peninsula in the coming year, as other military services intend to incorporate this program in the near future.

For more information and questions, contact the RESPECT-MIL office at DSN 725-5119 or visit: www.pdhealth.mil/respect-mil/index.asp.

When the Stakkadian Order collapsed thanks to the efforts of the Allied Worlds, it signalled the end of a long and brutal occupation of the Elmorian Sectors. Finally liberated and free to determine their own destiny, the Elmorian Federation found itself with all the responsibilities of protecting their small and fledgling dominion. Drained from fighting the Order, their fleets heavily depleted and coffers nearly empty, with their people already tired of paying increasing taxes, the Elmorian Senate decided on a radical solution. They would try for a cost-effective solution to secure their borders and restore piece to their systems, and deter all future aggressors.

They went to the Confederation of Republic Systems, the main benefactor in their fight against the Stakkadians, and asked for their permission to commission the Carrackian Docks to build them their warship. The Confederation, in a unprecedented move never since repeated, allowed a foreign power to enlist the Carrackian Docks to design and build a fleet warship. With their permission secured, the Elmorian Naval Service Command needed only now to determine exactly what kind of warship they wanted, and how they would pay for it. They long debated over what their main strategy should be, what policy they should adopt that would both protect their worlds and be affordable. All their ideas would either be too expensive or not effective enough, and the Carrackian Docks themselves nearly cancelled the contract after being kept waiting for so long, but a junior admiral finally came up with a solution. The most effective policy, she said, would be one of deterence. Now, this was not in itself a radical idea, but most deterence was achieved by means of a massive fleet that could crush anything in its path. How could the Federation afford such a fleet? It couldn't, responded the admiral, but it didn't need to. And so the concept was born for a stealth ship, one which could sneak undetected anywhere it wanted, and strike any target with impunity. What leadership would order an attack, knowing an undetectable ship could come at any time to wipe them out? What pirates would risk a raid with an enemy possibly right next to them?

From this, the Umbra-class heavy cruiser was born. Only a very few were ever built, and their current service record is unknown but thought to be relatively sparse. These are the largest class of stealth ship in the galaxy, and are hugely capable. Their sheer technical complexity is staggering, and are among the finest ships ever to come out of the Carrackian Docks. Their exorbitant price tag leads most experts to conclude only around a half-dozen were ever built given the budget of the Elmorian Navy, but both the Elmorian Federation and the Carrackian Docks (therefore by extension the Confederation) refuses to confirm the true number actively in service.

To secure the right to commission the Carrackian Docks, the Elmorians first had to promise the design would be available to the Confederation. Seeing as the two factions were bound by a powerful bond, this was no problem. The Confederate Admiralty briefly considered building their own Umbra-class ships, but soon balked at both the price and fragility of the ships.

The Umbra has very little armour, to make room for ordnance and sensors, only minimal shields to protect against radiation, solar debris and the weakest of weapons, the better not to be detected by a strong energy signature. Their engines are a completely different kind than most ships, using gradual ion-acceleration to slowly but surely increase their velocity while remaining undetectable. Their main weapons are chiefly huge kinetic torpedoes, long-range weaponry with a high degree of accuracy and damage, very effective at taking out large ships. Their secondary weaponry are laser and plasma missiles to deal with smaller, more nimble targets. There are very few point-defence systems on the Umbra, under the theory that the class isnt meant to be in close range to any enemy and is instead meant for striking from the shadows. Reflective panels help hide it from visual scanners, and powerful Phased Arrays help jam and confuse both passive and active detection devices.

Although not proven in combat, one could argue this very characteristic is what makes the Umbra-Class a success.

Sometimes when I'm volunteering on a food run, the person pulling baked goods will leave a jumble of pricing stickers in the basket. That's where "Woohoo! Great Deal!" came from. The oddly shaped white ones were from The Scrap Box, some kind of specialized label I guess. Dark blue & circle borders from international stamp sheet. The square chocolate stickers were originally supposed to be scented but they're so old it was undetectable.

Swapbot: Sticker Shock (Amazing Mail ART group)

Inside a hidden Cobra outpost deep in the Amazon basin, the cerebro-shell inserted into Ripcord’s brain has not gone unnoticed. A Tele-viper relays his findings to the base’s sub-commander.

Tele-viper: I’m certain of it. A cerebro-shell implanted into Tucaro number 378 has been replanted into a member of the GI Joe team. Unless the feedback is somehow faulty through means undetectable by Decepticon technology, the Joe implanted is Ripcord, a HALO specialist… that can’t be right… This guy is black…

Cyberviper: Are you sure the system is running correctly?

Tele-viper: I’ve run diagnostics twice and everything checks out. I can’t explain why Ripcord seems to be black at times in his mind’s eye but I can tell you that he’s on a mission with Duke, Outback, Recondo, some old guy named Dataframe, Barbecue and Scarlett. It appears he really has something for Scarlett… Ha! Look at this!

He points to a display screen displaying Ripcord’s subconscious affection for Scarlett. Cyberviper completely ignores it.

Cyberviper: We can’t have Joes interrupting our work here! We’ve had too many visitors as it is! Put the base on full alert. I’ll inform Firestrike. He’ll want to talk to the Overlord so get him on the line, priority clearance venom. I want updates every ten minutes. You got all that?

Tele-viper: Yes sir!

The Tele-viper gets to work. Soon the Cyberviper is back with Firestrike.

Cyberviper: Any news on his movements?

Tele-viper: He’s headed this way… except the Joes have him blindfolded and tied up. The man has no idea what’s going on so I have no further information aside from his location.

Firestrike: Hmmmm, the Joes must know exactly what they are doing… Send some Tucaro’s to intercept. Ensure that no harm comes to this Joe. If Ripcord is killed then we’ll know even less than we do now and Joes don’t sacrifice their own. They can’t be too far away from him…

Cyberviper: Have you reached the Overlord?

Tele-viper: Yes. He awaits a status report.

Firestrike: On screen.

Soon the Overlord is staring at them.

Overlord: You have a positive ID on Joes in the area?

Firestrike: Yes, Overlord.

Overlord: It seems there’s damn Joes all over this continent… it was always just a matter of time, but they are too late!

Firestrike: I assure you that no harm will come to our project. We are so close now…

Overlord: It had better not. If you wish to supplant Firefly as our chief weapons designer, you’d better not let the Joes interfere. They’ve already derailed Firefly’s latest project so now is your chance to step up and make a name for yourself.

Firestrike: It’s not the Joes I’m worried about. We had a visitor earlier today. He’s still here…

Overlord: Who?

Firestrike: Storm Shadow… At least he had all the credentials to be Storm Shadow. I thought all the Cobra clones were killed but he had official clearance. We had to let him in but what his business is, he’s not saying.

Overlord: Clearance? Hmmmm, that must be the Storm Shadow that’s been associating with the Joker…

Firestrike: I was under the impression that the Joker was no longer a problem.

Overlord: He’s not. He’s still safely locked up and the Decepticons have removed his cerebro-shell and any influence he was somehow able to gain over it… However, he may still have ties to this ‘Storm Shadow’ we don’t know about. With the Joker, you can never be too careful. Watch him closely, but beware! He is still highly dangerous! I don’t want him getting near project ‘Deviant’. I’m transmitting orders right now that will command Storm Shadow to assist you with the defense of the base. If he doesn’t comply, treat him like he’s an enemy. You have my authorization to use whatever means necessary to make him comply. This project must not be compromised!

Firestrike: I have the utmost faith in our defense stratagem.

Overlord: Good. Do not fail me. Overlord out…

First impressions are good; there is sufficient room for an operative equipped with load carrying vest, body armour, assault rifle, side arm etc to get in and out of the bag with ease. The tough twin seam construction and reinforced ripstop material allow the bag to be used multiple times. Also ideal as an emergency shelter; waterproof & windproof with an aluminised interior to reflect radiated body heat. Weighs only 18 oz and packs down real small.

“Designed for SERE. The ability to evade detection can mean the difference between life and death. This product is an emergency survival system that.....”

"Using the highly rated FLIR, Inc. Model 2000AB helicopter mounted IR detector, operating in the 8-14 micron wavelength range, three individuals proved undetectable...."

click here for more

via

Repair for a vaginal rectocele is pursued in order to correct the herniation or bulging of the bottom wall of the vagina. Symptoms of rectocele can become quite uncomfortable and painful over time. If left untreated, rectocele can lead to symptoms such as: the feeling of increased pressure or protrusion in the vagina or rectum, inability to defecate or feeling of incomplete emptying of the bowels, pelvic pain, and/or painful sex. Both non-surgical and surgical procedures for rectocele repair are only considered if symptoms become severe and inhibit daily life. Surgery for rectocele is typically performed transvagianally, yet, in some severe cases, may be completed both vaginally and abdominally.

Why Do I Need Treatment for Rectocele?

Treatment for rectocele can greatly aid in managing and reducing symptoms of rectocele or other forms of pelvic organ prolapse. In some cases, rectocele and POP may be undetectable until the condition has progressed in severity. A small rectocele is often unrecognized until a doctor notices it during a physical examination. In many cases, rectocele occurs alongside other pelvic organ related conditions.

Treatment is designed to help reduce symptoms and heal any herniations, tears, or prolapses. Treatments include both surgical and non-surgical options. Although surgery for rectocele is often rare, in severe cases surgery may be your best option. Severe rectocele symptoms include:

Bowels feeling full post defecation

A noticeable bulge or protrusion in the vagina

Inability to perform a bowel movement

Rectal incontinence

Is Rectocele Repair Major Surgery?

Rectocele repair surgery is a major, out-patient surgery. A doctor will typically only recommend surgery for rectocele if at home exercise programs and / or physical therapy has not resolved the problem. The surgical procedure for rectocele removal is called posterior colporrhaphy which removes the herniated bowel from the wall of the vagina. Rectocele surgery is designed to:

Ease pain and discomfort

Minimally invasive transvaginal procedure

Outpatient (usually released without needing overnight stay)

Quick recovery time (2-3 weeks or less on average)

What is a Rectocele Repair Procedure?

The procedure for rectocele repair surgery is typically a straightforward process. The surgery is often performed through the vagina (transvagianlly.. The procedure is typically performed by a surgeon making a small incision along the posterior vaginal wall. Excess tissue along the herniation is removed and stitches are sewn around the tear sight. If the doctor notices any other forms of pelvic organ prolapse, he may resolve those issues as well during the procedure. Once complete, the vaginal incisions are stitched up and packed with gauze. Please speak with your doctor for more information on this process.

Post-Op Rectocele Repair

Post operation there are a few things that may occur. The most common symptoms post rectocele surgery is slight pelvic and rectal discomfort and pressure, as well as slight vaginal bleeding, and minimal pain during bowel movements. These symptoms typically resolve in a couple weeks once the tissues have healed. Please speak with your doctor for more information on post-op expectations.

Rectocele surgery is usually successful and helps resolve the symptoms in nearly all patients.

Rectocele Surgery Recovery Time

Recovery for rectocele is usually quick and has minimal risks during recovery. The incisions made at the repair sight will typically heal in approximately 2 to 3 weeks. Please speak with your doctor for more information on recovery expectations.

Post-operation, you should be able to move about, carefully, within a few hours after your surgery. You may be prescribed some pain medication to help relieve any discomfort during your recovery. You should abstain from any physical exercise and sex until after 6 to 8 weeks post-op. Please speak with your doctor for more information on post-op instructions. There will typically be a follow-up appointment required within the final 4 – 6 weeks after your surgery.

What are the Risks of Rectocele Surgery?

Although uncommon, there are a few risks with rectocele surgery. These can include:

Failure to repair a rectocele or recurrence

Potential blood clots due to surgery

Infection

Post-op bleeding

Injury to other vital organs or rectum

Anesthesia issues (allergic reaction)

Sex related issues due to improper healing on the vaginal tissues

Can you Fix a Rectocele Without Surgery?

Often, yes. As with many forms of pelvic floor prolapse, rectocele is treatable without the need of surgery. Various forms of exercise, pelvic floor therapy, dietary restrictions or additions, staying hydrated, and practicing proper core and pelvic floor engagement techniques are highly beneficial for treating rectocele. Surgical procedures should always be a last resort when dealing with core or pelvic floor related issues. Some of the best advice I give to my clients regarding their health includes practicing proper breathing mechanics and good posture as well as learning how to have a reflexive core and pelvic floor to support their daily activities.

Good Practices for Pelvic Organ Prolapse (POP)

A few of the techniques and practices I cover in my program Restore Your Core include:

Proper Breathing Mechanics:

I teach my clients in RYC how to breathe 3-dimensionally. This means that as you inhale, you use your ribcage to accommodate air as it enters your body. Think of it like this: breathing in air creates a shape change in your body. You can change shape by pushing your belly out and increasing pressure, or you can change shape by allowing your ribcage to expand to make space for your lungs. Doing the latter allows your body to properly engage and respond to the demands of daily life.

