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New Zealand confident H7 bird flu confined to one farmWhy is the Brainchip share price rocketing 14% today?US agencies should use advanced technology to identify mysterious drones, Schumer saysATLANTA , Dec. 12, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Cousins Properties Incorporated (the "Company" or "Cousins") (NYSE:CUZ) announced today that its operating partnership, Cousins Properties LP (the "Operating Partnership"), has priced an offering of $400 million aggregate principal amount of 5.375% senior unsecured notes due 2032 at 99.463% of the principal amount. The offering is expected to close on December 17, 2024 , subject to the satisfaction of customary closing conditions. Cousins intends to use the net proceeds from the offering to fund a portion of the purchase price of 601 West 2nd Street, also known as Sail Tower, an 804,000 square foot trophy lifestyle office property in Austin (the "Sail Tower Acquisition"), and the remainder to repay borrowings under its credit facility and for general corporate purposes. In the event the Sail Tower Acquisition is not completed, Cousins will use the net proceeds from the offering for general corporate purposes, including the acquisition and development of office properties, other opportunistic investments and the repayment of debt. The notes will be fully and unconditionally guaranteed on a senior unsecured basis by the Company. J.P. Morgan, Truist Securities, US Bancorp, BofA Securities, Morgan Stanley, PNC Capital Markets LLC, TD Securities and Wells Fargo Securities are acting as joint book-running managers. A shelf registration statement relating to these securities is effective with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The offering may be made only by means of a prospectus supplement and accompanying prospectus. Copies of these documents may be obtained by contacting J.P. Morgan Securities LLC, 383 Madison Avenue, New York, New York , 10179, Attention: Investment Grade Syndicate Desk, 3rd Floor, telephone collect at 1-212-834-4533; Truist Securities, Inc., Attention: Prospectus Department, 303 Peachtree Street, Atlanta, GA 30308, telephone: 800-685-4786, or e-mail: TruistSecurities.prospectus@Truist.com ; or U.S. Bancorp Investments, Inc., Attention: High Grade Syndicate, 214 North Tryon Street, 26th Floor, Charlotte, NC 28202, or by telephone at: (877) 558-2607. Electronic copies of these documents are also available from the Securities and Exchange Commission's website at www.sec.gov . This press release is neither an offer to purchase nor a solicitation of an offer to sell the notes, nor shall it constitute an offer, solicitation or sale in any state or jurisdiction in which such offer, solicitation or sale is unlawful prior to the registration or qualification under the securities laws of any such state or other jurisdiction. About Cousins Properties Cousins Properties is a fully integrated, self-administered and self-managed real estate investment trust ("REIT"). The Company, based in Atlanta, GA and acting through the Operating Partnership, primarily invests in Class A office buildings located in high growth Sun Belt markets. Founded in 1958, Cousins creates shareholder value through its extensive expertise in the development, acquisition, leasing, and management of high-quality real estate assets. The Company has a comprehensive strategy in place based on a simple platform, trophy assets, and opportunistic investments. Forward-Looking Statements Certain matters contained in this press release are "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the federal securities laws and are subject to uncertainties and risks, as itemized in Item 1A included in the Company's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2023 and in the Company's Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q for the quarters ended June 30, 2024 and September 30, 2024 . These forward-looking statements include information about the Company's possible or assumed future results of the business and the Company's financial condition, liquidity, results of operations, plans, and objectives. They also include, among other things, statements regarding subjects that are forward-looking by their nature, such as: guidance and underlying assumptions; business and financial strategy; future debt financings; future acquisitions and dispositions of operating assets or joint venture interests; future acquisitions and dispositions of land, including ground leases; future acquisitions of investments in real estate debt; future development and redevelopment opportunities; future issuances and repurchases of common stock, limited partnership units, or preferred stock; future distributions; projected capital expenditures; market and industry trends; future