black plague treatment :: Article Creator Black Death Vaccine Being Developed Amid Fears The Disease Could Return And Kill Millions COVID jab scientists are developing a Black Death vaccine over fears the disease could re-emerge and kill millions. Researchers believe their inoculation will be the first approved in the UK for the ancient infection. 1 Covid jab scientists are developing a Black Death vaccineCredit: Getty The Black Death — also known as bubonic plague — has killed 200million people worldwide and medics fear a super-strength version may now appear. The team behind the Oxford AstraZeneca coronavirus vaccine said they had made progress on an injection that could prevent bubonic plague developing. A trial of their vaccine on 40 healthy adults, which started in 2021, shows it is safe and can produce an immune response to the often-fatal condition. Prof Sir Andrew Pollard, director of the Oxford Vaccine Group, said the t...
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“Warning over 116 apps which can take over Android phones 'like a virus' - Wales Online” plus 2 more
Another 116 potentially dangerous apps have been found on Android devices, prompting a warning to users to delete them as soon as possible.
Android is used on 2.5billion devices and a number of security companies have issued lists of apps you should avoid - or remove.
According to The Express , cybersecurity company White Ops has now identified 116 apps which it says are committing ad fraud on 4.6million devices.
The company has found a program it has codenamed Soraka, which allows apps to display adverts on your device - not just in the app while you are using it.
Full-screen adverts can take over your device at any time and lock you out for 20 seconds.
White Ops demonstrated the attack on an app called Best Fortune Explorer and identified more than 100 more apps capable of the same action.
The adware hides itself inside your device, making it difficult to dig out.
Speaking with Forbes , White Ops' John Laycock said: "Those hiding behaviours are significant. The fraudsters are getting smarter—they know this is now an arms race, they're trying to slow down analysis with these tactics. We're seeing these types of behaviours more and more."
Those who have downloaded Best Fortune Explorer have left critical reviews.
One said: "After installing, you get so many unnecessary ads. While writing this also, I got 4 ads. This is like a virus for your phone."
Another wrote: "Don't download it. You will just time pass. And main problem after download is you will get non-stop ads and ads." They added: "It is like a virus."
Best Fortune Explorer has amassed over 100,000 installs and has an average review rating of three stars.
According to Forbes, Google has been informed of the apps discovered by White Ops. However, it seems some of the 116 programmes remain on the Play Store.
White Ops urged Android fans to remove any of the apps in question if they have them installed and provided the package names for each.
I have been with my boyfriend for about two years. He is 37, and l am 49 (I divorced four years ago). I am so into this guy and enjoy our time together every day—he always makes me smile and makes me laugh most days. I feel very secure and happy with him when we're together. He is extremely good looking and has a smile and eyes that can light up a room, along with a very athletic strong body. He's very intelligent, street smart, a good provider, and takes me nice places all the time. We never have sex, but he will orally stimulate me and is so good at that. It's amazing sometimes.
It has taken me a while to figure out that he is gay. My friends actually pointed out things about him and said he might be gay. I started to put together the signs l was missing. Once l convinced myself that there were some strong signs, I asked him several times over the course of many, many months if he was gay. He always had joking answers, but he finally admitted it to me one night that, yes, he is secretly gay. I love this guy so much. He takes care of me financially, gives me a nice home to live in, and takes me nice places all the time. I find him extremely attractive, as many women do. He is just so good looking and a joy to be with.
I am lost in emotions, but so, so in love. He now says we're a good couple together and that I am the perfect cover girlfriend for him. But I'm not sure where our future is, what my place is, and he has no answer for that. We never have any sex anymore and never really did. When we first started dating, he could never maintain an erection and was standoffish. Now I know why. l have to almost beg him to go down on me. He tells me to just use my vibrator. I am very scared to leave him because I love him so much. I fear that someday he will find a man to have a relationship with and finally come out of the closet. Sometimes, l wish he would just come out of the closet, but then my selfish self doesn't want to encourage him to do that. I am not sure what to do.