Your pelvic floor function is closely related to your core function. So, when I am working with my clients to resolve any pelvic floor issues (i.e. rectocele), I am essentially addressing their core issues as well. Belly breathing does not only affect your pelvic floor, but also significantly impacts core function.

Posture: Pelvic Alignment and Reducing Abdominal Pressure:

Our posture and how effectively we use our bodies in our daily activities significantly impacts our overall core and pelvic floor health. Not only that, but our posture can also greatly affect our joints, muscles, and bone health. When it comes to working with my clients on their rectocele, I always ensure part of their treatment involves restoring and healing their pelvic floor function. An unintentional mistake many women make when standing upright is shifting their weight forward in their hips. Think of the hips leaning forward. This shift can actually increase tension in the muscles of the pelvic floor leading to varying types of POP. In the process of resolving pelvic alignment, I might work on hamstrings, upper back mobility, glute function, pelvic mobility and more. Resolving pelvic floor issues requires us to view the pelvic floor as a part of an entire system and therefore requires a whole-body approach. The process of learning how to align your body to better support you while you stand takes time, but is well worth the process. And your pelvic floor will thank you for it! Better alignment = less pelvic floor tension and pressure.

Now that you know that rectocele can be treated without the need of surgery, it may be time to learn more about how to use exercise to heal your pelvic floor. My 13 Week Program: Restore Your Core offers a step by step approach to developing a strong, healthy, responsive core & pelvic floor system, for the health of your whole body.

restoreyourcore.com/learn/prolapse/rectocele-repair/

.RAF conversion results (July 2012)

The Fuji sensor arrangement makes the conversion RAF to JPG challenging for everybody. I tested 3 applications but still have not found the “Holy Grail” of Fujifilm sensors.

Silkypix (provided): the images are soft, have a “blue” tone and can not solve the greens very well. The results are so mediocre that I thought it was a problem with the camera. Anyway colors are uniform and noise is undetectable so can be useful in some cases.

Lightroom 4: is a good compromise, not so sharp but not so noisy and plenty of controls. But you need to pay for it, learn to use it, and it is not the “official” converter. If you have it, use it.

Therapee 4: gives the sharper and noisier results, it is free and can give good results. The photo size is the same than in .RAF, which is smaller than 4000x3000. It is a good complement for Silkypix users.

JPG from the camera: results are the best and are not time consuming, but you have few controls over it and need to be preset. M size (6mp) is sharper than L size (12mp), Astia film and highlights in low are advisable too.

I wish some company develop a better product to convert these .RAF files easily and better, meanwhile I shoot JPG and for important events RAF + JPG, a big SD card is mandatory.

Good shoots and better conversions ;)

I may have been making a mistake about the old wagon road up Lefthand Creek. I decided to zero in on the old map and discovered that the route shown was indeed the old wagon road. 1903 must have been before the state government took over roads and their maintenance. The new, paved road follows the canyon bottom and the stream on it's way up and the old topo shows the wagon road as it climbed the hill and separated from the creek. If you right-click and examine the Original at full posted size, you will see it's branches and a lot of other roads in the area. I've learned that if a road shows on the 1903 map, you will likely find it there, should you decide to investigate. I decided that it would be easiest to throw an inset over a modern Google sat. map for presentation. You should be able to spot the difference although I'd say the original was less than accurate. I'll make another foray up there later when we get better skies but Gild Hill is best left for week days.

No road biking on the old wagon road though, grin. Fat tires MIGHT be possible.

I have been mentioning the old road so I got a couple of shots for you. I was on the way down from from my washout trek to Gold Hill, Colorado, a remnant of the old mining days and caught sight of this just visible view of the abandoned wagon road, above left, in the canyon just below the Lefthand/James canyons confluence. The built up rock on the side is visible. Though this is not an enormously strong view, it looks like it is heading uphill from this viewpoint but it is really more nearly level and winding than the modern paved road. There was an access road from Lyons that connected below here, at Jamestown and finally Gresham. It may have an undetectable connection to this route. The best info comes from the 1903 Boulder topo. I have no idea if either of the narrow gauge railways had intended on using this exact route. I'm not sure it could realistically have been accomplished. The Boulder-originated grade can just barely be seen rounding the hill and up the canyon south of the river on Google maps. I thought that I better stop on my way back down for a shot under this flat skylight.

I'd think that a lot of transportation up and down would have been necessary for mining camps above here. Originally there was a toll station nearer the mouth of the canyon in a spot that was too narrow to dodge and perhaps where the old grade started down stream. The original toll road must have been this tortuous route, built above on the north slope to dodge rough construction next to the river. We boogied up past the no access sign at the slide, of course, left. Phil [www.flickr.com/photos/boondocks/with/5371371329/] and I investigated some of the old road up on the side of the canyon a few years back. It can be walked, where visible. It dropped down to the floor where the James and Lefthand split where construction was easier on both canyons. It seemed like work at the time. We also found Gresham from the 1906 topo map at the top of the canyon.

Gold Hill and Jamestown have lasted for decades through the original gold boom, the second gold boom, the silver boom and its 1893 demonetization and finally the return to reliance on gold mining and processing. Both became bedroom communities, of a sort, of Boulder. Jamestown finally even outlasted the tungsten boom. Originally, they thought the only source of that mineral was only found here and I expect that production made the early WWI war industries pay to harden their steel gun barrels. I expect that the price they charged was enough to make prospectors search anywhere else! The two largest mills were the Wano Mill on the hill to the west of town and the mill just below Jamestown below the Golden Age mine way up on the hill north of Jamestown. Oldtimers referred to the town as "Jimtown." It's history of transportation was a bit tortured. Originally, there was a road over from Lyons over the hills and down into the canyon. A branch from this road actually ventured west past Balarat and eventually Gresham. The steep sides of the canyon originally meant the road up from the Boulder to Lyons road had to ascent the canyon. Old Gold Hill and "JimTown" still live on in old log cabins getting extended life. Two narrow gauge routes were surveyed and graded to the mouth of the Lefthand Canyon but never built. One clung to the foothills from Boulder, the Boulder, Left Hand & Middle Park, and another from Longmont, the Longmont, Middle Park & Pacific. The Longmont route clearly had bigger dreams. Both grades can be found on the landscape. Look at Google maps, terrain and zero in 1/2 way between Boulder and Lyons.

These spiders take refuge in a line of food scraps, prior meals, plant debris, moults, and/or eggsacs in the centre of their web - a background against which they blend in brilliantly.

Like most aspects of science which would otherwise seem frivolous, someone has taken the time to investigate this further....

"In this study, we tested the visibility of web decorations by calculating chromatic and achromatic contrasts of detritus and eggsac decorations built by Cyclosa octotuberculata, against four different backgrounds viewed by both bird (e.g., blue tits) and hymenopteran (e.g. wasps) predators. We showed that both juvenile and adult spiders on webs with detritus or egg-sac decorations were undetectable by both hymenopteran and bird predators over short and long distances. Our results thus suggest that decorating webs with detritus or eggsacs by C. octotuberculata may camouflage the spider from both hymenopteran and bird predators in their common habitats."

[Current Zoology 56 (3): 379–387, 2010]

See full paper HERE.

Pu'er, Yunnan, China

IS2008-9177

27 October 2008

Khandahar Province, Southern Afghanistan

Canadian Forces, Combat Camera

The use of K9 teams has proved invaluable in the detection of booby traps, IED's and other explosive otherwise undetectable to modern technologies, greatly increasing soldier safety.

Members of the 3 RCR Battle Group, and members of the Afghan National Army, prepare in the predawn to secure and search a series of compounds, looking for evidence of IED manufacture and insurgent activity.

The 3 RCR (Royal Canadian Regiment) based out of Petawawa, Ontario, is deployed throughout the southern Afghanistan province of Khandahar. Part of the ISAF (International Security Assistance Force) as Operation Athena, the battle group provides security for reconstruction and mentoring for local Afghan forces.

Photo By: Cpl David Cribb

In the beginning of space travel, the ranges of FTL travel were limited to the drives themselves. As time went on, drives became more advanced and ships began to rely more on fuel. Captains had to pack their cargo holds with fuel or find somewhere to stop and refill.

Out on the Galactic Rim (where a hold full of cargo is an explosive possibility) independently minded people have been quick to take advantage. Like the hermit crabs of old Earth, purveyors of these refuelling depots find a suitable rock, burrow inside, set up basic life support and open as a going concern.

Captains usually set themselves up in very densely populated asteroid belts and have the ability to shut down all beacons and power and become undetectable at a moment's notice. The threat of fuel pirates are an ever present one and depot captains often contract mercenaries for protection during times of local upheaval.

SX60 HS & SX50 HS Comparison at Full Zoom

The outlined yellow square area is enlarged for clarity.

Distance to target is approximately 50 feet (15.2 m),

with the same camera position.

Yes, at full zoom the SX50 has better resolution than my SX60.

At minimum and lower zoom settings the differences

were almost undetectable with perhaps the edge to the SX60.

These latest tests seem to verity the results of the last

3 months using the SX60HS in different situations.

Photostream

www.flickr.com/photos/30496606@N05/with/16295769966

Included in SET "Camera, Test Shots"

www.flickr.com/photos/30496606@N05/sets/72157643228813495

www.flickr.com/photos/30496606@N05/collections/7215764323...

www.flickr.com/photos/30496606@N05/collections/

www.usa.canon.com/cusa/consumer/products/cameras/digital_...

www.usa.canon.com/cusa/support/consumer/digital_cameras/o...

Data: A.D.O.F. available on request

....... Gre

©2015 SLT/W7MC

WBEI Studios, Persius New Mexico USA

Blogpost | Twitter

Photo:

Early Saturday morning I was walking to a nearby forest, when I stopped to watch the sunrise. It turned into a beautiful day.

My June blood test results show that my cancer levels (m protein) spiked from 20 to 25. It is difficult to get an accurate m protein value with my particular type of multiple myeloma, so my Myeloma Specialist/Hematologist also looks at another more general measure, called an igG. Together they provide a more complete picture of my progress. My igG increased from 25.8 to 30.5.

As there is more myeloma (cancer) in my blood this month than last month, in addition to chemo side effects, my multiple myeloma symptoms have become more pronounced. My chronic physical and mental fatigue makes day-to-day tasks more challenging so I focus on doing things that involve minimal thinking. I have greater difficulty with my memory so I focus on writing things done or having routines. I get easily distracted and find it harder to concentrate, so I don’t watch TV or movies much anymore.

I’m not upset or sad. I remain focused on staying positive and finding pleasure doing things that make me happy. I enjoy reading, I love photography, and I welcome opportunities to explore new places.

M protein (g/L) (0 = cancer undetectable)

June = 25

May = 20

Apr = 20

Mar = 13

July = 3.0 (ended dexamethasone - steroid)

Feb 2015 (began Pomalyst chemo + Dexamethasone) = 36.1

To recap: On Sunday, June 17th, I completed Cycle 44 Week 3. I have Multiple Myeloma and anemia, a rare cancer of the immune system. It is incurable, but treatable. Since February 9th 2015, I have been on Pomalyst and dexamethasone chemo treatment (Pom/dex). On July 16th, my dexamethasone treatment ended, due to eye damage, as reported by my Glaucoma Specialist, from long-term use. On January 9th I began Ninlaro chemo as my cancer levels have been steadily rising.

A Niffler is a creature with a long snout and a coat of black, fluffy fur. They’re attracted to shiny things, which made them wonderful for locating the treasure, but this also means they could wreak havoc if kept (or set loose) indoors. Nifflers are rodent-like creatures with a long snout and a coat of black, fluffy fur. Native to Britain, they live in burrows as deep as twenty feet below ground and produce six to eight young in a single litter.

They have a pouch on their bellies which holds far more than at first seems possible, like the effects of undetectable Extension Charm on a container.

Nifflers are gentle by nature and could even be affectionate towards their owners. However, they could destroy belongings looking for sparkly objects, and for that reason, it was inadvisable to keep them as a house pet.

Everything you need to know about the beasts of Fantastic Beasts And Where To Find Them: fandom.wikia.com/articles/beas...

To get your Niffler visit House of Spells.

Address: 69-71 Charing Cross Rd, London WC2H 0NE

Phone: 020 7287 9077

Email: houseofspellsshop@gmail.com

www.houseofspells.co.uk

Production by www.impetors.com

#houseofspellsshop #spellcasters #hos #charingcross #london #collectibles #collectables #harrypotter #fantasticbeasts #potterhead #giftshop #magic #hos #shop #store #hogwarts #gifts #wands #brooms #witches #wizards #review #view #storytime #niffler

A very significant development for the evolution of 35mm SLRs, Tokyo Kogaku (Topcon) introduced true through-the-lens (TTL) exposure metering in its model the Topcon RE Super. For distribution in the USA, importer Charles Beseler (the enlarger company) changed this model's branding to Topcon Super D.

