Ultrafast high-temperature method shaves hours off conventional furnace processing and sintering of precursors

Scientists test various kinds of cloth for their ability to filter aerosols

Gymnastics: Italian Lodadio cultivates his garden to stay fit

Free-electron lasers (FELs) based on superconducting accelerator technology and storage ring facilities operate with bunch repetition rates in the MHz range, and the need arises for bunch-by-bunch electron and photon diagnostics. For photon-pulse-resolved measurements of spectral distributions, fast one-dimensional profile monitors are required. The linear array detector KALYPSO (KArlsruhe Linear arraY detector for MHz-rePetition rate SpectrOscopy) has been developed for electron bunch or photon pulse synchronous read-out with frame rates of up to 2.7 MHz. At the FLASH facility at DESY, a current version of KALYPSO with 256 pixels has been installed at a grating spectrometer as online diagnostics to monitor the pulse-resolved spectra of the high-repetition-rate FEL pulses. Application-specific front-end electronics based on MicroTCA standard have been developed for data acquisition and processing. Continuous data read-out with low latency in the microsecond range enables the integration into fast feedback applications. In this paper, pulse-resolved FEL spectra recorded at 1.0 MHz repetition rate for various operation conditions at FLASH are presented, and the first application of an adaptive feedback for accelerator control based on photon beam diagnostics is demonstrated.

Collecting back-scattered X-rays from vacuum windows using a pinhole X-ray camera provides an efficient and reliable method of measuring the beam shape and position of the white synchrotron beam. In this paper, measurements are presented that were conducted at ESRF beamline ID6 which uses an in-vacuum cryogenically cooled permanent-magnet undulator (CPMU18) and a traditional U32 undulator as its radiation sources, allowing tests to be performed at very high power density levels that were adjusted by changing the gap of the undulators. These measurements show that it is possible to record beam shape and beam position using a simple geometry without having to place any further items in the beam path. With this simple test setup it was possible to record the beam position with a root-mean-square noise figure of 150 nm.

Earth's North Magnetic Pole Keeps Drifting towards Siberia, Latest World Magnetic Model Shows | Geophysics, Geoscience  Sci-News.com

Total scattering measurements enable understanding of the structural disorder in crystalline materials by Fourier transformation of the total structure factor, S(Q), where Q is the magnitude of the scattering vector. In this work, the direct calculation of total scattering from a crystalline structural model is proposed. To calculate the total scattering intensity, a suitable Q-broadening function for the diffraction profile is needed because the intensity and the width depend on the optical parameters of the diffraction apparatus, such as the X-ray energy resolution and divergence, and the intrinsic parameters. X-ray total scattering measurements for CeO2 powder were performed at beamline BL04B2 of the SPring-8 synchrotron radiation facility in Japan for comparison with the calculated S(Q) under various optical conditions. The evaluated Q-broadening function was comparable to the full width at half-maximum of the Bragg peaks in the experimental total scattering pattern. The proposed calculation method correctly accounts for parameters with Q dependence such as the atomic form factor and resolution function, enables estimation of the total scattering factor, and facilitates determination of the reduced pair distribution function for both crystalline and amorphous materials.

In this work, two methods of high-resolution X-ray data refinement: multipole refinement (MM) and Hirshfeld atom refinement (HAR) – together with X-ray wavefunction refinement (XWR) – are applied to investigate the refinement of positions and anisotropic thermal motion of hydrogen atoms, experiment-based reconstruction of electron density, refinement of anharmonic thermal vibrations, as well as the effects of excluding the weakest reflections in the refinement. The study is based on X-ray data sets of varying quality collected for the crystals of four quinoline derivatives with Cl, Br, I atoms and the -S-Ph group as substituents. Energetic investigations are performed, comprising the calculation of the energy of intermolecular interactions, cohesive and geometrical relaxation energy. The results obtained for experimentally derived structures are verified against the values calculated for structures optimized using dispersion-corrected periodic density functional theory. For the high-quality data sets (the Cl and -S-Ph compounds), both MM and XWR could be successfully used to refine the atomic displacement parameters and the positions of hydrogen atoms; however, the bond lengths obtained with XWR were more precise and closer to the theoretical values. In the application to the more challenging data sets (the Br and I compounds), only XWR enabled free refinement of hydrogen atom geometrical parameters, nevertheless, the results clearly showed poor data quality. For both refinement methods, the energy values (intermolecular interactions, cohesive and relaxation) calculated for the experimental structures were in similar agreement with the values associated with the optimized structures – the most significant divergences were observed when experimental geometries were biased by poor data quality. XWR was found to be more robust in avoiding incorrect distortions of the reconstructed electron density as a result of data quality issues. Based on the problem of anharmonic thermal motion refinement, this study reveals that for the most correct interpretation of the obtained results, it is necessary to use the complete data set, including the weak reflections in order to draw conclusions.

