EVOG: a database for evolutionary analysis of overlapping genes

Overlapping genes are defined as a pair of genes whose transcripts are overlapped. Recently, many cases of overlapped genes have been investigated in various eukaryotic organisms; however, their origin and transcriptional control mechanism has not yet been clearly determined. In this study, we implemented evolutionary visualizer for overlapping genes (EVOG), a Web-based DB with a novel visualization interface, to investigate the evolutionary relationship between overlapping genes. Using this technique, we collected and analyzed all overlapping genes in human, chimpanzee, orangutan, marmoset, rhesus, cow, dog, mouse, rat, chicken, Xenopus, zebrafish and Drosophila. This integrated database provides a manually curated database that displays the evolutionary features of overlapping genes. The EVOG DB components included a number of overlapping genes (10‱074 in human, 10 ‱009 in chimpanzee, 67 ‱039 in orangutan, 51 001 in marmoset, 219 in rhesus, 3627 in cow, 209 in dog, 10 ‱700 in mouse, 7987 in rat, 1439 in chicken, 597 in Xenopus, 2457 in zebrafish and 4115 in Drosophila). The EVOG database is very effective and easy to use for the analysis of the evolutionary process of overlapping genes when comparing different species. Therefore, EVOG could potentially be used as the main tool to investigate the evolution of the human genome in relation to disease by comparing the expression profiles of overlapping genes. EVOG is available at http://neobio.cs.pusan.ac.kr/evog/

PlantNATsDB: a comprehensive database of plant natural antisense transcripts

Natural antisense transcripts (NATs), as one type of regulatory RNAs, occur prevalently in plant genomes and play significant roles in physiological and pathological processes. Although their important biological functions have been reported widely, a comprehensive database is lacking up to now. Consequently, we constructed a plant NAT database (PlantNATsDB) involving approximately 2 million NAT pairs in 69 plant species. GO annotation and high-throughput small RNA sequencing data currently available were integrated to investigate the biological function of NATs. PlantNATsDB provides various user-friendly web interfaces to facilitate the presentation of NATs and an integrated, graphical network browser to display the complex networks formed by different NATs. Moreover, a ‘Gene Set Analysis’ module based on GO annotation was designed to dig out the statistical significantly overrepresented GO categories from the specific NAT network. PlantNATsDB is currently the most comprehensive resource of NATs in the plant kingdom, which can serve as a reference database to investigate the regulatory function of NATs. The PlantNATsDB is freely available at http://bis.zju.edu.cn/pnatdb/

Measurement of the cross-section and charge asymmetry of WW bosons produced in proton-proton collisions at s=8\sqrt{s}=8 TeV with the ATLAS detector

This paper presents measurements of the $W^+ \rightarrow \mu^+\nu$ and $W^- \rightarrow \mu^-\nu$ cross-sections and the associated charge asymmetry as a function of the absolute pseudorapidity of the decay muon. The data were collected in proton--proton collisions at a centre-of-mass energy of 8 TeV with the ATLAS experiment at the LHC and correspond to a total integrated luminosity of 20.2~\mbox{fb^{-1}}. The precision of the cross-section measurements varies between 0.8% to 1.5% as a function of the pseudorapidity, excluding the 1.9% uncertainty on the integrated luminosity. The charge asymmetry is measured with an uncertainty between 0.002 and 0.003. The results are compared with predictions based on next-to-next-to-leading-order calculations with various parton distribution functions and have the sensitivity to discriminate between them.Comment: 38 pages in total, author list starting page 22, 5 figures, 4 tables, submitted to EPJC. All figures including auxiliary figures are available at https://atlas.web.cern.ch/Atlas/GROUPS/PHYSICS/PAPERS/STDM-2017-13

CITES, wild plants, and opportunities for crime

The illegal trade in endangered plants damages both the environment and local communities by threatening and destroying numerous species and important natural resources. There is very little research which systematically addresses this issue by identifying specific opportunities for crime. This article presents the results of an interdisciplinary study which brings together criminological and conservation science expertise to identify criminal opportunities in the illegal wild plant trade and suggest strategies in order to prevent and mitigate the problem. Methodologically, the study adapts a crime proofing of legislation approach to the UN Convention on the International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora and is based on documentary and interview data. Situational crime prevention is used as a framework to provide points for effective intervention