Confusingly, when Tokyo Kogaku updated this model in 1971, they gave the new model the designation Super D worldwide.

The TTL method was ingenious, with a pattern of fine lines on the reflex mirror without silvering which allowed light to pass through to metering cells behind. While this robbed a tiny amount of light from the finder image, the lines themselves were out of focus and undetectable. This approach was favored by Topcon as they wished to preserve one of their key selling points, the interchangeability of viewfinders.

www.reuters.com/world/us/exclusive-us-opposes-plans-stren...

U.S. opposes plans to strengthen World Health Organization

Major funding reform supported by Europe, Africa, South Asia

White House proposes separate fund for health emergencies

Biden administration sceptical about WHO, sources say

BRUSSELS, Jan 21 (Reuters) - The United States, the World Health Organization's top donor, is resisting proposals to make the agency more independent, four officials involved in the talks said, raising doubts about the Biden administration's long-term support for the U.N. agency.

The proposal, made by the WHO's working group on sustainable financing, would increase each member state's standing annual contribution, according to a WHO document published online and dated Jan. 4.

The plan is part of a wider reform process galvanised by the COVID-19 pandemic, which has highlighted the limitations of the WHO's power to intervene early in a crisis.

But the U.S. government is opposing the reform because it has concerns about the WHO's ability to confront future threats, including from China, U.S. officials told Reuters.

It is pushing instead for the creation of a separate fund, directly controlled by donors, that would finance prevention and control of health emergencies.

Four European officials involved in the talks, who declined to be named because they were not authorised to speak to the media, confirmed the U.S. opposition. The U.S. government had no immediate comment.

The published proposal calls for member states' mandatory contributions to rise gradually from 2024 so they would account for half the agency's $2 billion core budget by 2028, compared to less than 20% now, the document said.

The WHO's core budget is aimed at fighting pandemics and strengthening healthcare systems across the world. It also raises an additional $1 billion or so a year to tackle specific global challenges such as tropical diseases and influenza.

Supporters say that the current reliance on voluntary funding from member states and from charities such as the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation forces the WHO to focus on priorities set by the funders, and makes it less able to criticise members when things go wrong.

An independent panel on pandemics that was appointed to advise on the WHO reform had called for a much bigger increase in mandatory fees, to 75% of the core budget, deeming the current system "a major risk to the integrity and independence" of the WHO.

LONG-STANDING SCEPTICISM

The WHO itself responded to a query by saying that "only flexible and predictable funds can enable WHO to fully implement the priorities of the Member States".

Top European Union donors, including Germany, back the plan, along with most African, South Asian, South American and Arab countries, three of the European officials said.

The proposal is to be discussed at the WHO's executive board meeting next week but the divisions mean no agreement is expected, three of the officials said.

The WHO confirmed there was currently no consensus among member states, and said talks were likely to continue until the annual meeting in May of the World Health Assembly, the agency's top decision-making body.

European donors in particular favour empowering, rather than weakening, multilateral organisations including the WHO.

One European official said the U.S. plan "causes scepticism among many countries", and said the creation of a new structure controlled by donors, rather than by the WHO, would weaken the agency's ability to combat future pandemics.

Washington has been critical of the WHO for some time.

Former president Donald Trump pulled the United States out of the WHO after accusing it of defending China's initial delays in sharing information when COVID-19 emerged there in 2019.

The Biden administration rejoined soon after taking office, but officials told Reuters they think the WHO needs significant reform, and raised concerns about its governance, structure and ability to confront rising threats, not least from China.

One of the European officials said other big countries, including Japan and Brazil, were also hesitant about the published WHO proposal.

Two of the European officials said China had not yet made its position clear, while a third official listed Beijing among the critics of the proposal.

The governments of Japan, China and Brazil had no immediate comment.

finance.yahoo.com/news/sorrento-therapeutics-announces-co...

Sorrento Therapeutics Announces Covishield (Sti-9167), a Broad-Spectrum Neutralizing Antibody, Potently Neutralizes Omicron and Omicron (+R346k) Variants of Sars-Cov-2

COVISHIELD (STI-9167) neutralizing antibody (nAb) was discovered by scientists from the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai (“Icahn Mount Sinai”) and further optimized and engineered by Sorrento scientists.

A preprint manuscript is published online at biorxiv.org: biorxiv.org/cgi/content/short/2022.01.19.476998v1

Sorrento has obtained worldwide exclusive license rights from Icahn Mount Sinai as previously announced on March 9, 2021

Compared to available published literature and head-to-head experiments, STI-9167 nAb is a potentially “Best-in-Class” nAb against the Omicron variant of SARS-CoV-2 and the first reported nAb with high potency against Omicron (+R346K mutation) and has demonstrated highly potent neutralization activities in vitro (IC50 of 25 ng/mL for Omicron live virus, 14.8 ng/mL and 23.9 ng/mL for Omicron and Omicron (+R346K mutation) pseudovirus, respectively), in addition to potent neutralizing activities against the SARS-CoV-2 virus and all of its variants of concern (VOCs).

STI-9167 nAb demonstrated strong protection in vivo following Omicron virus challenge in a preclinical model of COVID-19, preventing weight loss and reducing virus titers in the lungs to levels below the limit of detection.

GMP drug product manufacturing in support of large clinical development is in place at Sorrento GMP facilities.

Sorrento is evaluating in-house GMP manufacturing and is in negotiations with major global CMOs for commercial scale manufacturing to secure capacity to manufacture and supply tens of millions of doses. Sorrento currently has in-hand sufficient cGMP drug substance for 100,000’s of doses at the projected intranasal dose of STI-9199, the intranasal formulation of STI-9167.

INDs to be submitted in the US, UK and Mexico within a month for use as either a small volume intravenous push or intranasal instillation.

(investors.sorrentotherapeutics.com/news-releases/news-rel...).

SAN DIEGO, Jan. 21, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Sorrento Therapeutics, Inc. (Nasdaq: SRNE, "Sorrento") today announced the release of new data on the Omicron variant neutralizing antibody (nAb) STI-9167, COVISHIELD, an advanced stage antibody discovered and developed for clinical trials in an ongoing collaboration between immunologists and virologists at Sorrento and the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai (“Icahn Mount Sinai”) in New York, NY.

Spike protein binding assays and neutralization assays using viruses representing all known SARS-CoV-2 variants of concern (VOCs) have been completed with STI-9167, and this nAb was observed to bind with high affinity and provide highly potent neutralizing activity (Omicron IC50 = 25 ng/ml). Of noted significance, STI-9167 is unique when compared to tests of EUA-approved SARS-CoV-2 nAbs in that binding and neutralization properties are maintained against the emerging Omicron and Omicron (+R346K) variant, an increasingly prevalent Omicron lineage variant that encodes an additional R346K Spike protein mutation. Additionally, STI-9167 administered at a low dose (5mg/kg) by either the intranasal or intravenous routes provided strong protection against the clinical signs of infection by the Omicron variant in the K18-hAce2 transgenic mouse model of COVID-19, preventing weight loss and reducing virus titers in the lungs to undetectable levels.

“The generation and characterization of the STI-9167 nAb demonstrates the great collaboration between the scientists of Mount Sinai and Sorrento to address a global health crisis,” said Domenico Tortorella, PhD, Professor of Microbiology at Icahn Mount Sinai.

“We selected antibody STI-9167 from large sets of diverse anti-SARS-CoV-2 spike neutralizing antibodies that we developed in our labs. It demonstrated the most effective cross-neutralization against all known SARS-CoV-2 isolates and variants of concerns, including the recent Omicron and Omicron (+R346K) variants,” commented J. Andrew Duty, PhD, Assistant Professor of Microbiology and Director of the Center for Therapeutic Antibody Development at Icahn Mount Sinai.

“The currently EUA-approved nAbs have markedly reduced or absent binding and neutralization activities against omicron/omicron (+R346K) making them inadequate to support current clinical needs,” stated Mike A. Royal, MD, JD, MBA, Chief Medical Officer at Sorrento. “Alternative nAbs are sorely needed in the near term, particularly for the pediatric population which appears to be at higher risk for severe omicron infection and hospitalization. Our intranasal COVIDROPS formulation delivers our nAbs to the upper airways where Omicron is most likely to target and flourish, and as a non-invasive, easy to administer treatment, it is ideal for children. We have already begun to treat children with COVIDROPS (with STI-2099) in Mexico where the delta variant is still prevalent. Through Phase 2 studies in the US, United Kingdom and Mexico, we have seen a benign safety profile for intranasal delivery of our nAbs and expect a similar outcome with COVIDROP (with STI-9167).”

“We now have had experience with bringing multiple COVID-19 therapeutics into the clinic and advancing several into Phase 2 and/or pivotal development,” says Mark Brunswick, PhD, SVP and Head of Regulatory Affairs and Quality at Sorrento. “We are well situated to rapidly bring forth COVISHIELD through the IND stage and into the clinic and expect to file this important IND in the next month.”

Dr. Henry Ji, Chairman and CEO of Sorrento, commented, “The work by the teams at Sorrento and Mount Sinai has yielded a remarkable antibody with unique and valuable protective properties against Omicron and all other SARS-CoV-2 VOCs. Our COVISHIELD neutralizing antibody is the best-in-class and the most advanced candidate for combatting the prevalent Omicron and emerging Omicron (+R346K) VOCs. We are working diligently to position this antibody for use in COVID patients and are confident that our approach will provide an efficacious clinical solution not only in the near term but also as the pandemic continues to evolve.”

A preprint manuscript is published online at biorxiv.org: biorxiv.org/cgi/content/short/2022.01.19.476998v1

The neutralizing antibody described was generated in the laboratories at Mount Sinai and exclusively licensed to Sorrento Therapeutics. Mount Sinai and Mount Sinai faculty members have a financial interest in Sorrento Therapeutics.

About STI-9167, COVISHIELD, Antibody

Initially isolated as a SARS-CoV-2 (WA-1 strain) nAb candidate following vaccination of transgenic mice, the STI-9167 antibody was optimized to maximize protein stability and minimize interactions with host Fc gamma receptors. Using established master cell banks, GMP drug product has been generated at Sorrento in preparation for anticipated Phase 1 through pivotal Phase 2/3 human clinical trials. Tech transfer of methods and GMP processes in support of commercial-scale GMP manufacturing is currently underway.

About STI-9167 Clinical Development Plans

Sorrento has demonstrated the protective effects of SARS-CoV-2 nAbs administered by either intravenous, IV, or intranasal, IN, routes in preclinical COVID-19 animal models and the safety of SARS-CoV-2 nAbs administered by IV and IN routes to human subjects. Current clinical study plans for STI-9167, pending feedback from regulatory agencies, call for evaluation of safety following antibody administration at single doses via the IV and IN routes in healthy normal adults or asymptomatic Omicron infected patients, followed by large Phase 2/3 clinical trials globally for newly infected COVID-19 patients.

Utilizing clear plastic aligners is one of the best techniques for teeth position fixing. These aligners are made of clear polyurethane plastic and for all intents and purposes undetectable, that is the reason it is otherwise called Invisible braces. There are no metal wire or brackets to mischief or scratch your mouth. But before having this treatment you should know few important things about it. To know more read : goo.gl/paQ4ja

Ford's Hospital is one of the few remaining reminders of medieval Coventry, an almshouse founded in 1509 forming a courtyard surrounded by six individual residences, a delightful example of Tudor timber-framed architecture.

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ford%27s_Hospital

The building was damaged during the Coventry Blitz in 1940 resulting in the deaths of several residents. As the damage was mainly from bomb-blast rather than incendiary most of the structure survived and original timbers were used where reconstruction was necessary so the damage is undetectable today.

Sadly Coventry's postwar planners were less sympathetic to the building and rather than make a feature of this little gem it was hidden away by the new shopping area, accessed via a gloomy alley in Greyfriars Lane, an area sorely in need of of a revamp.

Boca Raton, Florida (August 21, 2013) – Help one man overcome baldness and regain a full head of hair. From now through Labor Day weekend (September 2nd 2013), the public is asked to vote for one lucky winner in Dr. Alan J. Bauman’s “Battle of the Balding” championship at www.LiveHair.TV/contest. The prize, worth $5,000, is a free state-of-the-art NeoGraft FUE hair transplant.

The two lucky “Battle of the Balding” contest finalists are Cary Roman, 48, an event promoter and Steve Wilson, 49, a facility planner. Both men are from South Florida.