Model building into experimental maps is a key element of structural biology, but can be both time consuming and error prone for low-resolution maps. Here we present Namdinator, an easy-to-use tool that enables the user to run a molecular dynamics flexible fitting simulation followed by real-space refinement in an automated manner through a pipeline system. Namdinator will modify an atomic model to fit within cryo-EM or crystallography density maps, and can be used advantageously for both the initial fitting of models, and for a geometrical optimization step to correct outliers, clashes and other model problems. We have benchmarked Namdinator against 39 deposited cryo-EM models and maps, and observe model improvements in 34 of these cases (87%). Clashes between atoms were reduced, and the model-to-map fit and overall model geometry were improved, in several cases substantially. We show that Namdinator is able to model large-scale conformational changes compared to the starting model. Namdinator is a fast and easy tool for structural model builders at all skill levels. Namdinator is available as a web service (https://namdinator.au.dk), or it can be run locally as a command-line tool.

This study explores the possibility of measuring the dynamics of proteins in solution using X-ray photon correlation spectroscopy (XPCS) at nearly diffraction-limited storage rings (DLSRs). We calculate the signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) of XPCS experiments from a concentrated lysozyme solution at the length scale of the hydrodynamic radius of the protein molecule. We take into account limitations given by the critical X-ray dose and find expressions for the SNR as a function of beam size, sample-to-detector distance and photon energy. Specifically, we show that the combined increase in coherent flux and coherence lengths at the DLSR PETRA IV yields an increase in SNR of more than one order of magnitude. The resulting SNR values indicate that XPCS experiments of biological macromolecules on nanometre length scales will become feasible with the advent of a new generation of synchrotron sources. Our findings provide valuable input for the design and construction of future XPCS beamlines at DLSRs.

The preferred orientation growth characteristics and surface roughness of polycrystalline bis­muth (Bi) thin films fabricated on glass substrates using the molecular beam epitaxy method were investigated at temperatures ranging from 18 to 150°C. The crystallization and morphology were analyzed in detail and the polycrystalline metal film structure-zone model (SZM) was modified to fit the polycrystalline Bi thin film. The boundary temperature between Zone T and Zone II in the SZM shifted to higher temperatures with the increase in film thickness or the decrease of growth rate. Furthermore, the effect of the thickness and surface roughness on the transport properties was investigated, especially for Bi thin films in Zone II. A two-transport channels model was adopted to reveal the influence of the film thickness on the competition between the metallic surface states and the semiconducting bulk states, which is consistent with the results of Bi single-crystal films. Therefore, the polycrystalline Bi thin films are expected to replace the single-crystal films in the application of spintronic devices.

This study describes a method to estimate the likelihood of success in determining a macromolecular structure by X-ray crystallography and experimental single-wavelength anomalous dispersion (SAD) or multiple-wavelength anomalous dispersion (MAD) phasing based on initial data-processing statistics and sample crystal properties. Such a predictive tool can rapidly assess the usefulness of data and guide the collection of an optimal data set. The increase in data rates from modern macromolecular crystallography beamlines, together with a demand from users for real-time feedback, has led to pressure on computational resources and a need for smarter data handling. Statistical and machine-learning methods have been applied to construct a classifier that displays 95% accuracy for training and testing data sets compiled from 440 solved structures. Applying this classifier to new data achieved 79% accuracy. These scores already provide clear guidance as to the effective use of computing resources and offer a starting point for a personalized data-collection assistant.

Solute carriers are a large class of transporters that play key roles in normal and disease physiology. Among the solute carriers, heteromeric amino-acid transporters (HATs) are unique in their quaternary structure. LAT1–CD98hc, a HAT, transports essential amino acids and drugs across the blood–brain barrier and into cancer cells. It is therefore an important target both biologically and therapeutically. During the course of this work, cryo-EM structures of LAT1–CD98hc in the inward-facing conformation and in either the substrate-bound or apo states were reported to 3.3–3.5 Å resolution [Yan et al. (2019), Nature (London), 568, 127–130]. Here, these structures are analyzed together with our lower resolution cryo-EM structure, and multibody 3D auto-refinement against single-particle cryo-EM data was used to characterize the dynamics of the interaction of CD98hc and LAT1. It is shown that the CD98hc ectodomain and the LAT1 extracellular surface share no substantial interface. This allows the CD98hc ectodomain to have a high degree of movement within the extracellular space. The functional implications of these aspects are discussed together with the structure determination.