occupancy or volume and velocity of leasing activity; entry into new markets, changes in existing market concentrations, or exits from existing markets; future changes in interest rates and liquidity of capital markets; and all statements that address operating performance, events, investments, or developments that we expect or anticipate will occur in the future — including statements relating to creating value for stockholders. Any forward-looking statements are based upon management's beliefs, assumptions, and expectations of our future performance, taking into account information that is currently available. These beliefs, assumptions, and expectations may change as a result of possible events or factors, not all of which are known. If a change occurs, our business, financial condition, liquidity, and results of operations may vary materially from those expressed in forward-looking statements. Actual results may vary from forward-looking statements due to, but not limited to, the following: the availability and terms of capital and our ability to obtain and maintain financing arrangements on terms favorable to us or at all; the ability to refinance or repay indebtedness as it matures; any changes to our credit rating; the failure of purchase, sale, or other contracts to ultimately close; the failure to achieve anticipated benefits from acquisitions, developments, investments, or dispositions; the effect of common stock or operating partnership unit issuances, including those undertaken on a forward basis, which may negatively affect the market price of our common stock; the availability of buyers and pricing with respect to the disposition of assets; changes in national and local economic conditions, the real estate industry, and the commercial real estate markets in which we operate (including supply and demand changes), particularly in Atlanta , Austin , Tampa , Charlotte , Phoenix , Dallas , and Nashville , including the impact of high unemployment, volatility in the public equity and debt markets, and international economic and other conditions; threatened terrorist attacks or sociopolitical unrest such as political instability, civil unrest, armed hostilities, or political activism, which may result in a disruption of day-to-day building operations; changes to our strategy in regard to our real estate assets may require impairment to be recognized; leasing risks, including the ability to obtain new tenants or renew expiring tenants, the ability to lease newly-developed and/or recently acquired space, the failure of a tenant to commence or complete tenant improvements on schedule or to occupy leased space, and the risk of declining leasing rates; changes in the preferences of our tenants brought about by the desire for co-working arrangements, trends toward utilizing less office space per employee, and the effect of employees working remotely; any adverse change in the financial condition or liquidity of one or more of our tenants or borrowers under our real estate debt investments; volatility in interest rates (including the impact upon the effectiveness of forward interest rate contract arrangements) and insurance rates; inflation; competition from other developers or investors; the risks associated with real estate developments (such as zoning approval, receipt of required permits, construction delays, cost overruns, and leasing risk); supply chain disruptions, labor shortages, and increased construction costs; risks associated with security breaches through cyberattacks, cyber intrusions or otherwise, as well as other significant disruptions of our information technology networks and related systems, which support our operations and our buildings; changes in senior management, changes in the Company's board of directors, and the loss of key personnel; the potential liability for uninsured losses, condemnation, or environmental issues; the potential liability for a failure to meet regulatory requirements, including the Americans with Disabilities Act and similar laws or the impact of any investigation regarding the same; the financial condition and liquidity of, or disputes with, joint venture partners; any failure to comply with debt covenants under debt instruments and credit agreements; any failure to continue to qualify for taxation as a real estate investment trust or meet regulatory requirements; potential changes to state, local, or federal regulations applicable to our business; material changes in dividend rates on common shares or other securities or the ability to pay those dividends; potential changes to the tax laws impacting real estate investment trusts and real estate in general; risks associated with climate change and severe weather events, as well as the regulatory efforts intended to reduce the effects of climate changes and investor and public perception of our efforts to respond to the same; the impact of newly adopted accounting principles on our accounting policies and on period-to-period comparisons of financial results; risks associated with possible federal, state, local, or property tax audits; and those additional risks and environmental or other factors discussed in reports filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission by the Company. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date of this press release. The Company cannot guarantee the accuracy of any such forward-looking statements contained in this press release, and the Company does not intend to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise. Contacts Roni Imbeaux Vice President, Finance and Investor Relations 404-407-1104 rimbeaux@cousins.com View original content: https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/cousins-properties-announces-pricing-of-senior-notes-offering-302330787.html SOURCE Cousins Properties
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December 23, 2024 This article has been reviewed according to Science X's editorial process and policies . Editors have highlightedthe following attributes while ensuring the content's credibility: fact-checked peer-reviewed publication trusted source proofread by Anne Trafton, Massachusetts Institute of Technology Within the human digestive tract are trillions of bacteria from thousands of different species. These bacteria form communities that help digest food, fend off harmful microbes, and play many other roles in maintaining human health. These bacteria can be vulnerable to infection from viruses called bacteriophages. One of bacterial cells' most well-known defenses against these viruses is the CRISPR system, which evolved in bacteria to help them recognize and chop up viral DNA. A study from MIT biological engineers has yielded new insight into how bacteria in the gut microbiome adapt their CRISPR defenses as they encounter new threats. The researchers found that while bacteria grown in the lab can incorporate new viral recognition sequences as quickly as once a day, bacteria living in human gut add new sequences at a much slower rate—on average, one every three years. The findings suggest that the environment within the digestive tract offers many fewer opportunities for bacteria and bacteriophages to interact than in the lab, so bacteria don't need to update their CRISPR defenses very often. It also raises the question of whether bacteria have more important defense systems than CRISPR. "This finding is significant because we use microbiome-based therapies like fecal microbiota transplant to help treat some diseases, but efficacy is inconsistent because new microbes do not always survive in patients. Learning about microbial defenses against viruses helps us to understand what makes a strong, healthy microbial community," says An-Ni Zhang, a former MIT postdoc who is now an assistant professor at Nanyang Technological University. Zhang is the lead author of the study, which appears in the journal Cell Genomics . Eric Alm, director of MIT's Center for Microbiome Informatics and Therapeutics, a professor of biological engineering and of civil and environmental engineering at MIT, and a member of the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, is the paper's senior author. Infrequent exposure In bacteria, CRISPR serves as a memory immune response. When bacteria encounter viral DNA, they can incorporate part of the sequence into their own DNA. Then, if the virus is encountered again, that sequence produces a guide RNA that directs an enzyme called Cas9 to snip the viral DNA, preventing infection. These virus-specific sequences are called spacers, and a single bacterial cell may carry more than 200 spacers. These sequences can be passed onto offspring, and they can also be shared with other bacterial cells through a process called horizontal gene transfer . Previous studies have found that spacer acquisition occurs very rapidly in the lab, but the process appears to be slower in natural environments. In the new study, the MIT team wanted to explore how often this process happens in bacteria in the human gut. "We were interested in how fast this CRISPR system changes its spacers, specifically in the gut microbiome, to better understand the bacteria-virus interactions inside our body," Zhang says. "We wanted to identify the key parameters that impact the timescale of this immunity update." To do that, the researchers looked at how CRISPR sequences changed over time in two different datasets obtained by sequencing microbes from the human digestive tract. One of these datasets contained 6,275 genomic sequences representing 52 bacterial species, and the other contained 388 longitudinal "metagenomes," that