Wilson and Roman entered the contest after hearing about it from Kevin Rolston, the front man on a top rated morning radio program, the “Kevin, Jason, Virginia” Show that currently airs on 97.3 FM The Coast in Miami. In July last year, after complaining publicly about his hair loss for more than 13 years, Rolston became a recent member of Bauman’s “Follicle Fan Club” after receiving a minimally-invasive NeoGraft FUE hair transplant procedure from Bauman that was broadcast live via the Internet to a global audience of more than 75,000 viewers from 22 countries. Rolston gained national notoriety throughout the radio broadcast industry as the first disc jockey to undergo a live NeoGraft FUE hair transplant on the air. His surgery was “broadcast” to three different media entities simultaneously, including live streaming audio that could be heard by his South Florida fans and also video that played on the stations’ website real-time.

Bauman’s contest, which coincides with August’s National Hair Loss Awareness Month, is being promoted via all major social media outlets including Facebook, Twitter and Google+ and is using #BattleoftheBalding for trending. To watch the two contestant videos, learn more about hair loss options, vote for your favorite to win and share this contest with others, go to www.LiveHair.TV/contest

“My goal with this contest is to raise awareness about the causes of and treatments for hair loss,” said Bauman, medical director of the Bauman Medical Group. “More than 80 million men and women suffer from hair loss in this country, but it’s important to remember that baldness and thinning are now treatable conditions. Early intervention is key, as well as utilizing a multi-therapy approach as prescribed by a qualified hair restoration specialist. For patients who need the ultimate weapon in the battle against baldness, artistically performed NeoGraft FUE is the top choice. This minimally invasive, no-stitch/no-scalpel follicular unit extraction transplant creates a full, natural-looking hairline with zero risk of linear scarring and little downtime.”

Bauman has treated more than 15,000 hair loss suffers since 1997 and is considered one of the world’s top medical experts on hair loss, having been regularly featured in the country’s leading print, radio and television media.

According to Bauman, who medically clears all patients prior to their procedures, both men’s hair loss symptoms are classic. “The combination of Cary’s and Steve’s age, along with possible hereditary, environmental and lifestyle factors, all tend to lead to the extreme hair thinning and areas that are hard to cover. Having been medically cleared, both men are absolutely ideal candidates to get results from the most technologically advanced, minimally invasive and virtually undetectable hair transplant procedure that I personally perform in my clinic on a daily basis.”

The winner will receive a Free NeoGraft FUE Hair Transplant – Value - $5,000.

This is the state-of-the-art hair transplant procedure that Bauman has become world-famous for performing. Using the most sophisticated technology, the NeoGraft FUE device allows Bauman to artfully harvest and transplant individual living and growing hair follicles with faster recovery and no tell-tale linear scar. Value: $5,000

The contestant videos and voting is available at: www.LiveHair.tv/contest

Images taken late afternoon and 3 hours later, just before sunset. Camera WB was the same for both, showing the difference in light colour during the 'Golden Hours'.

Image 1 is a stitch of 23 images in portrait orientation. It slants slightly as I was struggling to get a stable foundation for my tripod.

Image 2 is a Photomerge of 10 images taken in landscape mode.

The brilliant thing about using the Sigma 50mm Art lens is there is virtually no distortion and undetectable vignetting at f/8, meaning there is no banding usually seen on stitched images.

Photomerge is one of the things PhotoShop CC does really well.

Close-up of the spray-painted #30 zipper. (The teeth were originally black.) The paint sticks to the plastic teeth but soaks undetectably into the fabric tape without needing to mask it off.

[ This photo is part of Saeru's Anti-form Sora tutorial, which can be read here = cosplay.com/showthread.php?t=112833 ]

Sunspot activity for Tuesday February 14, 2012. Sunspot 1419 remains a shadow of its former self (Sunspot 1402). I noticed on some of the photos activity to the left of 1418 and to the right of 1419. So small as to be undetectable on this photo. It may grow into a visible sunspot or fade completely over the next few days.

When the Stakkadian Order collapsed thanks to the efforts of the Allied Worlds, it signalled the end of a long and brutal occupation of the Elmorian Sectors. Finally liberated and free to determine their own destiny, the Elmorian Federation found itself with all the responsibilities of protecting their small and fledgling dominion. Drained from fighting the Order, their fleets heavily depleted and coffers nearly empty, with their people already tired of paying increasing taxes, the Elmorian Senate decided on a radical solution. They would try for a cost-effective solution to secure their borders and restore piece to their systems, and deter all future aggressors.

They went to the Confederation of Republic Systems, the main benefactor in their fight against the Stakkadians, and asked for their permission to commission the Carrackian Docks to build them their warship. The Confederation, in a unprecedented move never since repeated, allowed a foreign power to enlist the Carrackian Docks to design and build a fleet warship. With their permission secured, the Elmorian Naval Service Command needed only now to determine exactly what kind of warship they wanted, and how they would pay for it. They long debated over what their main strategy should be, what policy they should adopt that would both protect their worlds and be affordable. All their ideas would either be too expensive or not effective enough, and the Carrackian Docks themselves nearly cancelled the contract after being kept waiting for so long, but a junior admiral finally came up with a solution. The most effective policy, she said, would be one of deterence. Now, this was not in itself a radical idea, but most deterence was achieved by means of a massive fleet that could crush anything in its path. How could the Federation afford such a fleet? It couldn't, responded the admiral, but it didn't need to. And so the concept was born for a stealth ship, one which could sneak undetected anywhere it wanted, and strike any target with impunity. What leadership would order an attack, knowing an undetectable ship could come at any time to wipe them out? What pirates would risk a raid with an enemy possibly right next to them?

From this, the Umbra-class heavy cruiser was born. Only a very few were ever built, and their current service record is unknown but thought to be relatively sparse. These are the largest class of stealth ship in the galaxy, and are hugely capable. Their sheer technical complexity is staggering, and are among the finest ships ever to come out of the Carrackian Docks. Their exorbitant price tag leads most experts to conclude only around a half-dozen were ever built given the budget of the Elmorian Navy, but both the Elmorian Federation and the Carrackian Docks (therefore by extension the Confederation) refuses to confirm the true number actively in service.

To secure the right to commission the Carrackian Docks, the Elmorians first had to promise the design would be available to the Confederation. Seeing as the two factions were bound by a powerful bond, this was no problem. The Confederate Admiralty briefly considered building their own Umbra-class ships, but soon balked at both the price and fragility of the ships.

The Umbra has very little armour, to make room for ordnance and sensors, only minimal shields to protect against radiation, solar debris and the weakest of weapons, the better not to be detected by a strong energy signature. Their engines are a completely different kind than most ships, using gradual ion-acceleration to slowly but surely increase their velocity while remaining undetectable. Their main weapons are chiefly huge kinetic torpedoes, long-range weaponry with a high degree of accuracy and damage, very effective at taking out large ships. Their secondary weaponry are laser and plasma missiles to deal with smaller, more nimble targets. There are very few point-defence systems on the Umbra, under the theory that the class isnt meant to be in close range to any enemy and is instead meant for striking from the shadows. Reflective panels help hide it from visual scanners, and powerful Phased Arrays help jam and confuse both passive and active detection devices.

Although not proven in combat, one could argue this very characteristic is what makes the Umbra-Class a success.

Undetectable by Sight: DNA Might Soon Replace Barcodes to Tag Valuables

Easy-to-remove barcodes and QR codes used to tag everything from T-shirts to car engines may soon be replaced by a tagging system based on DNA and invisible to the naked eye, scientists said Thursday. www.breakingasia.com/news/undetectable-by-sight-dna-might...

Geez, with the light we had for the show this was hard to get this exposed right.

Arriving In Lyon late in the day and it was raining. Our hotel was about one hour from Lyon so we didn't stop there and went straight to our hotel. We arrived in the dark and left the next morning in the dark to go back to Lyon.

Day 10 of our Cosmos tour, October 9, 2012 Lyon France.

Secret Passages. The Hidden City behind Anonymous Doors....

Continue reading at NowPublic.com: Secret Passages. The Hidden City behind Anonymous Doors.... | NowPublic News Coverage www.nowpublic.com/culture/secret-passages-hidden-city-beh...

People hide in them, escape into them, enter them to be alone, they make love in them, pee in them, read a book in them, and also, for some...live in them.

Houses? Nope. Old trains in a siding? Nah. Abandoned factories? Sorry, no. Again.

In fact, these pictures show just a few of the five hundred unique and more or less undetectable secret passages which lead from one street or building to another here in Lyon. It's worth coming to Lyon if only to discover them, and many people do just that.

You have to have a guide though, or someone who knows them well, because many are to be found behind anonymous doors, and nothing would indicate their existence....

Some of these passageways have existed since before the Renaissance period, and are an integral part of Lyon’s heritage. They are called ‘Traboules’, which is the noun version of an old local verb meaning ‘traverser’ in modern French, or ‘cross’, ‘go through’ etcetera.

Lyon is a dense and compact matrix of streets, and there are hills on two sides of it. The traboules were thus constructed in order that people could go up and down these hills in a straight line instead of zig-zagging their way up or down the streets. They are everywhere, but largely unseen.

They were extensively used by the local silk-weavers in the 17th and 18th centuries to transport raw materials and finished silk. These silk-weavers once staged a revolt against their working conditions and many hid in them from the vengeance of the police and other authorities, as some traboules were constructed without the knowledge of anyone but their users.

The same thing happened in WWII. Resistance fighters often planned attacks on German troops and patrols in a way that would ensure their escape from pursuing survivors by using traboules as an escape route. They carried out their attacks, ran round a corner, and, when the soldiers turned the corner to follow them, they would be disagreeably surprised to see that their attackers had quite simply disappeared as if by magic......

Only forty of these traboules are now designated as tourist attractions, and they have (small, of course) copper plaques indicating their existence. Others are inaccessible because those who live in the buidings around do not want tourists wandering around.

But if you know anyone who knows Lyon well, he’ll take you places you would never have dreamed existed.

And it is well-rumoured here that some traboules remain unknown to anyone, except those people of long-standing Lyon origins...who will never divulge their existence.........to anyone.

Continue reading at NowPublic.com: Secret Passages. The Hidden City behind Anonymous Doors.... | NowPublic News Coverage www.nowpublic.com/culture/secret-passages-hidden-city-beh...

For More Info: www.nowpublic.com/culture/secret-passages-hidden-city-beh...

www.lisha.com/hairextensionsbl.html

www.lisha.com/hairextensionsbl.html

hairextensionshouston.blogspot.com/2014/03/lisha-coleman-...; rel="nofollow">hairextensionshouston.blogspot.com/2014/03/lisha-coleman-...

hairextensionshouston.tumblr.com/

When aspiring singer and actress, Anna Zaka, wanted hair extensions to glamorize her look she went to one of Houston’s best and most well-known hair extension experts, Lisha Coleman.

In the entertainment business, image is a big part of the package and Zaka wanted to do something that would set her apart from the competition. “Acting and performing are very much about appearance and I wanted something to give me an edge. I wanted fuller, longer hair and after looking at Lisha’s website and seeing her work, I knew I had found the best!” says, Zaka.

Lisha Coleman has been mastering hair extensions for over 20 years and began her career on Broadway in New York City, so she knows a thing or two about creating dynamic looks built for the stage. Coleman explains, “For the shots by the pool we were looking for a chichi-meets-bohemian feel. Something you might see on the Bravo reality show, ‘Shahs Of Sunset’. ‘Pocahontas’ was the inspiration for another look. The flowered headband and blonde highlight extensions worked really well to get the super-sexy, natural look. We went into Zach Tate’s studio to get the glamorous head shot to show off Anna’s beautiful face and hair extensions.”

Born in the Himalayan town of Murree in northern Pakistan, Anna’s parents moved to the US when she was just 2 years old. “I get back there quite a bit. It’s so beautiful. I’m a very proud Texan but I love my culture,” says Zaka.

Celebrity photographer Zach Tate worked with Coleman creating 3 looks for Zaka’s first-ever professional photo shoot. “I love working with people who are new to being photographed. Nervous energy often translates into enthusiasm, and that comes through in the images,” said Tate.

Coleman used her Securelocking Method of hair extensions on Zaka to help create the different themes for each shot. “We mixed in some 22” blond #27/613 and brown #4 in a body wave to give Anna the long mane that’s so sexy on her. My signature placement of the extensions is what allows the hair to flow in a seamless, natural, undetectable way.”

Lisha Coleman, voted Best Hair Extensionist by Allure Magazine, is a leading expert in the field of Hair Extensions. Her work has been seen in films, television, magazines and on runways around the world. She is a writer and educator and trains stylists privately to do her award-winning techniques of hair extensions. More information at www.Lisha.com

Text your dream hair image to Lisha at 281-825-1600

Are you as HOT as you can be?