A calculation procedure for X-ray total scattering and the pair distribution function from a crystalline structural model is presented. It allows one to easily and precisely deal with diffraction-angle-dependent parameters such as the atomic form factor and the resolution of the optics.

When NASA’s Solar Probe Plus launches before the end of the decade, it will carry a suite of cutting-edge scientific instruments. Only one–the Solar Wind Electrons Alphas and Protons Investigation (SWEAP)–will directly sample the Sun’s outer atmosphere.

The post Center for Astrophysics will play major role in mission to “touch” the Sun appeared first on Smithsonian Insider.

"Physics for the 21st Century," a free, on-line course developed at the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics about current research in physics is now available.

The post Free, online course in physics offered by the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics appeared first on Smithsonian Insider.

The Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics has been selected by the National Science Foundation as the recipient of a 12-meter (39-foot) radio antenna designed for submillimeter-wavelength astronomy. The ALMA Vertex Prototype Antenna was one of three antennas built as prototypes for the Atacama Large Millimeter Array, a 66-dish radio observatory currently being constructed in Chile.

The post Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics to own and operate ALMA Vertex Prototype Antenna appeared first on Smithsonian Insider.

Ecologists at the Smithsonian Environmental Research Center measure the growth rate of sedge grass in a brackish Chesapeake Bay marsh. Fed a diet rich in […]

The post SERC sedge grass experiment mimics predicted global-change scenario appeared first on Smithsonian Insider.

Humanity's most complex ground-based astronomy observatory, the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA), has officially opened for astronomers at its 16,500-foot high desert plateau in northern Chile.

The post Center for Astrophysics project gets first look through new ALMA telescope appeared first on Smithsonian Insider.

Reptiles that live near and feed upon amphibians in the tropics may be spreading the deadly amphibian disease Chytridiomycosis (caused by the chytrid fungus Batrachochytrium dedrobatidis), holding and transporting reservoirs of the fungus on their skin.

The post Reptiles may be spreading deadly amphibian disease in the tropics appeared first on Smithsonian Insider.

In June, Odile Madden, materials scientist at the Smithsonian’s Museum Conservation Institute, was a participant on a 6-day interdisciplinary expedition to a number of beaches […]

The post Q&A: Plastics expert Odile Madden on plastic debris in Alaskan waters appeared first on Smithsonian Insider.

Tucked in the shadow of the towering Skylab exhibit at the Smithsonian’s National Air and Space Museum, there’s an inferno raging. Lucky for all of […]

The post Video from Solar Dynamics Observatory wows museum visitors appeared first on Smithsonian Insider.

One of Earth’s most evolutionarily unique species is also the world’s most trafficked mammal: pangolins, or “scaly anteaters.” A new study from the Smithsonian Conservation […]

The post Using genetics to help save world’s most trafficked mammal: the pangolin appeared first on Smithsonian Insider.

Osiris Martinez-Guzman, Mathilda M. Willoughby, Arushi Saini, Jonathan V. Dietz, Iryna Bohovych, Amy E. Medlock, Oleh Khalimonchuk, and Amit R. Reddi

Heme is a cofactor and signaling molecule that is essential for much of aerobic life. All heme-dependent processes in eukaryotes require that heme is trafficked from its site of synthesis in the mitochondria to hemoproteins located throughout the cell. However, the mechanisms governing the mobilization of heme out of the mitochondria, and the spatio-temporal dynamics of these processes, are poorly understood. Herein, using genetically encoded fluorescent heme sensors, we developed a live cell assay to monitor heme distribution dynamics between the mitochondrial inner-membrane, where heme is synthesized, and the mitochondrial matrix, cytosol, and nucleus. Surprisingly, heme trafficking to the nucleus is ~25% faster than to the cytosol or mitochondrial matrix, which are nearly identical, potentially supporting a role for heme as a mitochondrial-nuclear retrograde signal. Moreover, we discovered that the heme synthetic enzyme, 5-aminolevulinic acid synthase (ALAS), and GTPases in control of the mitochondrial dynamics machinery, Mgm1 and Dnm1, and ER contact sites, Gem1, regulate the flow of heme between the mitochondria and nucleus. Overall, our results indicate that there are parallel pathways for the distribution of bioavailable heme.

