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Crews are making some progress on area blazes - Lewiston Morning Tribune

The country is in the grip of a serious economic crisis which has had a severe impact on the human rights of all communities.

This has sparked demands for deeper reforms and accountability, giving the authorities a fresh opportunity to steer a new way forward, said the report, which calls for holding a national dialogue to advance human rights and reconciliation.

However, for sustainable improvements to take place, recognizing and addressing underlying factors that have contributed to the crisis will be vital. These include impunity for past and present human rights violations, economic crimes and endemic corruption.

Fundamental changes will be required to address the current challenges and to avoid repetition of the human rights violations of the past, said the report.

It calls for immediate action from the Government, which is urged to end reliance on draconian security laws and crackdowns on peaceful protests, and to reverse the drift towards militarisation.

Officials also should show renewed commitment to, and deliver on, security sector reform and ending impunity.

While the security forces recently have shown considerable restraint in response to mass protests, the report noted that the Government has taken a harder line by arresting some student leaders under the Prevention of Terrorism Act and violently suppressing peaceful demonstrations.

Additionally, a heavily militarized environment and culture of surveillance also continues in the north and east of the country.

The UN human rights office urged the new Government to re-launch what it called a comprehensive and victim-centred strategy on transitional justice and accountability.

The strategy should contain a time-bound plan to implement outstanding commitments, including taking steps towards the establishment of a credible truth-seeking mechanism and an ad hoc special court.

Victims also must be given a central role in the design and implementation of all accountability and transitional justice mechanisms.

The report also made note of the lack of progress towards establishing the truth about the Easter Sunday bombings in 2019, in which more than 200 people were killed in a series of explosions at churches and hotels.

The human rights office called for a follow-up independent and transparent investigation, with international assistance and the full participation of victims and their representatives.

The Sri Lankan State, including through successive governments, has consistently failed to pursue an effective transitional justice process to hold perpetrators of gross human rights violations and abuses accountable and uphold victims rights to truth, justice and reparations, the report stated.

Rather, they have created political obstacles to accountability, and actively promoted and incorporated some military officials credibly implicated in alleged war crimes into the highest levels of government.

In the absence of progress towards accountability at the national level, the report urged other countries to cooperate in accountability efforts, including by using available avenues of extraterritorial and universal jurisdiction, to investigate and prosecute crimes under international law committed in Sri Lanka.

Countries should also explore further measures targeting persons who are credibly alleged to have been responsible for gross violations and abuses of international human rights law, or serious violations of international humanitarian law.

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Sri Lanka: New Government urged to make progress on accountability, institutional reforms - UN News

Though a mosaic of purple, green, orange, blue and black acrylic paints has dried, a collaborative art piece installed in the lobby of the Duke Office of Information Technologys administrative offices serves as a reminder that the work to foster diversity is not complete.

About 40 Duke community members cheered Aug. 29 as a covering on the art came down to reveal a colorful 4-by-6-foot logo for DiversifyIT representing unity in IT. DiversifyIT, a staff-led community working toward awareness and support for all identities in IT at Duke, organized the project, and the art will be located on the first floor of the Power House Building on Fuller Street in Durham.

"I call this mural A Work in Progress because I believed that knowing, bonding and connecting are far from over, said J. Brandon Johnson, an IT analyst in Academic Media Services and the DiversifyIT Communications Committee Chair. The threads that divide us continue to loom ever present and the challenges that face us in addressing them are as complicated as they are insidiously pervasive. Now that this torch that exemplified our empathy is lit, it will illuminate and inspire all who witness it."

Johnson created the original digital DiversifyIT logo using Photoshop and Adobe Illustrator in 2020. About 53 IT professionals from across Duke contributed to the painting project, which depicts the silhouettes of a variety of people representing diversity in IT.

Johnson pitched the idea for the art to the DiversifyIT leadership team last year as an effort to build community. It was organized to mimic the fun of making childhood art as kids, which Johnson called the purest form of connection.

"DiversifyIT is where IT professionals at Duke make it possible to bring our whole selves to work," said Laura Webb, co-chair of DiversifyIT and project manager in OIT. "Creating this art display together has shown us one more way that people want to come together to have conversations that allow us to learn how to do that. There is no one right way to find those connections, but what does matter is bringing all our individual pieces seeing each piece, making room for each piece, valuing each piece."

During in-person events, attendees were encouraged to pick up a paint brush and add their own creativity to the work, even if only for a few minutes, while talking and spending time in community with colleagues.

The installation ceremony on Aug. 29 was attended by community members across campus, including Vice President and Chief Information Officer Tracy Futhey and Executive Vice President Daniel Ennis.