R-wing Starfighter

Size: 16 meters long

Manufacturer: Vevic Design Group

Type: Attack Starfighter/Bomber

Weapon: Laser cannons x 4, ion cannons x 4, mass driver particle cannons x4, proton torpedoes x4, heavy plasma repeater cannon x1, spread spectrum phase EMF particle beam (5 discharges)

Affiliation: Rebel Alliance

The R-wing starfighter design and manufacture was commissioned by the notorious Rebel Alliance member Morten Vevic. Vevic was an extremely wealthy and eccentric governor of the remote system Issidel. His wealth and natural resource contained in this system attracted constant Imperial attention.

In addition to being the governor, Vevic fancied himself as a starship designer and test pilot and grew tired of the frequent Imperial “requests” to donate to the Imperial cause. Fortunately, the Issidel system was so remote that the Empire didn’t want to dedicate the necessary forces to bring Vevic in line. He had loosely aligned himself with the Rebel Alliance and became a supporter by funneling raw materials, cash and weapon designs to the Rebel Alliance cause.

Obviously, the Alliance was in desperate need of the materials and cash. However, Vevic’s weapon and ship designs were, shall we say, unique. None of Vevic’s designs made it past the feasibility test by the Alliance starship design brain trust. Vevic’s ego could not handle the rejection and thus he created his own in-house design and build factory on a remote asteroid cluster in the Issidel system.

During the construction of the factory on the asteroid, a new and extremely rare mineral called czelanite was found on the asteroid. Czelanite is very dark in color and has two unique qualities; it is extremely strong and it is virtually undetectable by standard technology scanners outside of about 30 meters.

Unfortunately, due to the strength of czelanite it was extremely hard to mine and Vevic was only able to mine a relatively small amount. Vevic’s vision was to create a heavy starfighter that could hold its own in a dogfight and deliver significant damage against small to medium Imperial capital ships, bases and outposts.

While most of the Rebellion ship designers felt that the R-wing was outfitted with an over abundance of conventional weapons (Vevic subscribed to the “more is better” school of weapons placement) the inclusion of the plasma repeater cannon and the phase recoil particle beam got the most attention. Phase EMF particle beams are traditionally used in deep mining operations and plasma repeaters are normally used for armor penetration on ground units. Interestingly, Vevic found out that plasma repeaters worked well against the heavy armor of the Imperial cruisers often creating significant hull breaches that caused more damage inside the ship than outside.

But perhaps the most notable discovery credited to Vevic was that the phase EMF particle beams (when fired at close range < 100 meters) would create a 50 meter radius ball of antimatter that ignored shielding and literally disintegrated whatever they hit. The huge amount of energy released limited the weapon to only five shots before recharging at a base. This was also the reason for the weapon to be fired behind and above the R-wing. The typical attack run of the R-wing was to fly in low and behind a capital ship utilizing the R-wing’s non-detection ability. The R-wing would then make a run along the bottom of the capital ship and blasting large holes along the way. This run was made famous by Vevic himself who piloted his R-wing against the Imperial Star Destroyer Obsidian which had come to persuade Vevic into joining the Empire. Vevic’s R-wing had successfully destroyed the hanger bay (and almost all the fighters inside) as well as disabled the engines and primary power on the Obsidian by landing a few blasts on the rear of the ship. This (very short) battle was Vevic’s final response to the Empire and thus solidified his position with the Alliance.

While the R-wing is credited in taking down a number of large Imperial ships during the later part of the galactic civil war, unfortunately there were not enough of them built to make a significant difference in the war. It is rumored that Talon Karrde “acquired” all the remaining R-wings he could find for special mission use within his organization.

Famous quote by Karrde, “The R-wing Starfighter; when you absolutely, positively have to destroy every Imperial ship in the sector. Accept no substitute!”

Click here for the brickshelf gallery.

www.science.org/doi/10.1126/sciimmunol.abq2427

Omicron BA.1 breakthrough infection drives cross-variant neutralization and memory B cell formation against conserved epitopes

Abstract

Omicron is the evolutionarily most distinct SARS-CoV-2 variant of concern (VOC) to date. We report that Omicron BA.1 breakthrough infection in BNT162b2-vaccinated individuals resulted in strong neutralizing activity against Omicron BA.1, BA.2 and previous SARS-CoV-2 VOCs, but not against the Omicron sublineages BA.4 and BA.5. BA.1 breakthrough infection induced a robust recall response, primarily expanding BMEM cells against epitopes shared broadly amongst variants, rather than inducing BA.1-specific B cells. The vaccination-imprinted BMEM cell pool had sufficient plasticity to be remodeled by heterologous SARS-CoV-2 spike glycoprotein exposure. While selective amplification of BMEM cells recognizing shared epitopes allows for effective neutralization of most variants that evade previously established immunity, susceptibility to escape by variants that acquire alterations at hitherto conserved sites may be heightened.

INTRODUCTION

Containment of the COVID-19 pandemic requires the generation of durable and sufficiently broad immunity to provide protection against current and future variants of SARS-CoV-2. The titer of neutralizing antibodies to SARS-CoV-2, and the binding of antibodies to the spike (S) glycoprotein and its receptor-binding domain (RBD) are considered correlates of protection against infection (1, 2). Currently available vaccines are based on the S glycoprotein of the ancestral Wuhan-Hu-1 strain and induce antibodies with a neutralizing capacity that exceeds the breadth elicited by infection with the Wuhan strain, or with variants of concern (VOCs) (3). However, protective titers wane over time (4–7) and routine booster vaccinations are thought to be needed to trigger recall immunity and maintain efficacy against new VOCs (8–11).

Long-lived memory B (BMEM) cells are the basis for the recall response upon antigen re-encounter either by infection or booster vaccination. They play an important role in the maintenance and evolution of the antiviral antibody response against variants, since low-affinity selection mechanisms during the germinal center reaction and continued hypermutation of BMEM cells over several months following antigen exposure expand the breadth of viral variant recognition (12, 13).

To date, over 1 billion people worldwide have been vaccinated with the mRNA-based COVID-19 vaccine BNT162b2 and have received the primary 2-dose series or further boosters (14). Thus, BNT162b2 vaccination is contributing substantially to the pattern of population immunity in many regions of the world.

How vaccine-mediated protective immunity will evolve over time and will be modified by iterations of exposure to COVID-19 vaccines and to infections with increasingly divergent viral variants remains poorly understood, and is of particular relevance with the emergence of antigenically distinct VOCs. Omicron is the evolutionary most distant reported VOC to date, with a hitherto unprecedented number of amino acid alterations in its S glycoprotein, including at least 15 amino acid changes in the RBD and extensive changes in the N-terminal domain (NTD) (15). These alterations are predicted to affect most neutralizing antibody epitopes (16–20). In addition, Omicron is highly transmissible, has outcompeted Delta within weeks to become the dominant circulating VOC, and has given rise to multiple sublineages, starting with BA.1 and BA.2, that are spreading rapidly across the globe (21, 22). New Omicron sublineages that harbor further alterations in the S glycoprotein continue to arise, with BA.4 and BA.5 deemed VOCs by the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) on the 12th May 2022 (23).

To characterize the effect of Omicron breakthrough infection on the magnitude and breadth of serum neutralizing activity and BMEM cells, we studied blood samples from individuals that were double- or triple-vaccinated with BNT162b2, including cohorts that experienced breakthrough infection between November 2021 and mid-January 2022, a period when the BA.1 lineage was dominant in Germany (24). As an understanding of the antigen-specific B cell memory pool is a critical determinant of an individual’s ability to respond to newly emerging variants, our data will help to guide further vaccine development.

RESULTS

Cohorts and sampling

Blood samples were sourced from the biosample collection of BNT162b2 vaccine trials, and a biobank of prospectively collected samples from vaccinated individuals with subsequent SARS-CoV-2 Omicron breakthrough infection experienced in a period of Omicron sublineage BA.1 dominance, and we therefore refer to “BA.1 breakthrough infection” herein. Samples were selected to investigate biomarkers in four independent groups, namely individuals who were (i) double- or (ii) triple-vaccinated with BNT162b2 without a prior or breakthrough infection at the time of sample collection (BNT162b22, BNT162b23) and individuals who were (iii) double- or (iv) triple-vaccinated with BNT162b2 and who experienced breakthrough infection with the SARS-CoV-2 Omicron variant after a median of approximately 5 months or 4 weeks, respectively (BNT162b22 + Omi, BNT162b23 + Omi). Median ages of the cohorts were similar (32-39 years), except for the BNT162b22 cohort, which had a mildly increased median age of 52, albeit with only two individuals >65 yrs of age. Immune sera were used to characterize Omicron infection-associated changes to the magnitude and the breadth of serum neutralizing activity. PBMCs were used to characterize the VOC-specificity of peripheral BMEM cells recognizing the respective full-length SARS-CoV-2 S glycoprotein or its RBD.

Omicron BA.1 breakthrough infection after BNT162b2 vaccination induces broad neutralization against Omicron BA.1, BA.2 and other VOCs, but not against BA.4 and BA.5

To evaluate the neutralizing activity of immune sera, we used two orthogonal test systems: a well-characterized pseudovirus neutralization test (pVNT) (25, 26) to investigate the breadth of inhibition of virus entry in a propagation-deficient set-up, as well as a live SARS-CoV-2 neutralization test (VNT) designed to evaluate neutralization during multicycle replication of authentic virus with the antibodies maintained throughout the entire test period. For the former, we applied pseudoviruses bearing the S glycoproteins of SARS-CoV-2 Wuhan, Alpha, Beta, Delta, Omicron BA.1, BA.2, and of the recently emerged Omicron sublineages BA.4 and BA.5 to assess neutralization breadth. As BA.4 and BA.5 share an identical S glycoprotein sequence, including key alterations L452R and F486V, we herein refer to them as BA.4/5. In addition, we assayed SARS-CoV (herein referred to as SARS-CoV-1) to detect potential pan-sarbecovirus neutralizing activity (27).

As reported previously (25, 28, 29), in Omicron-naïve double-vaccinated individuals 50% pseudovirus neutralization (pVN50) geometric mean titers (GMTs) of Beta and Delta VOCs were reduced, and neutralization of Omicron BA.1, BA.2 and BA.4/5 was virtually undetectable. In Omicron-naïve triple-vaccinated individuals, pVN50 GMTs against all tested VOCs were substantially higher with robust neutralization of Alpha, Beta and Delta. While GMTs against Omicron BA.1 and BA.2 were already considerably lower as compared with Wuhan (GMT 160 and 211 vs 398), neutralizing activity against Omicron BA.4/5 was even further reduced (GMT 74), corresponding to a 5-fold lower titer as compared to the Wuhan strain.

Omicron BA.1 breakthrough infection had a marked effect on magnitude and breadth of the neutralizing antibody response of both double- and triple-vaccinated individuals, with slightly higher pVN50 GMTs observed in the triple-vaccinated individuals (Fig. 2a, fig. S1b, Table S6). The pVN50 GMT of double-vaccinated individuals with breakthrough infection against Omicron BA.1, BA.2 and BA.4/5 was more than 100-fold, 35-fold and 15-fold above the GMTs of Omicron-naïve double-vaccinated individuals. Immune sera from double-vaccinated individuals with BA.1 breakthrough infection had broad neutralizing activity against Omicron BA.1, BA.2 and previous SARS-CoV-2 VOCs, with higher pVN50 GMTs against Beta and Delta than observed in Omicron-naïve triple-vaccinated individuals (GMT 740 vs. 222 and 571 vs. 370). In contrast, Omicron BA.1 breakthrough infection had only a minor boost effect on neutralization of BA.4/5 with pVN50 GMTs against Omicron BA.4/5 being significantly below those against Wuhan (GMT 135 vs. 740).

We observed a similar pattern when studying the neutralization of these variants with BA.1 convalescent and control sera from triple-vaccinated individuals. BA.1 convalescent sera exhibited high pVN50 GMTs against the previous SARS-CoV-2 VOCs, including Beta (1182), Omicron BA.1 (1029), and BA.2 (836) that were close to the Wuhan reference (1182). Omicron BA.1 breakthrough infection only moderately increased neutralization of BA.4/5 in triple-vaccinated individuals with pVN50 GMTs of 197, remaining 6-fold lower than against the Wuhan strain.

Of note, in all cohorts, neutralizing titers against BA.4/5 were closer to the low level observed against the phylogenetically more distant SARS-CoV-1 than that seen against Wuhan (Fig. 2a, Table S4 to S6). Looking at the ratios of SARS-CoV-2 VOC and SARS-CoV-1 pVN50 GMTs normalized against Wuhan, it is remarkable that breakthrough infection with Omicron BA.1 does not lead to more efficient cross-neutralization of Omicron BA.4/5 in double- and triple-vaccinated individuals as compared with triple-vaccinated Omicron-naïve individuals.