David Guerit, Pauline Marie, Anne Morel, Justine Maurin, Christel Verollet, Brigitte Raynaud-Messina, Serge Urbach, and Anne Blangy

Among hematopoietic cells, osteoclasts (Oc) and immature dendritic cells (Dc) are closely related myeloid cells with distinct functions; Oc participate skeleton maintenance while Dc sample the environment for foreign antigens. Such specificities rely on profound modifications of gene and protein expression during Oc and Dc differentiation. We provide global proteomic and transcriptomic analyses of primary mouse Oc and Dc, based on original SILAC and RNAseq data. We established specific signatures for Oc and Dc including genes and proteins of unknown functions. In particular, we showed that Oc and Dc have the same α and β tubulin isotypes repertoire but that Oc express much more β tubulin isotype Tubb6. In both mouse and human Oc, we demonstrate that elevated expression of Tubb6 in Oc is necessary for correct podosomes organization and thus for the structure of the sealing zone, which sustains the bone resorption apparatus. Hence, lowering Tubb6 expression hindered Oc resorption activity. Overall, we highlight here potential new regulators of Oc and Dc biology and illustrate the functional importance of the tubulin isotype repertoire in the biology of differentiated cells.

Tara L. Mastro, Vishnu P. Tripathi, and Susan L. Forsburg

Translesion synthesis polymerases (TLSPs) are non-essential error-prone enzymes that ensure cell survival by facilitating DNA replication in the presence of DNA damage. In addition to their role in bypassing lesions, TLSPs have been implicated in meiotic double strand break repair in several systems. Here we examine the joint contribution of four TLS polymerases to meiotic progression in the fission yeast S. pombe. We observed the dramatic loss of spore viability in fission yeast lacking all four TLSPs which is accompanied by disruptions in chromosome segregation during meiosis I and II. Rec8 cohesin dynamics are altered in the absence of the TLSPs. These data suggest that the TLSPs contribute to multiple aspects of meiotic chromosome dynamics.

Aparna Sherlekar, Gayatri Mundhe, Prachi Richa, Bipasha Dey, Swati Sharma, and Richa Rikhy

Branched actin networks driven by Arp2/3 collaborate with actomyosin filaments in processes such as cell migration. The syncytial Drosophila blastoderm embryo also shows expansion of apical caps by Arp2/3 driven actin polymerization in interphase and buckling at contact edges by MyosinII to form furrows in metaphase. Here we study the role of Syndapin (Synd), an F-BAR domain containing protein in apical cap remodelling prior to furrow extension. synd depletion showed larger apical caps. STED super-resolution and TIRF microscopy showed long apical actin protrusions in caps in interphase and short protrusions in metaphase in control embryos. synd depletion led to sustained long protrusions even in metaphase. Loss of Arp2/3 function in synd mutants partly reverted defects in apical cap expansion and protrusion remodelling. MyosinII levels were decreased in synd mutants and MyosinII mutant embryos have been previously reported to have expanded caps. We propose that Syndapin function limits branching activity during cap expansion and affects MyosinII distribution in order to shift actin remodeling from apical cap expansion to favor lateral furrow extension.

Ana Loncar, Sergio A. Rincon, Manuel Lera Ramirez, Anne Paoletti, and Phong T. Tran

To segregate the chromosomes faithfully during cell division, cells assemble a spindle that captures the kinetochores and pulls them towards opposite poles. Proper spindle function requires correct interplay between microtubule motors and non-motor proteins. Defects in spindle assembly or changes in spindle dynamics are associated with diseases like cancer or developmental disorders. Here we compared mitotic and meiotic spindles in fission yeast. We show that even though mitotic and meiotic spindles undergo the typical three phases of spindle elongation, they have distinct features. We found that the relative concentration of kinesin-14 Pkl1 is decreased in meiosis I compared to mitosis, while the concentration of kinesin-5 Cut7 remains constant. We identified the second kinesin-14 Klp2 and microtubule dynamics as factors necessary for proper meiotic spindle assembly. This work defines differences between mitotic and meiotic spindles in fission yeast, and provides prospect for future comparative studies.