Futhey and Ennis each mentioned being struck by the dedication of the DiversityIT group to help support diversity, equity and inclusion on campus.

DiversifyIT is just a spectacular organic effort to help build community and to create a sense of belonging for anyone from any background, any walk of life, Ennis said. Its just added enormous impact, and if I could take what theyve generated and all the energy,momentum and goodwill theyve generated and replicate it across other departments, I would do it in a heartbeat.

Information technology is a field historically dominated by white men. According to Zippia, 25 percent of tech jobs in the United States are held by women; Black Americans hold 7 percent of jobs in the U.S. tech sector.

The work of DiversifyIT, which has 337members at Duke, improves the inclusivity and visibility of diversity in IT on campus. The art will be a symbol of diversity and their work.

When I first heard about DiversiftyIT, I thought it was a great way to create a conversation," said AdamTo,Sr. Cloud Security Engineer in OIT. "A conversation can help create new awareness, understanding, and perspective, leading to collaboration and changes. This mural represents the start of that conversation.

Send story ideas, shout-outs and photographs throughour story idea formor writeworking@duke.edu.

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Art Piece: A Reminder That Diversity is 'A Work in Progress' - Duke Today

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Sept 7 (Reuters) - U.S. firms reported economic activity was unchanged in July through late August, with further softening expected over the next year even as they saw some tentative greenshoots in the ongoing battle against labor shortages and price pressures, a Federal Reserve report showed on Wednesday.

The U.S. central bank released its latest summary of feedback from business contacts nationwide as it mulls whether to proceed with a third straight 75-basis-point interest rate hike at its Sept. 20-21 policy meeting or go with a still larger-than-usual 50-basis-point rise in its bid to quash high inflation.

"Overall labor market conditions remained tight, although nearly all Districts highlighted some improvement in labor availability," the Fed said in its survey, known as the "Beige Book," which was conducted across its 12 districts through Aug. 29. "Price levels remained highly elevated, but nine Districts reported some degree of moderation in their rate of increase."

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Fed Vice Chair Lael Brainard earlier on Wednesday said the central bank would maintain tight monetary policy "for as long as it takes" to get inflation down but did not address the upcoming policy meeting. read more

Fed Chair Jerome Powell is scheduled to speak at 9:10 a.m. EDT (1310 GMT) on Thursday. A much-anticipated monthly measure of inflation is due on Sept. 13.

The Fed has raised interest rates by 225 basis points since March as it lifts its benchmark overnight interest rate to a level consistent with dampening demand across the economy enough to alleviate price pressures and bring inflation back down to its 2% goal.

Those moves are filtering through to expectations for the year ahead. "The outlook for future economic growth remained generally weak, with contacts noting expectations for further softening of demand over the next six to twelve months," the Fed's report said.

Inflation has been running at 40-year highs and more than three times the Fed's target. While there are some positive signs that supply chain issues are improving and tight labor market conditions loosening, policymakers remain fearful higher inflation expectations could become entrenched among businesses and consumers.

They have also flagged rising risks that the aggressive series of rate hikes needed to bring inflation down may cause a recession.

In the Fed's Chicago district, those jitters were apparent, with "many" contacts expressing concerns about the potential for a recession, while one staffing firm in the Philadelphia Fed's district reported a slowdown in orders "approaching levels consistent with prior recessions."

U.S. employers hired more workers than expected in August, the Labor Department reported on Friday in its closely-watched monthly jobs report, but moderate wage growth and a rise in the unemployment rate also suggested labor shortages may be easing. read more

Elsewhere in the Beige Book, the Fed's stated aim of cooling inflation without causing a sharp spike in unemployment still appeared possible.

"Generally softer economic conditions and slight relief from supply disruptions appeared to alleviate some inflationary pressures," the Cleveland Fed district said. "Though still high, both the share of contacts reporting higher input costs and the share reporting higher selling prices dipped to their lowest levels in more than a year."

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Reporting by Lindsay Dunsmuir; Editing by Paul Simao

Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

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U.S. firms see tentative progress on inflation and labor supply, Fed says - Reuters

The slow pace of rezoning is dragging out construction in New York, a new report finds. | Torbakhopper

Rezoning proposals often get the most attention once they reach the roughly seven-month public review process that culminates in a City Council vote. But navigating the entire decision-making regime takes significantly longer than that and sets New York apart from several peer cities that approve land use proposals on a much shorter timeline, according to a new Citizens Budget Commission report.

The median discretionary land use application filed in New York between 2014 and 2017 took 2.5 years to obtain final approvals, with pre-certification and environmental review taking up the majority of that time, CBC found. The citys approval process was two to three times as long as the process in cities with similar requirements like Boston and Los Angeles, and it was behind only infamously development-averse San Francisco.