—Beard
Dear Beard,
Well, if there's one thing that's clear about this guy it's that he knows how to treat his beard—he's slathering you in the lifestyle equivalent of Pasha de Cartier Edition Noire Scented Oil.
While I am willing to take you at your word that your love for a self-proclaimed gay man makes the idea of leaving him so troubling, your financial dependence on him complicates the situation greatly. It is, in fact, inextricable from your love and fear. Would love alone be enough to keep you in this relationship? Be honest with yourself: You're scared to leave him not just because you love him but also because it would shatter your lifestyle, right?
I hate to pop your condom, but you cannot assure safety. You can only attemptit.
I'm all about people making their own way. The stock life trajectories prized in our culture (heterosexual relationships that yield 1.9 children, etc.) I think are often adopted because they feel like safer bets, and not necessarily because people are innately inclined to walk in those straight lines. Because your situation so deviates from many of the values that are supposed to underpin the unions of life partners, this ostensibly hetero arrangement between a gay man and a (I'm presuming straight or fairly close to it) woman is, in a funny way, pretty damn queer. And I support pretty-damn-queerness implicitly.
Of course, there's a but. What I don't like about the relationship you describe is the blatant disparity in power due to not only the financial setup but also what you represent to each other. To him, you're the "perfect cover girlfriend." He sees you as a "good" couple presumably because that is how he figures you appear from the outside. To you, he is a partner; to him, you are a decoy. How could that ever sustain itself? And besides, what is he—the reincarnation of Tab Hunter? Why does he need a cover girlfriend, anyway?
I also can't condone your sexual dynamic. Now that he has come out to you, he has no real impetus to improve your shared sex life. Having to nearly beg for oral sex that is only occasionally amazing is as good as it's going to get for you if you stay. You could open the relationship, I suppose but, sigh, that will probably further complicate a situation that already demands mental gymnastics. You're not sure what to do, but it seems pretty clear that by staying with a gay guy, you're settling. You have to ask yourself if it's really worth it to you.
Coming to your inbox in January.
Dear How to Do It,
After three passionate, wonderful years, my girlfriend and I have started seriously talking about bringing another man into our bedroom for the experience and to satisfy a fantasy of ours for the first time. This is more for her, and we are very secure and safe in our relationship and comfortable in pursuing this. Our concern is that she's very nervous about getting any STDs, and obviously I share that concern. We want to do this safely and anonymously. How can we assure our safety? What steps should we take to make her comfortable? It may be a one-time thing or regular if we're comfortable with that one guy. Is there a particular sex act that we should avoid altogether? She's not 100 percent convinced that condoms are the solution, so is there something else we should be using? Thank you in advance for your guidance on this.
—Safe Mode
Dear Safe Mode,
I hate to pop your condom, but you cannot assure safety. You can only attempt it. HPV is transmittable via skin contact (and nearly all sexually active adults reportedly contract the virus at some point in their lives). Herpes, also transmittable skin-to-skin, is more common than blue eyes. Then there's the bacterial stuff: Your gonorrhea, your chlamydia, etc. They're all highly contagious, including via oral sex, so if you're super worried about those kinds of invaders, condoms and dental dams should be used. Going on PrEP for a single encounter is a bit much, but should you feel worried about HIV transmission after the fact (say a condom breaks or—dramatic gasp—you neglect to use one), know that you can go to a doctor for PEP (post-exposure prophylaxis), in which antiretrovirals are administered for 28 days to prevent HIV transmission after potential exposure. (It's crucial that this cycle is started within 72 hours of the potential exposure.)
Anal sex tends to be more associated with transmission risk because of how delicate anal tissue is. Meta-analyses have suggested that receptive anal sex carries 18 times the risk of HIV transmission that receptive vaginal sex does. I can't bring myself to advise against anal (it's too good!), but if you're superparanoid, there you go. I also think you should just be less paranoid about STDs, period. Get vaccinated for HPV. Relax about herpes, which became a "sexual boogeyman," according to an article that ran on this very site this year, as a result of overzealous reporting. Get tested after your encounter to ensure you don't have a bacterial infection that could lead to complications if untreated. And have fun: Life is worth living, and sex is worth having.