Authentic live SARS-CoV-2 virus neutralization assays conducted with Wuhan, Beta, Delta and Omicron BA.1 confirmed the observation that BA.1 breakthrough infection boosted broad immunity against BA.1 and previous SARS-CoV-2 VOCs (Fig. 2c, fig. S1c, d, Tables S7 to S9). In BNT162b2 double- and triple-vaccinated individuals, Omicron BA.1 breakthrough infection was associated with a strongly increased neutralizing activity against Omicron BA.1, with 50% virus neutralization (VN50) GMTs in the same range as against the Wuhan strain (Fig. 2c; GMT 493 vs. 381 and GMT 538 vs. 613). Similarly, BA.1 convalescent double- and triple-vaccinated individuals showed comparable levels of neutralization against other variants as well (e.g., GMT 493 and 729 against Beta), indicating a wide breadth of neutralizing activity, a finding further supported by the calculated ratios of SARS-CoV-2 VOC VN50 GMTs normalized against the Wuhan strain (Fig. 2d). While double- and to a lesser extent also triple-BNT162b2 vaccinated Omicron-naïve individuals displayed reduced neutralization proficiency against VOCs, neutralization activity of Omicron BA.1 convalescent subjects reached almost the same range of high performance against all live SARS-CoV-2 variant strains tested. Likewise, Omicron BA.1 breakthrough infection similarly augmented broad neutralization in individuals vaccinated with other approved COVID-19 vaccines or heterologous regimens, but with significantly reduced potency against Omicron BA.4/5 (fig. S2, Table S11). In aggregate, these data demonstrate that Omicron BA.1 breakthrough infection of vaccine-experienced individuals mediates broadly neutralizing activity against BA.1, BA.2 and several previous SARS-CoV-2 variants, but not for BA.4/5.

BMEM cells of BNT162b2 double- and triple-vaccinated individuals broadly recognize VOCs and are further boosted by Omicron BA.1 breakthrough infection.

Next, we investigated the phenotype and quantity of SARS-CoV-2 S glycoprotein-specific B cells in these individuals. To this aim, we employed flow cytometry-based B cell phenotyping assays for differential detection of variant-specific S glycoprotein-binding B cells in bulk PBMCs. We found that all S glycoprotein- and RBD-specific B cells in the peripheral blood were of a BMEM phenotype (BMEM; CD20highCD38int/neg, fig. S3a). Antigen-specific plasmablasts or naïve B cells were not detected. The assays allowed us to identify BMEM cells recognizing the S glycoprotein (fig S3b) or RBD (fig S3c) of SARS-CoV-2 Wuhan, Alpha, Delta and Omicron BA.1 variants.

As expected, the overall frequency of antigen-specific BMEM cells varied across the different groups. Consistent with prior reports (30), the frequency of BMEM cells in Omicron-naïve double-vaccinated individuals was low at an early time point after vaccination and increased over time: At 5 months as compared to 3 weeks after the second BNT162b2 dose, S glycoprotein-specific BMEM cells almost quadrupled, and RBD-specific ones tripled across all VOCs thereby reaching quantities similar to those observed in Omicron-naïve triple-vaccinated individuals.

Double or triple BNT162b2-vaccinated individuals with a SARS-CoV-2 Omicron BA.1 breakthrough infection exhibited a strongly increased frequency of S glycoprotein-specific BMEM cells, which was higher than those of Omicron-naïve triple-vaccinated individuals.

In all groups, including Omicron-naïve and Omicron BA.1 infected individuals, BMEM cells against Omicron BA.1 S glycoprotein were detectable at frequencies comparable to those against Wuhan and other tested VOCs (Fig. 3b, d), whereas the frequency of BMEM cells against Omicron BA.1 RBD was slightly lower compared to the other variants (Fig. 3c, e, fig. S4f-j, m, n). We then compared the ratios of RBD- to S glycoprotein-binding BMEM cells within the different groups and found that they are biased toward S glycoprotein recognition for the Omicron BA.1 VOC, particularly in the Omicron-naïve groups (Fig. 3f). In the Omicron BA.1 convalescent groups this ratio was higher, indicating that an Omicron BA.1 breakthrough infection improved Omicron BA.1 RBD recognition.

Omicron BA.1 breakthrough infection after BNT162b2 vaccination boosts BMEM cells against epitopes broadly conserved across S glycoproteins of Wuhan and other VOCs.

Our findings imply that Omicron BA.1 infection in vaccinated individuals boosts not only neutralizing activity and BMEM cells against Omicron BA.1, but broadly augments immunity against various VOCs. To investigate the specificity of antibody responses at a cellular level, we performed multi-parameter analyses of BMEM cells stained with fluorescently labeled variant-specific S or RBD proteins. By applying a combinatorial gating strategy, we sought to distinguish between BMEM cell subsets that could identify epitopes specific to a single variant only (either Wuhan, Alpha, Delta or Omicron BA.1) versus those that could identify epitopes shared by any given combination of these variants.

In a first analysis, we evaluated BMEM cell recognition of Wuhan and Omicron BA.1 S and RBD proteins (Fig. 4b-d). Staining with full length S glycoproteins showed that the largest proportion of BMEM cells from Omicron-naïve double-vaccinated individuals, and even more predominantly from triple-vaccinated individuals were directed against epitopes shared by both Wuhan and Omicron BA.1 SARS-CoV-2 variants. Consistent with the fact that vaccination with BNT162b2 can elicit immune responses against Wuhan epitopes that do not recognize the corresponding altered epitopes in the Omicron BA.1 S glycoprotein (Fig. 4b, c, fig. S5a), we found in most individuals a smaller but clearly detectable proportion of BMEM cells that recognized only Wuhan S glycoprotein or RBD. Consistent with the lack of exposure, almost no BMEM cells binding exclusively to Omicron BA.1 S or RBD protein were detected in these Omicron-naïve individuals.

In Omicron BA.1 convalescent individuals, frequencies of BMEM cells recognizing S glycoprotein epitopes shared between Wuhan and Omicron BA.1 were considerably higher than in the Omicron-naïve ones (Fig. 4b, c). This was particularly pronounced for double-vaccinated individuals. In most of these subjects, we also found a small proportion of exclusively Wuhan S glycoprotein-specific BMEM cells, as well as a moderately lower frequency of exclusively Omicron BA.1 variant S glycoprotein-specific BMEM cells.

A slightly different pattern was observed by B cell staining with labeled RBD proteins (Fig. 4b, d, Fig. S5b). Again, Omicron BA.1 breakthrough infection of double-/triple-vaccinated individuals was found to primarily boost BMEM cells reactive against conserved epitopes. A moderate boost of Wuhan-specific reactivities was observed; however, we detected only small populations of BMEM cells specific to the Omicron BA.1-RBD in the tested individuals.

Next, we employed the combinatorial gating approach to identify the subsets of S glycoprotein or RBD binding BMEM cells that either bind exclusively to Wuhan or Omicron BA.1, or to common epitopes conserved broadly throughout all four variants, Wuhan, Alpha, Delta and Omicron BA.1 (Fig. 4e). Across all four cohorts, we found that the frequency of BMEM cells recognizing S glycoprotein-conserved epitopes accounted for the largest fraction of the pool of S glycoprotein-binding BMEM cells (Fig. 4f, all 4+ve). The S glycoprotein of the Wuhan strain does not have an exclusive amino acid change that distinguishes it from the S glycoproteins of the Alpha, Delta, or Omicron BA.1 VOCs. Accordingly, we hardly detected BMEM cells exclusively recognizing the Wuhan S glycoprotein in any individual (Fig. 4f). In several individuals with Omicron BA.1 breakthrough infection, we detected a small proportion of BMEM cells that bound exclusively to Omicron BA.1 S glycoprotein (Fig. 4f), whereas almost none of the individuals displayed a strictly Omicron BA.1 RBD-specific response (Fig. 4 g). Our findings indicate that Omicron BA.1 breakthrough infection in vaccinated individuals primarily expands a broad BMEM cell repertoire against conserved S glycoprotein and RBD epitopes rather than inducing large numbers of Omicron BA.1-specific BMEM cells.

To further dissect the nuances of this response, we characterized the BMEM subsets directed against the RBD in both double- and triple-vaccinated Omicron BA.1 convalescent individuals. We used the combinatorial Boolean gating approach to discern BMEM cells with distinct binding patterns in the spectrum of strictly variant-specific and common epitopes shared by several variants. Multiple sequence alignment revealed that the Omicron BA.1 RBD diverges from the RBD sequence regions conserved in Wuhan, Alpha, and Delta by 13 single amino acid alterations (fig. S6). The most prominent BMEM cell population that we detected in BA.1 convalescent individuals recognized Wuhan, Alpha as well as the Delta RBDs, but not Omicron BA.1 RBD (Fig. 4h). Contrary to expectations, the population of BMEM cells exclusively reactive with Omicron BA.1 RBD was small in most of those individuals. We did not detect BMEM cells that exclusively recognized epitopes shared by both the Omicron BA.1 and Alpha RBDs, or by the Omicron BA.1 and Delta RBDs.

Furthermore, in all individuals we identified two additional subsets of RBD-specific BMEM cells, (in bold in Fig. 4h). One subset was characterized by binding to the RBDs of Wuhan, Alpha as well as Omicron BA.1, but not the Delta RBD. The other population exhibited binding to Wuhan and Alpha but not Omicron BA.1 or Delta RBD. Sequence alignment identified L452R as the only RBD alteration unique for Delta that is not shared by the other 3 variant RBDs (Fig. 4i top). Similarly, the only RBD site conserved in Wuhan and Alpha but altered in Delta and Omicron BA.1 was found to be T478K (Fig. 4i bottom). Both L452R and T478K alterations are known to be associated with the evasion of vaccine induced neutralizing antibody responses (31, 32). Position L452 is in fact mutated in the recently emerged SARS-CoV-2 Omicron sublineages BA.4 and BA.5 (33). Of note, only minor BMEM cell frequencies were detected in those combinatorial subgroups in which multiple sequence alignment failed to identify unique epitopes in the RBD sequence (e.g., Wuhan only or Wuhan and Omicron BA.1, but not Alpha, Delta). These observations indicate that the BMEM cell response against RBD is driven by specificities induced through prior vaccination with BNT162b2 and not substantially redirected against new RBD epitopes displayed by the infecting Omicron BA.1 variant.

DISCUSSION

SARS-CoV-2 Omicron BA.1 is a partial immune escape variant with an unprecedented number of amino acid alterations in the S glycoprotein at sites of neutralizing antibody binding (15). Neutralizing antibody mapping and molecular modeling studies strongly support the functional relevance of these alterations (20, 34), that is confirmed by the fact that double-vaccinated individuals have no detectable neutralizing activity against SARS-CoV-2 Omicron BA.1 (25, 35).

In line with concurrently published reports (36, 37), we show that Omicron BA.1 breakthrough infection of BNT162b2 vaccinated individuals augments broadly neutralizing activity against Omicron BA.1, BA.2 and previous VOCs to similar levels observed against the Wuhan strain. However, neutralization of the latest Omicron sublineages BA.4 and BA.5 was not enhanced, with titers rather comparable to those against the phylogenetically more distant SARS-CoV-1. While our study focused on individuals vaccinated with the BNT162b2 mRNA vaccine, in individuals vaccinated with CoronaVac similar observations suggest that Omicron BA.4/5 can bypass BA.1 infection-mediated boosting of humoral immunity (33).

Our study provides insights into how immunity against multiple variants is achieved and why Omicron BA.4 and BA.5 sublineages can partially escape neutralization. It suggests that initial exposure to the Wuhan strain S glycoprotein may have shaped the formation of BMEM cells and imprinted against novel BMEM cell responses recognizing epitopes distinctive for the Omicron BA.1 variant. Omicron BA.1 breakthrough infection in BNT162b2-vaccinated individuals primarily expands a broad BMEM cell repertoire against conserved S glycoprotein and RBD epitopes, rather than inducing strictly Omicron BA.1-specific BMEM cells. Similar observations have been reported from vaccinated individuals who experienced breakthrough infections with the Delta variant and with the Omicron BA.1 sublineage (3, 33).

As compared to the immune response induced by a homologous vaccine booster, an Omicron BA.1 breakthrough infection leads to a more substantial increase in antibody neutralization titers against Omicron and a robust cross-neutralization of many SARS CoV-2 variants. These effects are particularly striking in double-vaccinated individuals.

Three findings may point to potentially complementary and synergistic underlying mechanisms. The first is induction of broadly neutralizing antibodies. We found that the majority of sera from Omicron BA.1-convalescent but not from Omicron-naïve vaccinated individuals robustly neutralize previous SARS-CoV-2 VOCs including BA.1 and BA.2, and to a far lesser extent also SARS-CoV-2 Omicron BA.4/5 and SARS-CoV-1. This indicates that Omicron BA.1 infection in vaccinated individuals stimulates BMEM cells that produce neutralizing antibodies against S glycoprotein epitopes conserved in the SARS-CoV-2 variants up to and including Omicron BA.2, but that have mostly been lost in BA.4/5 and are for the most part not shared by SARS-CoV-1. Over the last two years, broadly cross-neutralizing antibodies have been isolated from both SARS-CoV-2 and SARS-CoV-1 convalescent and/or vaccinated individuals (20, 27, 38) and are known to target highly conserved S glycoprotein domains (39, 40). The greater antigenic distance of the Omicron BA.1 S glycoprotein from earlier SARS-CoV-2 strains may promote targeting of conserved subdominant neutralizing epitopes as recently described to be located, e.g., in cryptic sites within the RBD distinct from the receptor-binding motif (41, 42) or in the membrane proximal S glycoprotein subunit designated S2 (43–45).