Making necessary zoning changes has become increasingly difficult due to a lengthy and unpredictable process that makes it more expensive to build and is ultimately slowing down growth, CBC argues.

Too often, the land use decision-making process through which the city reviews and approves changes has been an impediment to progress, restricting the citys ability to spur job growth, develop housing, and become more resilient and sustainable, the report says. This is one reason why New York produces less housing per capita than most other large cities, even those with more onerous planning and public review processes.

The report proposes a series of fixes, including changes at the state and city level that would make the environmental review process less time consuming. CBC also floats mechanisms that would make the political aspects of the land use process like the Councils member deference practice easier to navigate and predict.

ITS TUESDAY. Welcome to POLITICO New York Real Estate and Infrastructure. Please send tips, ideas, calendar items, releases, promotions, criticisms and corrections to [emailprotected] and [emailprotected].

NUMBER OF THE DAY: 3.4 million square feet the amount of office space leased in August, the most since January 2020, according to Colliers.

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CONGESTION PRICING FACES PUSHBACK POLITICOs Danielle Muoio Dunn: Some of the worlds biggest cities keep turning to a simple tool to cut traffic, reduce emissions and raise much-needed revenue: Tolls. From Stockholm to Singapore, taxing urban drivers is en vogue and working. Parochial politics have prevented cities like San Francisco and Los Angeles from instituting so-called congestion pricing. Now, those same concerns are vexing its implementation in the core of the nations biggest city. It does not matter that Democratic Gov. Kathy Hochul is fully behind the plan, just as her predecessor was. It does not matter that the state no longer has to worry about Donald Trump, whose administration stalled the approval process. What matters is the bipartisan pushback shes getting at home and across the Hudson River in New Jersey.

A Staten Island congresswoman fears the citys most far-flung and car-dependent borough would shoulder much of the cost. A Bronx congressman says the plan would burden low-income communities with more truck traffic and pollution. And New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy feels so strongly that hes issued an escalating series of threats, even saying he could halt the operation through a key bi-state agency. Its not going to happen, Murphy has said of the plan. If we have to, weve got options, which I dont want to use, but we can use through the Port Authority.

STATE PROPOSES NEW RENT REG RULES Crains Natalie Sachmechi: The state Division of Housing and Community Renewal on Wednesday proposed additional amendments to rent-stabilization laws that would make it more difficult for landlords to deregulate units by combining them into larger, Frankenstein apartments. Before the state passed the 2019 tenant-protection laws, landlords could deregulate units or raise rents in several ways including by vacating apartments or pushing rents past the dollar threshold for regulation. The laws, which were designed to curtail the hiking of costs for stabilized units, did not specify exactly how much rents could go up if two or more apartments were combined, leaving a loophole for landlords to jack up prices if they created new, larger units.

ARSENIC FOUND IN WATER AT NYCHA The Citys Greg B. Smith: The federal monitor overseeing NYCHA has ordered the agencys management not to destroy any documentation related to the discovery of arsenic in the water at a Lower East Side housing development and to preserve all related records going forward. Federal Monitor Bart Schwartz on Saturday opened an investigation into NYCHAs actions before tests the authority received Thursday registered levels of arsenic in the tap water at Riis higher than the federal standard for drinking water. Tests ordered up by NYCHA in August declared the water at Riis drinkable, but did not include checking for arsenic. For reasons not yet clear, NYCHA then hired a new vendor for a retest and this time the results detected arsenic.

TIP ME: Something going on readers should know about? Have a tip or a story idea? Email us at [emailprotected] and [emailprotected].

MADISON AVE SHOWS SIGNS OF RETAIL REBOUND New York Posts Steve Cuozzo: The health of the citys shopping districts varies from neighborhood to neighborhood and even block to block. Although Soho, Fifth Avenue, 34th Street and Williamsburgs Bedford Avenue are just as important as upper Madison Avenue, its glamorous Madison that draws the most attention as a bellwether of the citys retail destiny. A new report from the Madison Avenue Business Improvement District, which extends from East 57th to East 86th Street and some side streets, presents a rosy picture. The survey released by BID president Matthew Bauer cites six stores that opened this summer and 24 hotel, stores, restaurants, galleries and clubs in the pipeline.

FUTURE OF OUTDOOR DINING New York Times Dodai Stewart: ...More than two years after the necessities of the pandemic ushered in a new era of outdoor dining in New York City, what seemed to be a once-in-a-generation chance to change the streetscape has reached a pivotal moment. What was once temporary is becoming permanent: restaurant seating both on sidewalks and in the roadways by the curb. In mid-August, Mayor Eric Adams announced that while abandoned dining sheds would be destroyed, outdoor dining was here to stay. But as the summer winds down, the city faces decisions about what having dinner outside will look like going forward a debate that raises larger questions about how New York should use its precious public space, and whose needs it should serve.