Dear How to Do It,
I'm a late-30s, recently divorced man with children. I've lived a pretty vanilla, hetero sex life. With my newfound singlehood, I'd like that to change, but complications ensue. I have a strong attraction to pre-op trans women that I've suppressed for years. Unfortunately, pre-op trans women are a terribly small segment of the population where I live, and I have no idea how to discreetly find my way into this community. However, in the near future, I'll be heading to New York for a work engagement. There's a thriving trans community there, but I have concerns about how a straight-laced, office-dwelling visitor to this community will be accepted. Sex workers are an option, but I'd like more than just a physical experience, and from my research, this type of date (drinks, dinner, nightcap) seems a bit out of my price range. With that said, how can I better engage the sparse but extant trans community where I live, and what tips do you have for finding a willing participant while in New York?
—Trans Tourist
Dear TT,
Many geolocation apps that for years were posited as spaces for men interested in having sex with men have, in recent years, expanded to include a visible trans/chaser demographic. Grindr is one of them. I am not at all suggesting that you give that security-breaching company your money, but if you do, a paid account will yield more precise filtering options. You could also try advertising on Doublelist's Straight for Gay board, which, despite its name, tends to be populated with self-identified straight guys looking for trans women. (There's also a Gay for Straight board if you want to try the other way, though that tends to have a lot of cisgender posters.)
I'm not quite sure what your desired sweet spot is here; it seems like you want a bit more than just sex but not quite the tasting menu that a sex worker might require. Nonetheless, you seem more inclined toward the casual type of encounter, so let me remind you not to be a dick. Plenty of trans people are looking for casual sex as well, and in a forum devoted to finding one, such as a hookup app, objectification is the name of the game for many regardless of identity. But know that there is a noted tendency of straight guys to regard trans women as only sex objects. Sensitivity and conscious humanity are crucial here. I've given you two very clear pathways to the kinds of connections you're looking for; do me a solid and behave yourself in these pursuits. Don't leave my city more messed up than how you found it. Thanks in advance.
Dear How to Do It,
I've been dating a great guy for a couple of months. We have great chemistry, and he's extremely affectionate in bed. The only problem is that he can't seem to hold an erection at night, so we've been having almost exclusively morning sex since we started hooking up. And even though the sex is great for me (I am one of the lucky women who orgasms at the drop of a hat), I'm not sure he's actually finishing. We've been together long enough that I want to address this, but not long enough that I know how he'll react if I do. Any ideas on solution-oriented approaches?
—Morning Person
Dear Morning Person,
Lead with the positives—highlight everything that you did in your letter. Tell him that sex is great for you, you appreciate how affectionate he is, he makes you come consistently. Then ask him what he thinks about your sex. Perhaps he'll reveal whatever issues he's experiencing then and there. If he doesn't, ask him if there's anything that can be improved. His issue could be standard erectile dysfunction stuff—causes vary but treatments (like meds) are pretty reliable. Or maybe he has a fetish that he has not told you about. Maybe there's something he wants in bed but doesn't feel he's had the opportunity to ask for. Obviously, he knows something is up—he's attached to that finicky dick of his, and he's tried to circumvent its issues by scheduling morning sex. You're not unreasonable for wanting to discuss the elephant in the room that you've both named and gazed into the eyes of while thinking, "My, what a complex creature!," and he'd be unreasonable to interpret you as such. But be willing to accept what he says, and keep the door open for him to reveal more at a later date. He might have a really hard time reaching orgasm to the point of not even wanting to bother. If he's happy to continue the sex that you've been having and you're coming at the drop of a hat, I don't see much of a reason to start changing things. Enjoy.
—Rich
More How to Do It
My girlfriend and I had our first threesome a few nights ago. She felt most comfortable trying it out with a guy first, and I was fine with that. We found a man on an app. I was nervous, but it was actually just comfortable and fun. Then things took a turn about halfway through—he was watching her go down on me, and I got really, really hard, and he asked if he could join her. In the moment, we just kind of went with it, and I came shortly after, possibly harder than I ever have. It was great—except now I feel like I've learned something about myself that I don't really know how to process. Is it just that it was hot in the moment? Or could I be bicurious and not know it?
