Transgendered in Alaska: Navigating the Changing Legal Landscape for Change in Gender Petitions

Background: Detecting intracellular bacterial symbionts can be challenging when they persist at very low densities. Wolbachia, a widespread bacterial endosymbiont of invertebrates, is particularly challenging. Although it persists at high titers in many species, in others its densities are far below the detection limit of classic end-point Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR). These low-titer infections can be reliably detected by combining PCR with DNA hybridization, but less elaborate strategies based on end-point PCR alone have proven less sensitive or less general. Results: We introduce a multicopy PCR target that allows fast and reliable detection of A-supergroup Wolbachia -even at low infection titers -with standard end-point PCR. The target is a multicopy motif (designated ARM: A-supergroup repeat motif) discovered in the genome of wMel (the Wolbachia in Drosophila melanogaster). ARM is found in at least seven other Wolbachia A-supergroup strains infecting various Drosophila, the wasp Muscidifurax and the tsetse fly Glossina. We demonstrate that end-point PCR targeting ARM can reliably detect both high-and low-titer Wolbachia infections in Drosophila, Glossina and interspecific hybrids. Conclusions: Simple end-point PCR of ARM facilitates detection of low-titer Wolbachia A-supergroup infections. Detecting these infections previously required more elaborate procedures. Our ARM target seems to be a general feature of Wolbachia A-supergroup genomes, unlike other multicopy markers such as insertion sequences (IS)

Environmental study of ERTS-1 imagery: Lake Champlain and Vermont

Environmental concerns of the State of Vermont currently being stressed include water quality in Lake Champlain and a state-wide land use and capability plan. Significant results obtained from ERTS-1 relate directly to the above concerns. Industrial water pollution and turbidity in Lake Champlain have been identified and mapped and the ERTS pollution data will be used in the developing court suit which Vermont has initiated against the polluters. ERTS imagery has also provided a foundation for updating and revising land use inventories. Major classes of land use have been identified and mapped, and substantial progress has been made toward the mapping of such land use divisions as crop and forest type, and wetlands

Fe I Oscillator Strengths for the Gaia-ESO Survey

The Gaia-ESO Public Spectroscopic Survey (GES) is conducting a large-scale study of multi-element chemical abundances of some 100 000 stars in the Milky Way with the ultimate aim of quantifying the formation history and evolution of young, mature and ancient Galactic populations. However, in preparing for the analysis of GES spectra, it has been noted that atomic oscillator strengths of important Fe I lines required to correctly model stellar line intensities are missing from the atomic database. Here, we present new experimental oscillator strengths derived from branching fractions and level lifetimes, for 142 transitions of Fe I between 3526 {\AA} and 10864 {\AA}, of which at least 38 are urgently needed by GES. We also assess the impact of these new data on solar spectral synthesis and demonstrate that for 36 lines that appear unblended in the Sun, Fe abundance measurements yield a small line-by-line scatter (0.08 dex) with a mean abundance of 7.44 dex in good agreement with recent publications.Comment: Accepted for publication in Mon. Not. R. Astron. So

Addressing and Mitigating Violence: Uptake Strategy, Year Two Update

The overarching purpose of the Addressing and Mitigating Violence (AMV) theme is to generate useful analysis to tackle policy dilemmas relating to ‘newer’ forms of violence and organised crime. Across the contexts where we work, we will undertake a multilevel governance analysis with a multi-actor governance approach to better understand the contributions of and possibilities for convergence between state and non-state stakeholder efforts in different policy spaces. An important goal of work across the AMV theme will be to increase the capabilities of partners and stakeholders in each of the contexts where we work to identify more effective ways of influencing policy.UK Department for International Developmen

InAs/GaSb vertical nanowire TFETs on Si for digital and analogue applications

Vertical InAs/GaSb nanowire TFETs with diameters of 20 nm and 25 nm have been fabricated and characterized. The influence of diameter, gate-placement, and nanowire numbers have been studied. The best device shows a subthreshold swing of 68 mV/dec at VDS = 0.3 V and 26 μA/μm at VDS = 0.3 V and VGS = 0.5 V. It achieves a self-gain larger than 100 with high transconductance efficiency