The Gateway Tunnel project wont be rehabilitated until 2038 and is expected to cost $16.1 billion, making it behind schedule and more expensive than initially anticipated.

The city has done little to fortify basement apartments since Hurricane Ida, according to a new report by city Comptroller Brad Lander.

Lawmakers are reviving a push to kill broker fees.

Mayor Eric Adams defended social services commissioner Gary Jenkins, despite an investigation into an alleged cover-up of shelter violations.

One of the worlds biggest sovereign-wealth funds is betting on suburban office space becoming more popular amid remote work.

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CBC calls rezoning process an 'impediment to progress' - POLITICO

BLAIRSVILLE River Valley football Jess Houser saw more to like Friday night than he had in the Panthers first two Heritage Conference football games of the 2022 season.

Its not to say he was satisfied with what he saw. Its kind of hard to make such an assertion after a 35-14 loss to Cambria Heights at Ernie Widmar Field at Memorial Stadium. The Panthers played well enough in the first half; however, to stay in the game with the rugged Highlanders (2-1) and create a feeling that the team is making progress.

Our offensive line was actually getting a push in the first half, Houser said. The defensive line was getting a push. We were able to run the ball and execute.

The Panthers rushed for 108 yards in the first half. Seventy-eight of those yards came in a first-quarter touchdown run by Sam Yanits that tied the score at 7. Yanits run followed an 11-yard scoring run by Tanner Trybus, who led all rushers with 145 yards.

In the second half it was just big plays, Cambria Heights coach Jarrod Lewis said. On the first touchdown, we had them shut down and we lost back-side contain.

When we get in trouble defensively, we dont keep gap integrity. So (we need to) improve that.

Trybus opened the second-quarter scoring with a well-thrown 21-yard touchdown pass by Ty Stockley. Joseph Snedden followed with a 50-yard touchdown strike by Stockley to pad the Cambria Heights lead to 21-7.

It was just missed communication, Houser said. The guy didnt pick up the right coverage. We have to work on that this week in practice.

Stockley completed 3 of 5 passes in the first half for 104 yards.

We try to go with what teams give us. And we thought we liked some of our matchups in the passing game. And we tried to take advantage of them tonight, Lewis said.

Quentin Witmer drew the Panthers (0-3) within a touchdown with a 4-yard scoring run. River Valley had a chance to tie the score before halftime, but the possession stalled, and the Highlanders took a 21-14 lead into the break.

Houser did not sense any despair even after that stalled drive.

The kids were still up. We figured if we get a turnover, wed get right back in this, he said. But we have to be able to shut them down in the second half. We have to be fired up and ready to go.

Touchdown runs by Stockley (3 yards) and Trybus (5 yards) put Cambria Heights back in full command.

I was pleased with our offensive line in the first half, Houser said. In the second half, we didnt get onto the second level. We have to work on our tight ends blocking.

Cambria Heights limited the Panthers to 37 rushing yards in the second while it re-established its own ground game.

In the second half, we came out flat. I dont know whats going on with these guys, Houser said. Thats two weeks in a row were down a touchdown at halftime, and we came out flat. Weve got to start putting a full game together.

In the second half we just went back to playing Cambria Heights smash-mouth football, Lewis said. I was proud of the way we came out in the second half. We came out in the second half, we needed score; we did that. We needed a stop, and we needed that.

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Panthers make progress but don't get win - Indiana Gazette

This Angels season has had its fair share of injury misery.

In the middle of that misery were the injuries to Anthony Rendon (wrist) and Archie Bradley (elbow) that were bizarre in nature and/or how they happened.

The teams athletic trainer, Mike Frostad, has expressed optimism over the return of at least Bradley, but both have made progress in their rehab.

Rendon partially dislocated a tendon in his right wrist, a discomfort he felt during his third at-bat of a game May 8. He had surgery to repair the issue at the end of June, which had an estimated recovery time of four to six months.

Recently, he was cleared to add throwing across the field and hitting in the batting cages to his routine.

Hes doing a lot of things on the field that we werent sure he was gonna get to at this point, interim manager Phil Nevin said of Rendon.

Rendon is expected to return for spring training in 2023.

Bradley fractured his elbow falling over the dugout railing while trying to get to the Angels brawl with the Seattle Mariners on June 26.

The team was unsure about his timeline to recover and whether he would return to pitch this season. His recovery required a minimum of four weeks of no throwing.

More than two months since getting injured, Bradley is scheduled to throw off a mound in a bullpen session Wednesday.