The past year has been great for stocks across the board, but that's made it awfully hard to find reliable dividend-paying stocks that offer satisfactory yields. The average dividend yield for stocks in the S&P 500 index has dwindled to just 1.8% at the moment, but there are still a few big pharmaceutical companies with shares that yield more than twice the benchmark average.
Above-average yields come with above-average risks, but there are reasons to suspect these big pharma stocks are worth it. Let's poke around under the hood to see if these three could keep their payouts rising at a steady clip in the years ahead.
Company (Symbol)
Dividend Yield
Cash Dividend Payout Ratio
AbbVie(NYSE: ABBV)
5.3%
48%
Pfizer(NYSE: PFE)
3.9%
74%
Gilead Sciences(NASDAQ: GILD)
3.8%
39%
Data source: Yahoo! Finance.
1. Gilead Sciences: Making a comeback
Fierce competition from AbbVie for patients with hepatitis C virus (HCV) has been a disaster for Gilead Sciences in recent years, but the pain is nearly over. Now that the company leans on its HCV segment for just 12% of total revenue, soaring sales of HIV drugs are returning the company's top line to growth. During the first nine months of 2019, HIV sales rose 12% year over year to $11.9 billion, and over the same period, total product sales rose 2%.
Although a 2% annual growth rate isn't exciting, we can reasonably expect Gilead's dividend payout to continue rising at a satisfactory pace. The company's cash dividend payout ratio, or its dividend payout as a percentage of free cash flow, is just 39% at the moment. That leaves plenty of room for significant increases above the pace of top-line growth.
In December, the company submitted applications for filgotinib, a potential new rheumatoid arthritis tablet developed in partnership with Galapagos(NASDAQ: GLPG) that could generate peak annual sales between $4 billion and $6 billion, depending on whom you ask.
Less than two years following its launch, Biktarvy has become the most prescribed HIV regimen in the U.S., and it's probably going to retain this title for the foreseeable future. Recently, Gilead's only big competitor in the HIV space, a joint venture between GlaxoSmithKline and Pfizer called ViiV, received a complete response letter instead of approval from the FDA for a monthly injection.
Image source: Getty Images.
2. Pfizer: Big changes ahead
For years, Pfizer has been moving post-exclusivity brands to the operating segment known as Upjohn. In mid-2020, Pfizer will merge Upjohn with Mylan(NASDAQ: MYL), creating a new company called Viatris.
Pfizer shareholders will own 57% of Viatris, and the Pfizer that remains will be a smaller operation strongly focused on the development of innovative new drugs. According to Pfizer, combined dividends from Viatris and the Pfizer that remains should be equal to the dividend Pfizer shareholders receive ahead of the merger.
Distributions from both companies will most likely rise at a steady clip, although the Pfizer that remains will probably grow at a much faster pace than Viatris. Post-merger, Pfizer will still sport annual operating cash flow between $11 billion and $12 billion thanks to a stable of drugs with 10-figure sales that are still growing by leaps and bounds.
During the first nine months of 2019, Eliquis, Ibrance, and Xeljanz added a combined $8.4 billion to Pfizer's top line. That's 25% more than the previous-year period, and there's a slate of potential new drugs with blockbuster potential right around the corner, including a next-generation pneumonia vaccine, a gene therapy for hemophilia, and an experimental tablet for eczema.
Image source: Getty Images.
3. AbbVie: A glutton for punishment
At the moment, AbbVie's essentially the innovation-focused pharmaceutical company that Pfizer wants to become, but it won't stay that way much longer. In early 2020, AbbVie will acquire Allergan(NYSE: AGN) in a $63 billion cash and stock transaction.
AbbVie's lead product, Humira, has lost market exclusivity in the EU, and in 2023 the rheumatoid arthritis drug will face similar pressure in the U.S. market. Humira sales reached $14.4 billion in the first nine months of 2019, which worked out to 59% of net revenue, but adding Allergan's products to AbbVie's lineup should reduce that figure to around 40% of total revenue based on 2019 sales forecasts.