is, sequences from many microbes found in a sample, taken from four healthy people. Discover the latest in science, tech, and space with over 100,000 subscribers who rely on Phys.org for daily insights. Sign up for our free newsletter and get updates on breakthroughs, innovations, and research that matter— daily or weekly . "By analyzing those two datasets, we found out that spacer acquisition is really slow in human gut microbiome : On average, it would take 2.7 to 2.9 years for a bacterial species to acquire a single spacer in our gut, which is super surprising because our gut is challenged with viruses almost every day from the microbiome itself and in our food," Zhang says. The researchers then built a computational model to help them figure out why the acquisition rate was so slow. This analysis showed that spacers are acquired more rapidly when bacteria live in high-density populations. However, the human digestive tract is diluted several times a day, whenever a meal is consumed. This flushes out some bacteria and viruses and keeps the overall density low, making it less likely that the microbes will encounter a virus that can infect them. Another factor may be the spatial distribution of microbes, which the researchers believe prevents some bacteria from encountering viruses very frequently. "Sometimes one population of bacteria may never or rarely encounter a phage because the bacteria are closer to the epithelium in the mucus layer and farther away from a potential exposure to viruses," Zhang says. Bacterial interactions Among the populations of bacteria that they studied, the researchers identified one species—Bifidobacteria longum—that had gained spacers much more recently than others. The researchers found that in samples from unrelated people, living on different continents, B. longum had recently acquired up to six different spacers targeting two different Bifidobacteria bacteriophages. This acquisition was driven by horizontal gene transfer—a process that allows bacteria to gain new genetic material from their neighbors. The findings suggest that there may be evolutionary pressure on B. longum from those two viruses. "It has been highly overlooked how much horizontal gene transfer contributes to this dynamic. Within communities of bacteria, the bacteria-bacteria interactions can be a main contributor to the development of viral resistance," Zhang says. Analyzing microbes' immune defenses may offer a way for scientists to develop targeted treatments that will be most effective in a particular patient, the researchers say. For example, they could design therapeutic microbes that are able to fend off the types of bacteriophages that are most prevalent in that person's microbiome, which would increase the chances that the treatment would succeed. "One thing we can do is to study the viral composition in the patients, and then we can identify which microbiome species or strains are more capable of resisting those local viruses in a person," Zhang says. More information: An-Ni Zhang et al. CRISPR-Cas spacer acquisition is a rare event in human gut microbiome, Cell Genomics (2024). DOI: 10.1016/j.xgen.2024.100725 . www.cell.com/cell-genomics/ful ... 2666-979X(24)00354-9 Journal information: Cell Genomics Provided by Massachusetts Institute of Technology This story is republished courtesy of MIT News ( web.mit.edu/newsoffice/ ), a popular site that covers news about MIT research, innovation and teaching.Temple secures 60-42 win against Hofstra{ "@context": "https://schema.org", "@type": "NewsArticle", "dateCreated": "2024-12-02T21:28:26+02:00", "datePublished": "2024-12-02T21:28:26+02:00", "dateModified": "2024-12-03T12:15:34+02:00", "url": "https://www.newtimes.co.rw/article/22295/news/featured/press-release-equitys-mwangi-appointed-to-wb-group-advisory-council-on-jobs", "headline": "PRESS RELEASE: Equity’s Mwangi appointed to WB Group advisory council on jobs", "description": "The Council will be co-chaired by Tharman Shanmugaratnam, President of Singapore and Former Deputy Prime Minister and Coordinating Minister for...", "keywords": "Dr James Mwangi,Equity Group,World Bank", "inLanguage": "en", "mainEntityOfPage":{ "@type": "WebPage", "@id": "https://www.newtimes.co.rw/article/22295/news/featured/press-release-equitys-mwangi-appointed-to-wb-group-advisory-council-on-jobs" }, "thumbnailUrl": "https://www.newtimes.co.rw/thenewtimes/uploads/images/2024/12/03/65425.jpg", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://www.newtimes.co.rw/thenewtimes/uploads/images/2024/12/03/65425.jpg" }, "articleBody": "The Council will be co-chaired by Tharman Shanmugaratnam, President of Singapore and Former Deputy Prime Minister and Coordinating Minister for Economic and Social Policies, and Michelle Bachelet, Former President of Chile, and Head of