He will be evaluated again to see how he feels after that session. There is still no set timeline for his return.

Angels Mike Trout runs the bases after hitting a home run during the first inning against the Detroit Tigers at Angel Stadium on Tuesday.

(Ashley Landis / Associated Press)

Nevin knows best the limited impact a solo home run can have in a game. After all, he did watch as his Angels hit seven of them on the way to an August loss to the Oakland Athletics.

On Tuesday against the Detroit Tigers, solo home runs gave the Angels a promising lead they were able to carry through most of the game. The Tigers tied the score in the eighth inning, with the score remaining tied into the 10th. Then Magneuris Sierra hit a walk-off bunt for a 5-4 victory, the Angels 60th win of the season.

I feel more than happy, Sierra said of getting to celebrate his walk-off bunt with his teammates. A new experience I got to live tonight.

Mike Trout picked up where he left off in Mondays game against the Tigers in his first at-bat Tuesday.

In the first inning, with no one on and one out, Trout launched the first pitch delivered to him by Tigers starter Eduardo Rodriguez and parked it by the hedges behind the center-field wall.

It was his 31st home run of the season and his third straight game in which hes hit a home run. The shot also further proved just how good Trout said hes been feeling since returning from a back injury on Aug. 19.

Just getting good pitches and hitting. Putting good swings on them, Trout said of his consecutive home runs. Starting to get some timing back, still missing some pitches.

Since his return, hes hit seven home runs and has logged a hit in 13 of 17 games.

Its definitely a lot more fun when youre winning, he continued of his home run.

Tuesdays home run party also included the third time the Angels have hit them back to back. Mike Ford and Jo Adell hit solo home runs in the second.

Anytime your big guys get off to a jump like that it kind of shoots energy through the whole dugout, Nevin said of the games early home runs.

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Bradley, Rendon continue to progress as Angels rally over Tigers - Los Angeles Times

This is the daily notebook of Mike Santoli, CNBC's senior markets commentator, with ideas about trends, stocks and market statistics. An oversold U.S. market is trying to come to grips with three days of challenging but not wholly surprising macro headlines, leaving the indexes whippy around the 3,900 level of the S & P 500 . European energy scarcity/runaway power costs are mostly manifest in depleted global-growth expectations and an unrelenting (so far) surge in the dollar. But oil/gas prices are sort of selling the news and the macro message does little to undermine the idea of relative U.S. economic resilience set by Friday's jobs numbers and today's ISM services gauge. The key short-term task for the tape is to respond to some significant oversold conditions (very low percentage of stocks above a 10-day average, etc.) after three straight down weeks and a 1.5% afternoon drop on Friday. The S & P 500 has spent very little time under 3,900 (or over 4,200) the past four months, with the dive toward 3,600 representing peak stagflation panic and the ramp to 4,300 into mid-August animated by a powerful oversold rally and some "Federal Reserve pivot" expectations taking hold. The "don't overthink it" take on the market remains a cautious one: Stocks are in a well-defined downtrend. They failed exactly at the declining 200-day average. The Fed is tightening into a slowdown (or worse) and might go until something ruptures. The European Central Bank is hiking into a recession. September is historically ungenerous. Further, if you think Fed balance sheet reduction is a real-world threat (vs. my take that it's largely irrelevant), it accelerates this month. Against this, we have a market that already at the lows has undergone the typical damage of a nonrecessionary or mild-recession bear market. Valuations have returned toward roughly neutral levels. Only housing is unequivocally in contraction mode. We saw some pretty encouraging/reliable breadth/momentum signals fire off the June lows and sentiment/positioning remain quite pessimistic/defensive. Treasury yields are still rising and restraining equity risk sentiment: The 2-year note is back up to 3.5% and the 10-year near 3.34%. Stocks haven't been able to make much progress in years with a 3%+ 10-year: It rose back above there in mid-August as S & P rolled over. Not an ironclad relationship, but with fragile growth and a strident-sounding Fed this will restrain valuations all else equal. The consumer price index release next week will come when the Fed is in a speaker blackout period, so the market will have to sort out whether it tilts the September hike toward 50 or 75 basis points (or other). I still think either of those moves along with a sense that it's the last large hike and maybe a pause is in sight should be fairly unthreatening to stocks. The steadfast bears such as Mike Wilson of Morgan Stanley are vociferous in calling for earnings forecasts to drop hard in coming months, ushering in another flush lower for stocks. It's hard to prove it won't happen, though decent top-line trends and the ballast of steadier-earning megacaps make it less likely index profits collapse without much notice. It is true, though, that valuations are merely neutral (15x forward excluding the five largest S & P 500 index weights) and that's only if profit forecasts hold up. Those calling for a break of the June lows are clustering around 3,300-3,500 (prepandemic highs) as a target. The Sept. 2, 2020, preelection peak of 3,580 is also interesting if we again begin to approach the June lows (which isn't a forgone conclusion). It's worth keeping in mind that even bad bear markets have tended not to spend all that much time at the ultimate lows one of the things that makes tactically positioning for a "final flush" difficult. Market breadth today is soft but not dramatically weak. Credit markets are holding up pretty well. VIX up small, in the 26s, uneasy but not a rush for protection. Lots of single-stock put buying last week based on aggregate volumes, so this is another "oversold" indicator that suggests it's a pretty hedged-up market prone to quick bounces.