The number and diversity of tectonic landforms in our solar system “is truly remarkable,” Watters and Schultz write. Photographs of these structures have stimulated a range of scholarly investigations.

The post Book Review: Planetary Tectonics examines otherworldly landforms appeared first on Smithsonian Insider.

Odile Madden knows a lot about plastic. A materials scientist with the Smithsonian Museum Conservation Institute, she has spent the past eight years studying plastics […]

The post Microplastics in our environment: A conversation with Odile Madden, Smithsonian plastics scientist appeared first on Smithsonian Insider.

Leafcutter Ants—an amazing species that has been employing agriculture and antibiotics for some 50 million years.

The post Leafcutter ants—first in agiculture and antibiotics appeared first on Smithsonian Insider.

The post Smithsonian geologist Liz Cottrell discusses the March 11, 2011 Japan earthquake and its mechanics appeared first on Smithsonian Insider.

As enjoyable as scientific work can be, says entomologist Dave Roubik, its greatest satisfactions are often long delayed. He gives the best example from his career: a seventeen-year study that finally helped to change our understanding of the notorious "killer bees."

The post Long-term killer bee study in tropics yields unexpected discovery: invasive killer bees are good for the native bees appeared first on Smithsonian Insider.

On June 7 the Sun unleashed an spectacular solar flare with a substantial coronal mass ejection. A large cloud of plasma mushroomed up, and while some parts fell back into the Sun, most rushed off into space. The first two segments of this video are seen through the Atmospheric Imaging Assembly aboard NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory. The AIA was developed by Smithsonian scientists.

The post Spectacular June 7 solar flare seen through the Atmospheric Imaging Assembly aboard Solar Dynamics Observatory appeared first on Smithsonian Insider.

A short history of the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics

The post Lighthouse of the skies, the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics appeared first on Smithsonian Insider.

Tom Crouch, Senior curator in the National Air and Space Museum's Aeronautics Division, discusses Thaddeus Lowe and the birth of American aerial reconnaissance during the Civil War. This presentation was recorded on May 11, 2011 on the National Mall.

The post Tom Crouch, Senior curator in the National Air and Space Museum’s Aeronautics Division, discusses Thaddeus Lowe and the birth of American aerial reconnaissance appeared first on Smithsonian Insider.

The post Creating a dictionary: Gabriela Pérez Báez, Curator of Linguistics appeared first on Smithsonian Insider.

The post Kepler 11: A Six-Planet Sonata by Alex Parker, postdoctoral researcher at the Harvard–Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics appeared first on Smithsonian Insider.

By pulling together data from eight different studies, we now have irrefutable evidence that vines are on the rise not only in the Amazon, but throughout the American tropics.

The post Scientists race to determine why vines are taking over forests in the American tropics appeared first on Smithsonian Insider.

On crime scene investigation shows, forensic scientists use remnants of genetic material to solve mysteries in a matter of hours. Researchers at the Smithsonian Environmental […]

The post Environmental “Forensics” Pieces Together Mysterious Plant Invasion appeared first on Smithsonian Insider.

The covers to the last issues of the current runs of "Avengers" and "New Avengers," leading into "Secret Wars."; Credit: Marvel

Marvel Comics held a press conference this week announcing details about "Secret Wars," a company-wide comic book crossover that they promise will change everything.

Promises of change in comics often don't amount to much, but here's why this one just might, with Marvel teasing that it will produce a whole new world for its characters.

"We see this as putting an endcap to decades of stories and starting a new era," said Marvel Editor-in-Chief Axel Alonso. "And when you see the scope of the event, you see what we're doing, what we're willing to do, this is a place where we're going to be bringing new pieces onto the board and taking old pieces off. You guys will be yelling and screaming, you'll be loving, hating, and in equal measure."

Reboot history

Rival DC Comics has always been quick to have stories designed to streamline their history, with the "Crisis on Infinite Earths" being the most famous one — a story that destroyed the DC Comics universe of the time, birthing a new timeline that gave us the versions of DC's heroes we know today. Several minor and major reboots followed, with the biggest since then being 2011's New 52 (and a tease of another one with this April's "Convergence").

Meanwhile, Marvel still refers back to stories from their early days, beginning with the first issue of "Marvel Comics" in 1939, and more so since the launch of "Fantastic Four" and the interlinked Marvel Universe in the 1960s, led by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby.