The second finding is a bias toward RBD-specific BMEM cell responses. Omicron BA.1-infected individuals appear to have a significantly higher RBD/S glycoprotein-specific BMEM cell ratio as compared to vaccinated Omicron-naïve individuals. Omicron BA.1 carries multiple S glycoprotein alterations such as del69/70 and del143-145 in key neutralizing antibody binding sites of the NTD that dramatically reduce the targeting surface for memory B cell responses in this region. Although the Omicron BA.1 RBD harbors multiple alterations, there are some unaffected neutralizing antibody binding sites left (20). An expansion of BMEM cells that produce neutralizing antibodies against RBD epitopes that are not altered in Omicron BA.1, such as those at position L452 as indicated in our study, could help to rapidly restore neutralization of the BA.1 and BA.2 variants. Importantly, the strong neutralization of Omicron BA.1 and BA.2 should not mask the fact that the neutralizing BMEM immune response in Omicron BA.1 convalescent vaccinated individuals is driven by a smaller number of epitopes. The significantly reduced neutralizing activity against the Omicron BA.4/5 pseudovirus, which harbors the additional alterations L452R and F486V in the RBD, demonstrates the mechanism of immune evasion by loss of the few remaining conserved epitopes. Meanwhile, further sublineages with L452 alterations (e.g., BA.2.12.1) are being reported to evade humoral immunity elicited by BA.1 breakthrough infection (33).

The third finding is an overall increase of S glycoprotein-specific BMEM cells. Omicron BA.1-convalescent double-vaccinated individuals appear to have a higher frequency of BMEM cells and higher neutralizing antibody titers against previous VOCs as compared to triple-vaccinated individuals. Studies on other VOCs have not shown breakthrough infections in double-vaccinated individuals to be superior to a third vaccine dose in eliciting neutralizing activity (4, 36). This may be explained by poor neutralization of the partial escape Omicron BA.1 variant in the initial phase of infection, which may result in greater or prolonged antigen exposure of the immune system to the altered S glycoprotein.

In aggregate, our results suggest that despite potential imprinting of the immune response by previous vaccination, the preformed B cell memory pool can be refocused and quantitatively remodeled by exposure to heterologous S glycoproteins to allow neutralization of variants that evade a previously established neutralizing antibody response. However, our data also suggest that the immunity in the early stage of Omicron BA.1 infection in vaccinated individuals is based on recognition of conserved epitopes and is narrowly focused on a small number of neutralizing sites that are not altered in Omicron BA.1 and BA.2. Such a narrow immune response bears a high risk that those few epitopes may be lost by acquisition of further alterations in the course of the ongoing evolution of Omicron and may result in immune escape, as being experienced with sublineages BA.2.12.1, BA.4 and BA.5 (33, 46). Importantly, Omicron BA.1 breakthrough infection does not appear to reduce the overall spectrum of (Wuhan) S glycoprotein-specific memory B cells, as memory B cells that do not recognize Omicron BA.1 S remain detectable in blood at similar frequencies. We consistently detected Wuhan-specific (non-Omicron BA.1 reactive) BMEM cells in Omicron BA.1 breakthrough infected individuals at levels similar to those in Omicron-naïve double-/triple-vaccinated individuals. Our data therefore suggest an increase of the total BMEM cell repertoire by selective amplification of BMEM cells that recognize shared epitopes.

Our findings raise a number of questions, e.g., to what extent induced BMEM responses are functional and directed against neutralizing domains. A recent study examined more than 600 neutralizing antibodies isolated from triple-CoronaVac vaccinated individuals who subsequently experienced BA.1 breakthrough infection. Consistent with our findings, the study showed that BA.1 infection in vaccinated individuals primarily retrieves Wuhan S glycoprotein-induced B cell memory and elicits cross-reactive neutralizing antibodies against RBD epitopes that neutralize both the ancestral SARS-CoV-2 Wuhan as well as the Omicron BA.1 variant (33). Also, it is not yet clear whether the BMEM cells against conserved epitopes that we observed after Omicron BA.1 breakthrough infection are newly recruited cross-reactive naïve B cells, or rather expanded from the pre-existent memory B cell pool. A recent study investigating a third vaccine booster suggests that both mechanisms are relevant (47). Further, we cannot exclude that strictly Omicron-BA.1 specific BMEM cells are in fact being efficiently generated but had just not been exported from the germinal center at the time point of our analysis. These questions can be addressed by comprehensive studies of the B cell repertoire at later time points (> 3months) after breakthrough infection, including BCR repertoire analysis by single cell Ig gene sequencing of antigen-specific BMEM cells, extended to the cloning, expression and characterization of monoclonal antibodies with regard to specificity, functional properties, and affinity.

Our findings are based on retrospective analyses of samples derived from different studies. Therefore, the sample sizes were relatively small and cohorts were not fully adjusted with regard to immunization intervals, sampling time points and demographic characteristics such as age and sex of individuals. Another limitation is that the analysis was restricted to BMEM cells; long-lived bone marrow-derived plasma cells (BMPCs), which are known to be BNT162b2 vaccination induced (48), were not investigated as they cannot be cryopreserved.

A key motivation for our study was to inform our vaccine adaptation program. We expect that the currently ongoing vaccine adaptations to the Omicron BA.1 S glycoprotein, similar to the Omicron BA.1 breakthrough infection that we studied, may reshape the B cell memory repertoire and provide broad protection against previous VOCs. However, given the rapid evolution of SARS-CoV-2, other sublineages of Omicron that antigenically deviate from BA.1 even more than the immune escape variants BA.4/5, may have emerged by the time of potential authorization of those vaccines later this year. In a pandemic in which a highly transmissible VOC feeds dynamic and rapid evolution of altered variants, an effective strategy may be to leverage the full potential of mRNA vaccine technology, which allows production and release of new vaccines in less than three months. To enable adapted vaccines that truly reflect relevant VOCs at licensure, it would be prudent to build on decades of experience with seasonal influenza vaccines and implement timely, rapid licensure procedures that use the latest epidemiologic data to

select COVID-19 vaccine strains.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

Study design

The objective of this study was to investigate the effect of Omicron BA.1 breakthrough infection on the cross-variant neutralization capacity of human sera, and how repeat SARS-CoV-2 antigen exposure modulates BMEM cell specificity in individuals vaccinated with BNT162b2. We compared immune responses in Omicron-naïve individuals double- or triple-vaccinated with BNT162b2, to that of individuals double- or triple-vaccinated with BNT162b2 with a confirmed subsequent breakthrough infection with Omicron during a period of Omicron sublineage BA.1 dominance. Serum neutralizing capability was characterized using live and pseudovirus neutralization assays, and flow cytometry was used to detect and characterize SARS-CoV-2-specific B cells in bulk PBMCs. Cross neutralization of variants was further characterized in a cohort vaccinated with other approved COVID-19 vaccines or mixed regimens, that experienced subsequent Omicron breakthrough infection. All participants had no documented history of SARS-CoV-2 infection prior to vaccination.

Recruitment of participants and sample collection

Individuals from the SARS-CoV-2 Omicron-naïve BNT162b2 double-vaccinated (BNT162b22) and triple-vaccinated (BNT162b23) cohorts provided informed consent as part of their participation in a clinical trial (the Phase 1/2 trial BNT162-01 [NCT04380701] (29), the Phase 2 rollover trial BNT162-14 [NCT04949490], or as part of the BNT162-17 [NCT05004181] trial).

Participants from the SARS-CoV-2 Omicron convalescent double- and triple-vaccinated cohorts (BNT162b22 + Omi and BNT162b23 + Omi cohorts, respectively) and individuals vaccinated with other approved COVID-19 vaccines or mixed regimens with subsequent Omicron breakthrough infection were recruited from University Hospital, Goethe University Frankfurt as part of a research program that recruited patients who had experienced Omicron breakthrough infection following vaccination for COVID-19, to provide blood samples and clinical data for research. Omicron infections were confirmed with variant-specific PCR between November 2021 and mid-January 2022, at a time when sublineage BA.1 was dominant (24). The infections of 7 participants in this study were further characterized by genome sequencing, 5 of whom were in the BNT162b2-vaccinated cohorts, and 2 in the cohort with participants vaccinated with other approved COVID-19 vaccines or mixed regimens. In all 7 cases, genome sequencing confirmed Omicron BA.1 infection.

Participants were free of symptoms at the time of blood collection. The study protocol for this research program was approved by the Ethics Board of the University Hospital, Goethe University Frankfurt (No. 2021-560). Demographic and clinical information for all participants as well as sampling timepoints are provided in Tables S1-S3 and S10, and Fig. 1. Serum was isolated by centrifugation 2000 × g for 10 min and cryopreserved until use. Li-Heparin blood samples were isolated by density gradient centrifugation using Ficoll-Paque PLUS (Cytiva) and were subsequently cryopreserved until use.

Statistical analysis

The statistical method of aggregation used for the analysis of antibody titers is the geometric mean and for the ratio of SARS-CoV-2 VOC titer and Wuhan titer the geometric mean and the corresponding 95% confidence interval. The use of the geometric mean accounts for the non-normal distribution of antibody titers, which span several orders of magnitude. The Friedman test with Dunn’s correction for multiple comparisons was used to conduct pairwise signed-rank tests of group geometric mean neutralizing antibody titers with a common control group. Flow cytometric frequencies were analyzed with and tables were exported from FlowJo software (Version 10.7.1.). Statistical analysis of cumulative memory B cell frequencies was the mean and standard error of the mean (SEM). Statistical significance was tested for using the nonparametric Friedman test with Dunn’s multiple comparisons correction. All statistical analyses were performed using GraphPad Prism software version 9.

The chili pepper (also chile pepper or chilli pepper, from Nahuatl chīlli [ˈt͡ʃiːlːi]) is the fruit of plants from the genus Capsicum, members of the nightshade family, Solanaceae. In Britain, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, India, Malaysia and other Asian countries, the word "pepper" is usually omitted.

The substances that give chili peppers their intensity when ingested or applied topically are capsaicin (8-methyl-N-vanillyl-6-nonenamide) and several related chemicals, collectively called capsaicinoids.

Chili peppers originated in the Americas. After the Columbian Exchange, many cultivars of chili pepper spread across the world, used in both food and medicine. Chilies were brought to Asia by Portuguese navigators during the 16th century.

India is the world's largest producer, consumer and exporter of chili peppers. Guntur in Andhra Pradesh produces 30% of all the chilies produced in India, and the state of Andhra Pradesh as a whole contributes 75% of India's chili exports.

HISTORY

Chili peppers have been a part of the human diet in the Americas since at least 7500 BC. The most recent research shows that chili peppers were domesticated more than 6000 years ago in Mexico, in the region that extends across southern Puebla and northern Oaxaca to southeastern Veracruz, and were one of the first self-pollinating crops cultivated in Mexico, Central and parts of South America.

Christopher Columbus was one of the first Europeans to encounter them (in the Caribbean), and called them "peppers" because they, like black and white pepper of the Piper genus known in Europe, have a spicy hot taste unlike other foodstuffs. Upon their introduction into Europe, chilis were grown as botanical curiosities in the gardens of Spanish and Portuguese monasteries. But the monks experimented with the chili culinary potential and discovered that their pungency offered a substitute for black peppercorns, which at the time were so costly that they were used as legal currency in some countries.

Chilies were cultivated around the globe after Columbus. Diego Álvarez Chanca, a physician on Columbus' second voyage to the West Indies in 1493, brought the first chili peppers to Spain and first wrote about their medicinal effects in 1494.

The spread of chili peppers to Asia was most likely a natural consequence of its introduction to Portuguese traders (Lisbon was a common port of call for Spanish ships sailing to and from the Americas) who, aware of its trade value, would have likely promoted its commerce in the Asian spice trade routes then dominated by Portuguese and Arab traders. Today chillies are an integral part of Indian cuisine.

There is a verifiable correlation between the chili pepper geographical dissemination and consumption in Asia and the presence of Portuguese traders, India and southeast Asia being obvious examples.

The chili pepper features heavily in the cuisine of the Goan region of India, which was the site of a Portuguese colony (e.g., vindaloo, an Indian interpretation of a Portuguese dish). Chili peppers journeyed from India, through Central Asia and Turkey, to Hungary, where they became the national spice in the form of paprika.