Vertical InAs/GaAsSb/GaSb tunneling field-effect transistor on Si with S = 48 mV/decade and Ion = 10 μA/μm for Ioff = 1 nA/μm at VDS = 0.3 V

We present a vertical nanowire InAs/GaAsSb/GaSb TFET with a highly scaled InAs diameter (20 nm). The device exhibits a minimum subthreshold swing of 48 mV/dec. for Vds = 0.1-0.5 V and achieves an Ion = 10.6 μA/μm for Ioff = 1 nA/μm at Vds = 0.3 V. The lowest subthreshold swing achieved is 44 mV/dec. at Vds= 0.05 V. Furthermore, a benchmarking is performed against state-of-the-art TFETs and MOSFETs demonstrating a record high I60 and performance benefits for Vds between 0.1 and 0.3 V

Beetroot Juice Supplementation Lowers Oxygen Cost of Vigorous Intensity Aerobic Exercise in Trained Endurance Athletes

Please see the pdf version of the abstract

Moral reasoning and homosexuality: the acceptability of arguments about lesbian and gay issues

In the political arena, lesbian and gay issues have typically been contested on grounds of human rights, but with variable success. Using a moral developmental framework, the purpose of this study was to explore preferences for different types of moral arguments when thinking about moral dilemmas around lesbian and gay issues. The analysis presented here comprised data collected from 545 students at UK universities, who completed a questionnaire, part of which comprised a moral dilemma task. Findings of the study showed that respondents do not apply moral reasoning consistently, and do not (clearly) favour human rights reasoning when thinking about lesbian and gay issues. Respondents tended to favour reasoning supporting existing social structures and frameworks, therefore this study highlights the importance of structural change in effecting widespread attitude change in relation to lesbian and gay rights issues. The implications of the findings for moral education are also discussed.</p

The self in autism and its relation to memory

This chapter begins with some definitions of memory and the self and continues to explain their relation on the psychological level along with their facets. It considers the relevance of these theories to autism spectrum disorder (ASD). The chapter provides a critical review of relevant research on the self in autism, followed by some hypotheses concerning how diminished sense of self might predict and explain the unique memory profile in the ASD population. Although there are a considerable number of studies showing typical performance on some types of “self” task among people with ASD on balance, existing evidence suggests that individuals with ASD have atypical me‐selves. There is a considerable amount of evidence to suggest that individuals with ASD have impaired episodic memory. Strikingly, the study of prospective memory in ASD is an emergent research field with a handful of studies published to date. Two forms of prospective memory are commonly distinguished: event‐based and time‐based

Voice Flows To And Around Leaders: Understanding When Units Are Helped Or Hurt By Employee Voice

In two studies, we develop and test theory about the relationship between speaking up, one type of organizational citizenship behavior, and unit performance by accounting for where employee voice is flowing. Results from a qualitative study of managers and professionals across a variety of industries suggest that voice to targets at different formal power levels (peers or superiors) and locations in the organization (inside or outside a focal unit) differs systematically in terms of its usefulness in generating actions to a unit's benefit on the issues raised and in the likely information value of the ideas expressed. We then theorize how distinct voice flows should be differentially related to unit performance based on these core characteristics and test our hypotheses using time-lagged field data from 801 employees and their managers in 93 units across nine North American credit unions. Results demonstrate that voice flows are positively related to a unit's effectiveness when they are targeted at the focal leader of that unitwho should be able to take actionwhether from that leader's own subordinates or those in other units, and negatively related to a unit's effectiveness when they are targeted at coworkers who have little power to effect change. Together, these studies provide a structural framework for studying the nature and impact of multiple voice flows, some along formal reporting lines and others that reflect the informal communication structure within organizations. This research demonstrates that understanding the potential performance benefits and costs of voice for leaders and their units requires attention to the structure and complexity of multiple voice flows rather than to an undifferentiated amount of voice.Business Administratio