Marvel previously launched a line of comics meant to offer a fresh vision of the Marvel characters called Ultimate Comics, but now the worlds of those characters and the traditional Marvel universe are getting combined thanks to "Secret Wars."

"The Ultimate Universe, the Marvel Universe, they're going to smash together," said Alonso. "This is the Marvel Universe moving forward."

"We've never done anything like this, ever," said Marvel senior vice president and executive editor Tom Brevoort. "And what we're going to do to top it, I don't know. Hopefully that will be somebody else's problem."

The stories leading to "Secret Wars," and what is Battleworld?

The story that's been built up so far has to do with different universes colliding into each other — and in the first issue of "Secret Wars," the Marvel and Ultimate Earths collide, with the heroes of those worlds unable to stop it. What's left behind is what Marvel is calling "Battleworld," a patchwork planet with different parts of it inhabited by the characters from different famous Marvel crossovers of the past (you can see some of those past titles in the slideshow above).

Marvel released this video to help you visualize what exactly Battleworld is:

Battleworld video

See a map of Battleworld here, showing the different worlds made up of old storylines to be explored in "Secret Wars" (and click to enlarge):

Brevoort described Battleworld as "The little melting pot in which the new Marvel Universe will be created" after the Marvel and Ultimate versions of Earth are destroyed. He said that Battleworld is what Marvel is going to be "during, through and after" the beginning of "Secret Wars."

"Once you hit 'Secret Wars' 1, there is no Marvel Universe. There is no Ultimate Universe. All there is is Battleworld, and a whole lot of empty void," Brevoort said.

"Every single piece of this world is a building block for the Marvel Universe moving forward," Alonso said. "None of these stories are Elseworlds, or What Ifs, or alternative reality stories. They aren't set in the past or the future. They're not set in an alternate reality. They're set in the reality of the Marvel Universe."

It's also a story that uses an old name — the original "Secret Wars" involved an alien taking heroes from Earth and forcing them into battle for the fate of the universe. It remains unclear if the villain from that crossover will play a role here.

Why is Marvel rebooting?

Observers were quick to speculate on some of the behind-the-scenes reasons for the change. Combining the Ultimate Universe with the traditional Marvel Universe would let them incorporate the half-black, half-Latino Spider-Man from the Ultimate line that grabbed headlines a few years ago. It would let them do something different with characters like the X-Men and the Fantastic Four, who have been a flashpoint for controversy due to Fox retaining rights in perpetuity to any films based on those characters.

It also opens the door to a longtime comic book trope: Bringing back to life the dead.

"If we were to want to resurrect Gwen Stacy, this would be the place to do it, wouldn't it?" Alonso said.

What do creators and fans think about "Secret Wars"?

Speaking of the death of Gwen Stacy, the writer who pulled the trigger on killing her, Gerry Conway, tells Newsarama that he's on board.

"I think like with any idea, the execution will matter more than the idea itself. The idea of a reset is, by itself, not a bad idea," Conway said.

One who's less on board with it: longtime Spider-Man artist John Romita.

"My guess is new fans will be okay with it, and old fans will grumble," Romita told Newsarama. "I’m not a businessman, but I do know that comic companies, for almost 100 years now, do whatever they can for shock value. They grab attention. Personally, I hate all the goofy things they do. When I was there, I used to fight stuff like this. But you can’t stop them."

Current Marvel writers have been sworn to secrecy about what happens once "Secret Wars" is done:

Dan Slott tweet

The lack of certainty about what this all means has led fans to wildly speculate, as well as poke fun at what might happen:

Fan tweet 1

Fan tweet 2

It's a story that's been years in the making.

"Every single time we've done an event, we've always had to be mindful of 'Secret Wars,' and we've had to make decisions based on the fact that we knew that 'Secret Wars' was headed our way," Alonso said.

Brevoort said that Hickman proposed a version of "Secret Wars" years ago, but that vision has since become significantly larger.

"It sounds like typical Stan lee hyperbole — and there's nothing wrong with typical Stan Lee hyperbole — but it is difficult to imagine something that would be larger in scope, in scale, than what we are doing with 'Secret Wars,'" Brevoort said.

That father of the modern Marvel comics world, Stan Lee, tells Newsarama that the reboot is "probably good."

"Anything they do that’s unexpected and different usually captures the attention of the fans," Lee said. "It sounds intriguing to me."

Lee also tells Newsarama that if he were to do it all again, he'd do it basically the same, describing what he did as "the right way to go, and maybe sometimes, even the perfect way to go."