An alternate, although not so plausible account (no obvious correlation between its dissemination in Asia and Spanish presence or trade routes), defended mostly by Spanish historians, was that from Mexico, at the time a Spanish colony, chili peppers spread into their other colony the Philippines and from there to India, China, Indonesia. To Japan, it was brought by the Portuguese missionaries in 1542, and then later, it was brought to Korea.

INTENSITY

The substances that give chili peppers their intensity when ingested or applied topically are capsaicin (8-methyl-N-vanillyl-6-nonenamide) and several related chemicals, collectively called capsaicinoids. Capsaicin is also the primary component in pepper spray, a less-than-lethal weapon.

When consumed, capsaicinoids bind with pain receptors in the mouth and throat that are responsible for sensing heat. Once activated by the capsaicinoids, these receptors send a message to the brain that the person has consumed something hot. The brain responds to the burning sensation by raising the heart rate, increasing perspiration and release of endorphins. A 2008 study reports that capsaicin alters how the body's cells use energy produced by hydrolysis of ATP. In the normal hydrolysis the SERCA protein uses this energy to move calcium ions into the sarcoplasmic reticulum. When capsaicin is present, it alters the conformation of the SERCA, and thus reduces the ion movement; as a result the ATP energy (which would have been used to pump the ions) is instead released as thermal energy.

The "heat" of chili peppers was historically measured in Scoville heat units (SHU), which is a measure of the dilution of an amount of chili extract added to sugar syrup before its heat becomes undetectable to a panel of tasters; the more it has to be diluted to be undetectable, the more powerful the variety and therefore the higher the rating. The modern commonplace method for quantitative analysis of SHU rating uses high-performance liquid chromatography to directly measure the capsaicinoid content of a chili pepper variety. Pure capsaicin is a hydrophobic, colorless, odorless, and crystalline-to-waxy solid at room temperature, and measures 16,000,000 SHU.

NUTRITIONAL VALUE

Red chilies contain large amounts of vitamin C and small amounts of carotene (provitamin A). Yellow and especially green chilies (which are essentially unripe fruit) contain a considerably lower amount of both substances. In addition, peppers are a good source of most B vitamins, and vitamin B6 in particular. They are very high in potassium, magnesium, and iron. Their very high vitamin C content can also substantially increase the uptake of non-heme iron from other ingredients in a meal, such as beans and grains.

EVOLUTIONARY ADVANTAGES

Birds do not have the same sensitivity to capsaicin, because it targets a specific pain receptor in mammals. Chili peppers are eaten by birds living in the chili peppers' natural range. The seeds of the peppers are distributed by the birds that drop the seeds while eating the pods, and the seeds pass through the digestive tract unharmed. This relationship may have promoted the evolution of the protective capsaicin. Products based on this substance have been sold to treat the seeds in bird feeders to deter squirrels and other mammalian vermin without also deterring birds. Capsaicin is also a defense mechanism against microbial fungi that invade through punctures made in the outer skin by various insects.

Edited Spitzer Space Telescope image of the galaxy cluster Abell 1033 with interesting radio and x-rays. (The web site says the radio waves look like the USS Enterprise from Star Trek...) Optical image.

Image source: chandra.harvard.edu/photo/2018/a1033/

Original caption: Hidden in a distant galaxy cluster collision are wisps of gas resembling the starship Enterprise — an iconic spaceship from the "Star Trek" franchise.

Galaxy clusters — cosmic structures containing hundreds or even thousands of galaxies — are the largest objects in the Universe held together by gravity. Multi-million-degree gas fills the space in between the individual galaxies. The mass of the hot gas is about six times greater than that of all the galaxies combined. This superheated gas is invisible to optical telescopes, but shines brightly in X-rays, so an X-ray telescope like NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory is required to study it.

By combining X-rays with other types of light, such as radio waves, a more complete picture of these important cosmic objects can be obtained. A new composite image of the galaxy cluster Abell 1033, including X-rays from Chandra (purple) and radio emission from the Low-Frequency Array (LOFAR) network in the Netherlands (blue), does just that. Optical emission from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey is also shown. The galaxy cluster is located about 1.6 billion light years from Earth.

Using X-ray and radio data, scientists have determined that Abell 1033 is actually two galaxy clusters in the process of colliding. This extraordinarily energetic event, happening from the top to the bottom in the image, has produced turbulence and shock waves, similar to sonic booms produced by a plane moving faster than the speed of sound.

In Abell 1033, the collision has interacted with another energetic cosmic process — the production of jets of high-speed particles by matter spiraling into a supermassive black hole, in this case one located in a galaxy in one of the clusters. These jets are revealed by radio emission to the left and right sides of the image. The radio emission is produced by electrons spiraling around magnetic field lines, a process called synchrotron emission.

The electrons in the jets are traveling at very close to the speed of light. As the galaxy and its black hole moved toward the lower part of the image, the jet on the right slowed down as it crashed into hot gas in the other galaxy cluster. The jet on the left did not slow down because it encountered much less hot gas, giving a warped appearance for the jets, rather than the straight line that is typically seen.

This image of Abell 1033 also provides an example of "pareidolia", a psychological phenomenon where familiar shapes and patterns are seen in otherwise random data. In Abell 1033, the structures in the data create an uncanny resemblance to many of the depictions of the fictional Starship Enterprise from Star Trek.

In terms of astrophysical research, a detailed study of the image shows that the energy of the electrons in the "saucer section" and neck of the starship-shaped radio emission in Abell 1033 is higher than that found in the stardrive section towards the lower left (see labels). This suggests that the electrons have been reenergized, presumably when the jets interact with turbulence or shock waves in the hot gas. The energetic electrons producing the radio emission will normally lose substantial amounts of energy over tens to hundreds of millions of years as they radiate. The radio emission would then become undetectable. However, the vastly extended radio emission observed in Abell 1033, extending over about 500,000 light years, implies that energetic electrons are present in larger quantities and with higher energies than previously thought. One idea is that the electrons have been given a further boost in energy by extra bouts of shocks and turbulence.

Other sources of radio emission in the image besides the starship-shaped object are the shorter jets from another galaxy (labeled "short jets") and a "radio phoenix" consisting of a cloud of electrons that faded in radio emission but was then reenergized when shock waves compressed the cloud. This caused the cloud to once again shine at radio frequencies, as we reported back in 2015.

The team who made this study will use observations with Chandra and LOFAR to look for further examples of colliding galaxy clusters with warped radio emission, to further their understanding of these energetic objects.

A paper describing this result was published in the October 4th, 2017 issue of Science Advances and is available online. The authors of the paper are Francesco de Gasperin, Huib Intema, Timothy Shimwell (Leiden University, the Netherlands), Gianfranco Brunetti (Institute of Radio Astronomy, Italy), Marcus Bruggen (University of Hamburg, Germany), Torsten Enblin (Max Planck Institute for Astrophysics, Germany), Reinout van Weeren (Leiden), Annalisa Bonafede (Hamburg), and Huub Rottgering (Leiden).

NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama, manages the Chandra program for NASA's Science Mission Directorate in Washington. The Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory in Cambridge, Massachusetts, controls Chandra's science and flight operations.

"A highly accurate, undetectable, uninterceptable nuclear weapon."

Inspired by Moko.

For optimum coverage we wrapped this MP4-12C Spider with a full front clear bra alongside it's rocker panels. The full front clear bra eliminates seams while giving undetectable coverage. Wrapping rocker panels will also protect from the rocks and grit your wheels kick back onto the body of your vehicle. The rocker panel coverage we offer begins behind the front wheel well and extends along the bottom ridge of the door. It's termination line comes with the rear wheel well so that the entire lower portion of your car and door are protected.

Addison, Texas

Speed Shield

Clear Bra

Sexy long light layers of ready-to-wear hair fall below the shoulder with a Sheer Comfort Mono Top/Lace Front base design providing an undetectable hairline and a perfect fit. So comfortable you’ll forget you’re wearing a wig.

spellboundwigs.com/

Red star creations newest installment Iron Man stealth suit prototype "Ghost" Tony Stark with the help of Nick Fury and S.H.I.E.L.D technology have created a stealth version of the Iron Man suit. Using the same technology used on the Helicarrier the "Ghost" prototype is totally undetectable and invisable to the naked eye making the "Ghost" suit the ultimate stealth weapon. I would love to hear your opinions on my newest suit.

On Synchrolift in Kiel German submarine 2011/04/16

Type 212A submarine of the German Navy. They are powered by one diesel engine and an electric motor driven by 9 fuel cells and features a cavitationfree screw, making it virtually undetectable. Displacement: 1,450to. surfaced, 1,830to. submerged

L: 56.0 m B: 7.0 m Height: 11.5 m

Diesel with 1,050 kW / 9 fuel-cell-modules with tot. 306 kW / E-Engine with 1,700 kW

Spy Cheating Playing Cards store (9540045644) offers the best long distance cheating playing cards belt scanner device in Delhi to easily win games like blackjack, rummy, teen patti, flash, maang patta, cut patta and many more. This secret device works superfast and provides instant information of the card games.

Why Cheating Cards Belt Scanner Device?

1.Super Fast Card Scanning Speed

2.Completely Undetectable

3.Supports all popular card games

4.Easy to go anywhere without getting caught

5.Compatible to use with micro earpiece, vibrators and many more secret devices

For any details visit us at: www.spycheatingplayingcards.com/

Also buy cheating cards contact lens, cheating playing marked cards, cheating cards analyzers, poker cheating cards device and cheating cards mobile devices in Delhi

Using the Precision Ground MT5 Test Bar, I indicated to both the top and front side of the cylinder close to the chuck, rotated the spindle to check runout using the jog joystick and found runout error was undetectable - essentially zero as measured with 1/1000th resolution the dial indicators. I then checked it again with a 10ths test indicator and found about 0 0.0001" runout at the chuck end.

This is a Spy Camera that is neatly hidden in a smart looking wrist watch. It is accompanied by a wireless Receiver that records the video shot by the watch camera. It is the ultimate covert operations kit. The camera in the watch is so small that it's practically undetectable and looks absolutely normal. The strategic mounting of the camera results in the image being correctly orientated when the watch is upside down, for example when naturally resting your arm on a table.

The 4 channel receiver unit comes with a 2.5 inch LCD and the capability of monitoring 4 wireless cameras at a time.

This product uses the PAL color system.

MP4 Receiver Specifications

Channels Available: 4

Receiving Frequency: 2414MHz, 2432MHz, 2450MHz, 2468MHz

Demodulation Mode: FM

Antenna: 50ohm SMA

Channel Scan and Channel Skip for multiple Cameras

AV IN NTSC/PAL -auto, AV OUT will be same color system as camera.

SNR(Signal to Noise Ratio): 90dB

Memory: 64 MB

External Memory: SD Card (Up to 4 GB) for Recording and Playback, USB Flash for playback only(Up to 4GB)

Display: 882x228 2.5 Inch LCD

Video:

-Play Formats: MPEG 1, MPEG 4, AVI, ASF, ADPCM

-FPS (Frames per Second): 30fps

-Capture Format: MPEG 4 AVI

-Capture Resolution: 640x480 / 320x240

-Capture Compression Settings: Standard, Better, Best

Audio:

-Music Format: MPEG3

-Output of Earphone Jack: 20mW+20mW

-Output of Speaker: 1W

-Frequency Range: 20Hz to 20kHz

Picture Format: JPEG

Languages: English, Chinese

USB: 2.0

System: Windows 98SE/ME/2000/XP/Vista

Power Source: 5 Volts

Internal Battery: Li Ion 2500mAh

Dimensions: 119x260x69mm (LxWxD)

Camera Specifications

Image Device: 1/4 Inch CMOS Color Sensor

TV system: PAL:380x296

Horizontal Definition: PAL 240 TV Lines

Angular Field of View: 60 degrees

Minimum Illumination: 2.0 lux

Synchronization System: Internal

Backlight Compensation: Auto

White Balance: Auto

S/N Ratio of built in Microphone: 55dB

Operation Temperature:

Transmission Frequencies :2414MHz, 2432MHz, 2450MHz, 2468MHz

Power Source: 5 Volts

Internal Battery: 130 mAh (up to 40 minutes operating time)

Transmission Range: Up to 200feet Line of Sight (LOS)

Dimension: Watch Face 45mm diameter x 16mm deep

Manufacturer Ref.: FE845PZMTNAE

Other Features:

Built in Microphone

Multiple Charging Options

Working Watch with Quality Movement

Ultra Covert, Practically Undetectable

Accessories:

User Manuals

Earphones

USB Cords

Solar Power Brick / Charger with Cabling

Mains Power Adaptor

AV (stereo) out cord (3xRCA to 3.5mm plug)

www.spyforge.com/Spy-Camera-in-a-wrist-watch-with-a-wirel...