A trader works on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) in New York City, August 29, 2022.

Brendan McDermid | Reuters

This is the daily notebook of Mike Santoli, CNBC's senior markets commentator, with ideas about trends, stocks and market statistics.

Continued here:

Don't expect the S&P 500 to make much progress with rates this high - CNBC

An aerial photograph taken on May 21, 2020 shows the statue of the Archangel Michael at the top of ... [+] the abbey in Le Mont-Saint-Michel, in Normandy, northwestern France, during the sunrise. (Photo by Damien MEYER / AFP) (Photo by DAMIEN MEYER/AFP via Getty Images)

This is part of a continuing series describing antiviral antibodies to prevent and treat SARS-CoV-2 infections. In this series, we will discuss the fundamental nature of virus evolution, how SARS-CoV-2 has mutated to evade neutralizing antibodies, and our latest attempts to fight against these mutations with more recent and improved antibody candidates.

SARS-CoV-2 variants that evade the immune system are characteristic of the Covid-19 pandemic. As novel SARS-CoV-2 variants develop new mutations, their evasion from existing treatments and vaccines continues to increase. Antibodies from vaccines wane after a few months, antibodies from previous infections are often ineffective, and monoclonal antibody therapies that worked against earlier variants struggle against current variants. The current state of the pandemic has sparked a search for monoclonal antibodies that neutralize not one but all variants to counter these new variants.

In this series, we have discussed several pan-variant monoclonal antibodies, all of which show promise against current Omicron variants and previous variants of concern, such as Alpha, Beta, and Delta. Here we analyze two new antibodies described in a study by Fenwick et al. that target a conserved site in SARS-CoV-2 variants.

Antibody Discovery

Collecting sera samples from over 100 donors of varying vaccine and infection status, Fenwick and colleagues focused their search on the sera of a post-infected donor who had received a full dose of Moderna mRNA vaccine, yielding six monoclonal antibodies for cloning and testing.

The six clones were introduced to a binding assay against a panel of SARS-CoV-2 variants to whittle further the field, including the original Wuhan Spike, Alpha, Beta, Gamma, and Delta. Two antibodies, P2G3 and P5C3, outperformed the five others and became the focal point of examination for Fenwick and colleagues moving forward.

Neutralization Comparison to Existing mAb Therapies

Currently available monoclonal antibody treatments, such as the AstraZeneca cocktail (cilgavimab + tixagevimab), the Regeneron cocktail (casirivimab + imdevimab), and Sotrovimab, are not effective against the Omicron family of variants, including BA.1, BA.2, BA.5, and BA.2.75, with the possible exception of bebtelovimab and sotrovimab against BA.2.75.

Not only does the P2G3 antibody bind and neutralize the Wuhan, Alpha, Beta, and Delta variants to a greater degree than any of the above-listed monoclonal treatments. It also wholly neutralizes live Omicron BA.1 and BA.2 virus. Both alone and in combination with P5C3, the P2G3 antibodys IC50 values consistently remain under .025 g/ml.

FIGURE 1: Heat map showing IC50 and IC80 neutralization potencies for the indicated mAbs in the live ... [+] virus.

Notably, Fenwick and colleagues did not include neutralization data for the currently circulating BA.5 or BA.2.75 variants. However, they suggest that the novel mutations in those viruses would likely not impact neutralizing activity. Regardless, a further examination should be taken to confirm that hypothesis.

Antibody-Dependent Cellular Cytotoxicity and Antibody-Dependent Cellular Phagocytosis

The researchers next examined the antibodies for antibody-dependent cellular cytotoxicity (ADCC) and phagocytosis (ADCP). Both function to clear infected cells from the host. ADCC is the enabling of host immune cells to kill virus-infected cells, whereas ADCP is the enabling of host immune macrophages to absorb and kill infected cells.

They found that P2G3-mediated ADCC was more robust than any other monoclonal antibody tested, including the other cloned antibodies and the AstraZeneca and Regeneron cocktails. For ADCP, Fenwick and colleagues found greater activity in the P2G3 + P5C3 combination rather than in isolation, adding a significant data point in favor of the tandem.