Search for chargino-neutralino production with mass splittings near the electroweak scale in three-lepton final states in √s=13 TeV pp collisions with the ATLAS detector

A search for supersymmetry through the pair production of electroweakinos with mass splittings near the electroweak scale and decaying via on-shell W and Z bosons is presented for a three-lepton final state. The analyzed proton-proton collision data taken at a center-of-mass energy of √s=13  TeV were collected between 2015 and 2018 by the ATLAS experiment at the Large Hadron Collider, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 139  fb−1. A search, emulating the recursive jigsaw reconstruction technique with easily reproducible laboratory-frame variables, is performed. The two excesses observed in the 2015–2016 data recursive jigsaw analysis in the low-mass three-lepton phase space are reproduced. Results with the full data set are in agreement with the Standard Model expectations. They are interpreted to set exclusion limits at the 95% confidence level on simplified models of chargino-neutralino pair production for masses up to 345 GeV

Search for direct stau production in events with two hadronic tau-leptons in root s=13 TeV pp collisions with the ATLAS detector

A search for the direct production of the supersymmetric partners ofτ-leptons (staus) in final stateswith two hadronically decayingτ-leptons is presented. The analysis uses a dataset of pp collisions corresponding to an integrated luminosity of139fb−1, recorded with the ATLAS detector at the LargeHadron Collider at a center-of-mass energy of 13 TeV. No significant deviation from the expected StandardModel background is observed. Limits are derived in scenarios of direct production of stau pairs with eachstau decaying into the stable lightest neutralino and oneτ-lepton in simplified models where the two staumass eigenstates are degenerate. Stau masses from 120 GeV to 390 GeV are excluded at 95% confidencelevel for a massless lightest neutralino

National Security vs Criminal law. Perspectives, Doubts and Concerns on the Criminalisation of Organised Crime in England and Wales

This paper will interpret and critically analyse the new offence for organised crime in England and Wales (Section 45 of the Serious Crime Act 2015) from a criminological perspective in light of evidence found in research in the country. It will argue that changes in the law relate to changes in political narratives rather than to variations in the criminal panorama of organised crime. It will discuss these changes within three perspectives, which address various levels of concern: a narrative perspective, which reflects on the overlapping of meanings in the use of the words ‘organised crime’; an evolution perspective, which reflects on the origins of the new participation offences with reference to both national and international pressures; a management perspective, which reflects on some of the immediate effects of the new offences of organised crime on the criminal justice system. This paper will conclude that political narratives have indeed influenced criminal policy, while there is no significant change in the phenomenon of organised crime to justify such narratives

Search for new phenomena in final states with an energetic jet and large missing transverse momentum in pp collisions at √ s = 8 TeV with the ATLAS detector

Results of a search for new phenomena in final states with an energetic jet and large missing transverse momentum are reported. The search uses 20.3 fb−1 of √ s = 8 TeV data collected in 2012 with the ATLAS detector at the LHC. Events are required to have at least one jet with pT > 120 GeV and no leptons. Nine signal regions are considered with increasing missing transverse momentum requirements between Emiss T > 150 GeV and Emiss T > 700 GeV. Good agreement is observed between the number of events in data and Standard Model expectations. The results are translated into exclusion limits on models with either large extra spatial dimensions, pair production of weakly interacting dark matter candidates, or production of very light gravitinos in a gauge-mediated supersymmetric model. In addition, limits on the production of an invisibly decaying Higgs-like boson leading to similar topologies in the final state are presente

Widening the Antimafia Net. Mafia Behaviour, Cultural Transmission and Children Protection in Calabrian mafia families

This article explores proceedings by the Youth Tribunal of Reggio Calabria, Southern Italy, aimed at the protection of children in families where one or both parents are investigated for mafia offences. The findings show that preventing the transmission of mafia (‘ndrangheta) culture in the local context has become an essential part of child protection measures. This article will argue that when discussing child protection in criminal families, it is necessary (a) to question the nature of the bonds of these families with the socio-cultural context, and (b) to concretely assess the way this context wishes to affect the family’s criminality