Allergan's a strange acquisition target for a company worried about losing exclusivity for its largest revenue stream. Botox earned its first approval 30 years ago, and it's responsible for 40% of Allergan's top line. Botox already faces some competition from another injectable botulinum toxin, called Myobloc, that the FDA approved in 2000.
Cyclosporine, the active ingredient in Allergan's second most important revenue stream, Restasis, is even older than Botox. Earlier this year, Sun Pharma launched another cyclosporine solution called Cequa, and more competition isn't far behind.
Image source: Getty Images.
Two out of three ain't bad
While dividends from Pfizer and Gilead Sciences will probably continue rising for the foreseeable future, it's probably best to ignore the higher yield that AbbVie offers at the moment. While AbbVie's ability to drag out U.S. exclusivity for Humira has been impressive, betting on the continued growth of Restasis and Botox looks like a terrible idea.
10 stocks we like better than Pfizer When investing geniuses David and Tom Gardner have a stock tip, it can pay to listen. After all, the newsletter they have run for over a decade, Motley Fool Stock Advisor, has tripled the market.*
David and Tom just revealed what they believe are the 10 best stocks for investors to buy right now... and Pfizer wasn't one of them! That's right -- they think these 10 stocks are even better buys.
Cory Renauer owns shares of Gilead Sciences. The Motley Fool owns shares of and recommends Gilead Sciences. The Motley Fool recommends Mylan. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.
The views and opinions expressed herein are the views and opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Nasdaq, Inc.
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — An outbreak of the highly pathogenic avian influenza virus in poultry in 2014-15 resulted in the destruction of more than 50 million chickens and turkeys in the U.S., causing billions of dollars in economic loss. This animal disease outbreak — the worst in U.S. history — is one example of how devastating a foreign animal disease can be to animal agriculture and the country's economy. The resurgence of avian influenza in multiple states, including Pennsylvania, is once again bringing the importance of preventing animal diseases to the forefront, noted Suresh Kuchipudi, clinical professor of microbiology in Penn State's College of Agricultural Sciences. Exploring the emergence, spread and control of animal infectious diseases such as avian influenza was the focus of the inaugural Emerging Animal Infectious Disease Conference held Nov. 29-Dec.1, 2021, at Penn State. It was hosted by the College of Agricultural Sciences, the Pennsylvania Department of A...
dented can botulism :: Article Creator Three Canadians Sickened In France's Botulism Outbreak Are From Quebec: PHAC The Public Health Agency of Canada has confirmed that the three Canadians who fell ill in a botulism outbreak in France are from Quebec. They're among at least 12 people who have suspected botulism after eating sardines prepared and served at Tchin Tchin Wine Bar in Bordeaux, France. The food was eaten between Sept. 4 and Sept. 10. The Associated Press has reported that some patients have been released from hospital, but most of them are in intensive care or critical condition. Canada's public health agency says it cannot divulge the condition of the patients from Quebec because it is considered private health information. Other tourists from the U.S., Ireland, Germany and Spain were among those sickened. One patient, who was not from Canada, has died. France's public health agency is leading the investigation...
“Live Coronavirus Map Used to Spread Malware - Krebs on Security” plus 1 more Live Coronavirus Map Used to Spread Malware - Krebs on Security Posted: 12 Mar 2020 05:12 PM PDT Cybercriminals constantly latch on to news items that captivate the public's attention, but usually they do so by sensationalizing the topic or spreading misinformation about it. Recently, however, cybercrooks have started disseminating real-time, accurate information about global infection rates tied to the Coronavirus/COVID-19 pandemic in a bid to infect computers with malicious software. A recent snapshot of the Johns Hopkins Coronavirus data map, available at coronavirus.jhu.edu. In one scheme, an interactive dashboard of Coronavirus infections and deaths produced by Johns Hopkins University is being used in malicious Web sites (and possibly spam emails) to spread password-stealing malware. Late last month, a member of several Russian language ...
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