Live Animal Studies

To examine the use of P2G3 as both a prophylactic and therapeutic in live hosts, Fenwick and colleagues administered the antibody to both hamster and macaque models. In hamsters, the antibody was administered two days before infection with the Wuhan virus. After four days of infection, only one of six infected hamsters had detectable infectious virus in the lungs, which was a massive four-log reduction from the control group.

In the macaques, the P2G3 antibody was administered 72 hours before infection with the BA.1 virus. The researchers found that peak viral load in the treated macaques was roughly half that of the control group, suggesting P2G3 maintains therapeutic efficacy even against later Omicron viruses.

FIGURE 2: (A) Overview of study design for the SARS-CoV-2 NHP challenge model. (B) Tracheal swabs ... [+] (left), nasopharyngeal swabs (middle), and bronchoalveolar lavages (BAL, right) performed during the course of the study were evaluated for viral copies per ml of gRNA.

Binding Epitope

P2G3 and P5C3 fall into the antibody group that binds the receptor-binding domain, many of which we have described in this series.

FIGURE 3: Cryo-EM composite density map of the full-length Omicron spike bound to one P5C3 and three ... [+] P2G3 Fab fragments. Spike protomers are colored in green, orange, and blue, P5C3 Fabs in dark and light orange, and P2G3 in black and grey.

Using the widely adopted method of cryo-electron microscopy, Fenwick and co. found the exact binding epitope of the antibodies. The two antibodies in conjunction interact with residues 344-347 and 440-451 for a total of 16 receptor-binding domain contact points. According to the GISAID sequence database, these residues are highly conserved, aside from three notable exceptions, all commonly found in the major versions of the Omicron family. However, as the neutralization assays demonstrate, these mutations clearly do not impede Omicron neutralization.

TABLE 1: Antibody epitope residue mutations in the GISAID database as of 9/2/2022.

The Fenwick antibodies share many overlapping residues with antibodies we have previously described in this series. Most notably, the Luo and Wang antibodies. All three are viable receptor-binding domain targeting antibodies that would prove vital to combination therapy in tandem with fusion domain and S2 targeting antibodies.

FIGURE 4: Venn diagram comparing the amino acid footprint of the Fenwick antibodies, the Wang ... [+] antibody, and the Luo antibody.

The researchers also make a note of P2G3s angle of attack. Many monoclonal antibodies are structured such that they can only bind at certain angles to the receptor-binding domain when it is in a specific conformation, whether up or down. This includes the Regeneron cocktail REGN10987, which can only bind to the up-RBD. In contrast, P2G3 can bind in either conformation from a different angle, giving the antibody more flexibility and potentially one catalyst behind its broad neutralization.

FIGURE 5: Fab binding angle of attack to the RBD is defined as the line connecting the centroid of ... [+] the Fab to the centroid of the surface area of the RBD that the Fabs bury. The angle of attack of P2G3 is compared to that of other class 3 antibodies, viewed from multiple angles. RBD is in green, and Omicron mutations are in yellow.

Conclusion

While this antibody lacks data on the latest versions of Omicron sweeping the world, its binding and neutralization speak for themselves. It shares many binding residues with antibodies that we know are effective against the latest variants and outcompetes many commercially available monoclonal therapies. Add this antibody to the growing list of weapons we can use to combat the everpresent SARS-CoV-2 virus as Omicron continues to infect, mutate, and spread.

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Progress In The Search For Broadly Neutralizing Monoclonal Antibodies VII - Forbes

The September World Agricultural Supply and Demand Estimates report is likely to be the last time USDA updates its production and usage estimates before most corn and soybean growers in the U.S. take to the fields for harvest and begin to execute sales and deliveries for their 2022/23 marketing plans.

So while this months report is not likely to have significant supply adjustments, it will still provide important fundamental information that will influence cash market dynamics in the coming weeks that are critical to farmers this time of year.

Here is a roundup of what market activity I will be watching for in Mondays reports. As always, follow us at FarmFutures.com and @FarmFutures for the latest report highlights and analysis. USDA releases the WASDE and Crop Production reports at 11am CDT on Monday, Sept. 12. Follow along for all the top insights!

On Tuesday, USDA announced that the National Agricultural Statistics Service will review and potentially update 2022 acreage estimates based on Farm Service Agency and Risk Management Agency data.

Translation: NASS will update corn and soybean acreages in next weeks WASDE and Crop Production reports based on Prevent Plant acreage and crop insurance info reported to FSA and RMA earlier this year.