"I liked making the Fantastic Four superheroes without a secret identity. I liked the tragedy of Spider-Man’s origin, the ‘with great power, there must also come great responsibility.’ I thought it was the right way of doing things at the time. And I still like what I’ve done," Lee said. "I can’t think, off the top of my head, of anything I’d really want to change."

What does "Secret Wars" mean for fans?

More details are promised in the weeks to come, with a free preview issue being released on Free Comic Book Day, May 2. While fans wait, they may want to heed the wait-and-see approach advocated by Conway and famed "Thor" artist Walt Simonson.

"Maybe this is coming back out of my old geology days, but I try not to have instant reactions to things and say, ‘Oh my God! That’s terrible!’" Simonson told Newsarama. "My basic reaction is usually ‘let’s see the evidence in the field.’ Let’s come back in a year and see what we’ve got. That will tell the story.”

And for those who say that Marvel is ruining their childhood by messing with the history of their favorite characters, Conway tells Newsarama:

"I would say to them, no, your childhood is still your childhood. There’s a point to be made, and it’s a universal one: We have to see that there’s a difference between what people do today, and what they did yesterday. Yesterday still exists, those stories still exist. Now someone else is getting a chance at a new childhood. And that’s nice."

Watch the full "Secret Wars" live press conference below:

Secret Wars press conference video

This content is from Southern California Public Radio. View the original story at SCPR.org.

Source: Streetwise Reports   05/06/2020

Biopharmaceutical company Horizon Therapeutics Inc. (HZNP:NASDAQ), which focuses on developing and commercializing medicines for treatment of rare and rheumatic diseases, today announced its Q1/20 financial results for the period ending March 31, 2020. The firm began by advising that it is raising its FY/20 net sales guidance and revised its adjusted EBITDA guidance.

For Q1/20 the company reported that net sales increased by 27% to $355.9 million over Q1/19. The firm provided a breakdown of revenue by business unit and listed that in Q1/20 compared with Q1/19, its Orphan segment net sales increased 47% to $245.4 Million, KRYSTEXXA® net sales rose by 78% to $93.3 million and TEPEZZA (teprotumumab-trbw) net sales were $23.5 million, which exceeded expectations.

The firm advised that it is increasing FY/20 net sales guidance to $1.40-1.45 billion driven primarily by significantly higher TEPEZZA net sales and reflecting anticipated impacts from COVID-19. The company also presented revised FY/20 adjusted EBITDA guidance of $450-500 million, which reflects increased TEPEZZA program investment to support higher-than-expected demand.

The firm indicated that in Q1/20 it posted a GAAP net loss of $13.6 million with adjusted EBITDA of $107.2 million and non-GAAP net income of $83.2 million.

The company's Chairman, President and CEO Timothy Walbert commented, "We had a very strong start to 2020, highlighted by the early approval and rapid uptake of TEPEZZA, which significantly exceeded expectations, excellent KRYSTEXXA growth and our recent acquisition of HZN-825...We are increasing our full-year net sales guidance to account for significantly higher TEPEZZA net sales that more than offset the expected impact from COVID-19 this year, and we are widening both our net sales and adjusted EBITDA guidance ranges to account for future uncertainty. The fundamentals of our business are strong, including a robust cash position, and we continue to be very well positioned for the long term."

The company noted that it received FDA approval for TEPEZZA for the treatment of thyroid eye disease (TED) earlier this year in January. The firm described TED as "a rare, serious, progressive and vision-threatening autoimmune disease, and is associated with proptosis (eye bulging), diplopia (double vision), blurred vision, pain and facial disfigurement." The company further s explained that "TEPEZZA, a fully human monoclonal antibody insulin-like growth factor-1 receptor (IGF-1R) inhibitor, is the first and only FDA-approved medicine for the treatment of TED."

Horizon Therapeutics is a biopharmaceutical company headquartered in Dublin, Ireland. The firm researches, develops and commercializes medicines for treatment of rare and rheumatic diseases.

Horizon has a market capitalization of around $7.1 billion with approximately 190.2 million shares outstanding and a short interest of about 4.9%. HZNP shares opened 10% higher today at $44.19 (+$3.81, +10.19%) over yesterday's $37.38 closing price and reached a new 52-week high price this morning of $43.57. The stock has traded today between $40.00 and $43.90 per share and is currently trading at $42.95 (+$5.57, +14.90%).

Disclosure:
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