Government for two terms. The council brings together the experience and knowledge of fourteen leading policymakers, business leaders, academics, and civil society pioneers. Job creation is a center piece of Equity's Africa Recovery and Resilience Plan. Washington, DC USA – December 2, 2024 – The World Bank Group under its work on poverty, has established a High-Level Advisory Council on Jobs that gathers a global cross-section of eminent individuals to offer thought leadership and actionable, scalable policy and program recommendations for the Bank to explore, test and scale. The High-Level Advisory Council on Jobs was launched during the 2024 World Bank Group-IMF Annual Meeting, in October 2024 in Washington, DC, with the ethic that creating jobs is central to combating poverty, growing prosperity, and enhancing dignity. Having a job is one of the most meaningful yardsticks of success for individuals everywhere since with a job comes self-sufficiency, sustainability, and the ability to provide for yourself and family, offering a sense of belonging in society. Despite this fact, job creation remains an elusive goal in many countries around the globe, most especially for younger generations and women. The World Bank is sharpening its focus on job creation through the High-Level Advisory Council as it is estimated that over the next 10 years, an unprecedented 1.2 billion people in the Global South will become working age adults. Yet there will only be approximately 420 million jobs available for these same young people – leaving nearly 800 million without a clear path to prosperity. The Council will focus on youth and female employment opportunities in emerging and developing economies to help nations turn the challenge into an opportunity that powers the future. “Because this issue is so fundamental to our collective future, the established High-Level Advisory Council on Jobs will be co-chaired by an international panel of experienced practitioners who have demonstrated job creation in their own countries. Tharman Shanmugaratnam, President of Singapore and Former Deputy Prime Minister and Coordinating Minister for Economic and Social Policies, and Michelle Bachelet, Former President of Chile, and Head of Government for two terms will co-chair the council. The panel brings together the experience and knowledge of fourteen leading policymakers, business leaders, academics, and civil society pioneers,” noted Mr. Ajay Banga, President, World Bank Group. “We would be immensely grateful to benefit from your deep expertise, experience and unique perspectives as a member of the Council,” said Therman, Michelle and Ajay in Dr. Mwangi’s appointment letter. Dr. James Mwangi, the Managing Director and CEO of Equity Group Holdings is among the fourteen global leaders that have joined the World Bank Group High-Level Advisory Council on Jobs, recognizing his dedication and contributions to society that extend beyond the banking sector. Over the next decade the world is expected to experience significant demographic shift with one in four people on the planet being African, and more than a third of the world's young people residing in Africa, said Dr. Mwangi. These global demographic shifts are the result of progress on the African continent including life expectancy, per capita income, health, education and improving nutritional levels. An outcome of these developments has been rapid population growth. Effectively leveraging the demographic dividend in Africa could account for up to 15% of GDP growth and a 17% reduction in poverty by 2030. The Council will meet every two months for an initial period of up to two years and will interact directly with senior management of the World Bank Group, ensuring that the Council’s ideas are taken forward. I'm honored to have been asked to serve on the World Bank Global Jobs Council, in order to support the creation of jobs for the young people of Africa, said Dr. Mwangi. Young people are our future and the key to sustainable development for the continent. Equity's Africa Recovery and Resilience Plan seeks to create 50 million jobs in the region by 2030 and my intention is to utilize the learnings of the council to maximize this initiative. Other members of the council include Guy Ryder, Under Secretary General for Policy at the United Nations; Patrick Achi, the former Prime Minister of Cote d'Ivoire; Sebastien Bazin, Group Chairman and CEO of Accor Group; Nonkululeko Nyembezi, Chairman of Standard Bank Group; Preetha Reddy, Executive Vice President of Apollo Hospitals Enterprise Limited; Mostafa Terrab, Chairman and CEO of OCP Group; Marianne Bertrand, Distinguished Professor of Economics at the University of Chicago Booth School of Business; Madhav Chavan, co-founder and President of Pratham, the largest and most successful education