This is not typically standard practice NASS usually waits until the FSA and RMA have finalized their data and issues revisions in the October Crop Production and WASDE reports. However, a NASS statement released on Tuesday indicated that the data are sufficiently complete this year to consider adjustments in September.

Analysts have scrambled over the last couple days to revise their pre-report 2022 U.S. production estimates to account for potential acreage shifts, with all of the trade forecasts just being released last night, with only two business days remaining until USDA releases the September 2022 WASDE and Crop Production report.

So far, it appears that the market is expecting slightly lower corn and soybean acres in Mondays report with heavier corn acreage losses based on the latest Prevent Plant findings announced from USDAs Farm Service Agency a couple weeks ago. At 3.1 million acres of acres filed for prevent plant for corn, unplanted acreage increased four times from last year. For soybeans, prevent plant acreage doubled from a year ago to just shy of a million acres (987,231 ac.).

USDA-NASS did not resurvey for yields and crop production in August, so there is not likely to be any significant changes to yields in Mondays report. NASS will likely resurvey farmers to collect that data this month, so expect yield updates in the October 2022 Crop Production and WASDE reports.

Even with the 2021/22 marketing year for corn and soybeans in the books, there are likely to be a few final revisions to usage categories over the next two WASDE reports due to the normal lags in the data collection process USDA experiences in its course of creating these forecasts.

Mondays report will likely see both corn and soybean stocks widen, based on current trade estimates. Those cutbacks could come from flat corn ethanol production in August as well as slower corn export paces this summer as the dollar soared to new 20-year highs.

For soybeans, it seems most likely that slow export paces over the past couple months will likely result in downward usage (upward ending supply) revisions in Mondays report. Marketing year to date crush rates through July 2022 remained 3% higher than the same time last year, with signs of accelerating production in July as the unseasonal export uptick slowed.

We are barely two weeks into the 2022/23 marketing year for corn and soybeans, so it may still be too early to tell what kind of usage revisions USDA may have in store in Mondays report. The trade appeared hesitant to make significant changes to soybean stocks, though it is expecting cuts to corn stocks.

Thats a neutral to bearish outlook for soybean prices on Monday and a bullish forecast for corn. Smaller corn acreage could play a role in this outlook, though with yields struggling across the Northern Hemisphere this summer, it seems likely that USDA will increase export forecasts in Mondays report.

The trade is anticipating USDA will increase wheat stocks by an average of 8 million bushels on Monday. The bearish outlook means that USDA is likely to make cuts to wheat stocks. Stronger than expected flour milling data released at the beginning of August suggests that cuts to wheat consumption are likely to come from either livestock or export usage.

Northern Hemisphere crop shortfalls due to excessive dryness this summer are likely to tighten corn supplies in Mondays WASDE report. Thats a bullish omen for corn prices, though any price action will likely be dependent upon USDAs revisions to 2022/23 U.S. supplies and usage.

Even with expected production losses in Argentina due to recent frost damage and drought stress, wheat supplies are expected to grow in Mondays WASDE reports, which suggests bearish price action could be in order for the wheat market.

Wheat harvest is on the downward spiral in the Northern Hemisphere, so much of Mondays movement will likely occur in the imports and exports section of the balance sheet. Top exporter Russia has been struggling to keep pace with the European Union and Ukraines exports as buyer remain wary of economic sanctions that continue to keep freight, insurance, and financing costs high for Russian wheat shipments.

For soybeans, all eyes will be on USDAs adjustments to Chinas soybean import for the 2022/23 season. This is where the bears could start to creep into the soybean complex, so it will be worth watching.

USDAs Foreign Agricultural Service attach in Beijing publishing an updated outlook yesterday, noting that slowing global economic forces are likely to constrict growth prospects for Chinas soybean industry in the coming year. Chinas livestock production forecasts are also expected to take a hit on tight producer-level margins amid consumer price responsiveness and stiff production competition.

"China's slowing economy and COVID-related restrictions continue to weaken demand for oilseeds for feed and food use, the report stated. Weak demand for vegetable oil in the food service sector and soybean meal in the swine and poultry sectors, the report also noted.

Plus, a devastating heat wave across south-central China this summer will likely eat into final yields, even though most of the countrys crop in the northern part of the country was spared from heat destruction.

The USDA post now expects China will harvest 665 million bushels of soybeans this fall, down from USDAs current estimate of 676 million bushels. The attachs report forecasts Chinas 2022/23 soybean imports 2% (55M bu.) lower to 3.5 billion bushels.

The oilseed market will need some bullish news to keep a floor under prices. Top global edible oil importer, India, could offset some of Chinas lower demand as a recent FAS attach report estimates that imports are likely to pick up momentum in the coming months following monsoon delays.

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Acreage shakeup expected in September 2022 WASDE - Farm Progress