organizations in India; Marcela Eslava, Professor of Economics at Universidad de Los Andes, Bogota, Colombia; Fang Cai, Chief Expert at the National Think Tank at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences; Nicola Galombik, Head of Yellowoods Group; Roxana Maurizio, researcher and professor at the University of Buenos Aires Institute of Economics; Denis Minev, an angel investor in Amazon projects; and Rohini Pande, the Henry j. Heinz II Professor of Economics and Director of the Economic Growth Center at Yale University. About Dr. James Mwangi, CBS Dr. James Mwangi is a career banker acclaimed for his strong commitment to inclusive finance. He is the Group Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of Equity Group Holdings Plc and Executive Chairman, Equity Group Foundation. He is one of Africa’s most renowned thought leaders, a visionary, a disruptive entrepreneur, and philanthropist. As a champion of sustainable social economic transformation, Dr. Mwangi believes that individuals and societies have the potential to solve their socio-economic challenges if they are given the opportunity and access to resources. Dr. Mwangi is credited with providing the leadership that saw a small and technically insolvent Building Society transform to Equity Group Holdings, one of the largest and most successful inclusive and integrated financial institutions in the world. Today, Equity Bank is known as the Strongest Banking Brand on the continent and the Second Strongest Banking Brand in the World by Brand Finance. Dr. Mwangi took over the leadership of the Bank when it was ranked last in the industry with an asset base of US$280,000, US$220,000 in deposits, US$120,000 in loans and accumulated losses of US$ 330,000. He introduced a revolutionary business model anchored on affordability, flexibility, and accessibility of financial services. Presently, Equity Group is the largest integrated financial services firm in the region with a market capitalization of USD 1.4 Billion. The Group has an asset base of USD 14 Billion, customer base of 22 million supported by a footprint of 397 branches, 82,936 Agents, over 1.1 million Pay with Equity (PWE) merchants, 44,794 Point-of-Sale (POS) Merchants, 889 ATMs and an extensive adoption of digital banking channel. The Group’s strong brand recognition, solid liquidity buffers and resilient funding profile, established domestic franchise and extensive adoption of digital and alternative distribution channels have earned it the honor of being the Second Strongest Financial Brand on Earth in 2024 by Brand Finance. It has also been recognized as the strongest financial brand in Africa by Brand Africa in 2024 and the most valuable brand in the region. Dr. James Mwangi was awarded the 2012 Ernst & Young World Entrepreneur of the Year, becoming the first business leader from Sub-Saharan Africa to win this prestigious award. He was also among the finalists who were inducted to the Entrepreneur of The Year Hall of Fame and the World Entrepreneurship Academy. While presenting the award, Jim Turley, Global Chairman and CEO of Ernst & Young, said, “Over the past 26 years, entrepreneurs have done more than any other group to stimulate innovation, job creation and prosperity during both periods of growth and in challenging economic conditions. James epitomizes the vision and determination that set entrepreneurs apart and is very worthy of the title Ernst & Young World Entrepreneur of The Year 2012.” He was also named among the Top 50 Emerging Market Business Leaders and the 20 most influential people in Africa in 2011; named the 2012 Forbes Africa Person of the Year by Forbes Africa magazine and was recently named in the Bloomberg 50 list of people who defined 2019 globally. He is an honoree of the 2020 Oslo Business for Peace Award, also described as the ‘Nobel Prize for Business’. He currently serves on several international bodies as a Chair or co-Chair and as an advisor and was appointed to the Nairobi Advisory Board of Columbia Global Centres. He is a member of the continent-wide PACT initiative, a Board member of the Economic Advisory Board of the International Finance Corporation (IFC), the Mastercard MEA Advisory Board, the Africa Leadership Academy in South Africa, the Global Alliance for Food Security and Nutrition. He is also a guest lecturer at Stanford, Columbia, MIT, Harvard, IESE and Lagos Business School. More than 40 case studies have been written about the Equity Bank Tri-Engine Business Model globally.is a case study. Locally, he served as the founding Chancellor Meru University of Science and Technology and the Chairman of the Health Committee of Kenya COVID-19 Fund Board. 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US agencies should use advanced technology to identify mysterious drones, Schumer says