DNA Typing Compatibility with a One Step Saliva Screening Test

Screening a substrate for bodily fluids is an extremely important step for locating areas that may contain DNA. Several different methods have been developed for saliva (1). The Phadebas® Forensic Press (PFP) test is a presumptive saliva test that utilizes a preloaded paper that will react with the enzyme amylase, a component of saliva (2-5). Because of its ability to screen for amylase while simultaneously locating stains, the PFP may prove to be an effective, rapid method for screening. However it is important to assess whether the PFP introduces any inhibitors (7) to downstream processing such as PCR amplification. Based on previous studies, we hypothesize that the PFP will provide a rapid and sensitive method for locating multiple saliva stains simultaneously, without introducing inhibitors to DNA profiling. To test the limitations of PFP as well as evaluated its effects on DNA profiling we first created a dilution series of saliva ranging from neat to 1:5000. After this we preformed sensitivity tests on an indirect method, UV degraded samples and washed samples as well as with bodily fluid mixtures. Once all sensitivity tests were done, cuttings were taken from the substrate and PFP paper and analyzed for DNA. Tests found that the sensitivity ranges of the PFP were between 1:10 and 1:1000, indirect tests were less sensitive than direct, all bodily fluid mixtures were detected, and UV degraded samples took more time to react. In addition our DNA results confirmed our hypothesis that PFP does not inhibit DNA and is a useful method for locating stains. This project was funded by NSFREU Grant DBI 1262832

Comparing Wearer DNA Sample Collection Methods for the Recovery of Single Source Profiles

Wearer DNA is the deposit of epithelial cells on clothing worn by an individual. Detection of the last individual to handle or wear an item is often an important and desirable determination in forensic science. The most commonly used collection methods for wearer DNA include swabbing and scraping. These often result in mixture profiles. Recently, adhesives have been introduced as a possible reliable method for the collection of biological evidence. The goal of the research was to compare the current collection methods of swabbing and scraping with a gel film called Gel-Pak ‘0’ which shares similar properties with adhesives. Gel-Pak ‘0’ has been previously studied in comparison to other adhesives for the collection of epithelial cells, and was shown to recover the top layer of loose particulate. This particulate had a tendency to be deposited by the individual who last came in contact with an item. Therefore, in comparison to the other two collection methods, Gel-Pak ‘0’ was hypothesized to recover single source profiles on clothing items from the most recent wearer. DNA analysis was performed on samples collected by the three methods from various clothing items including baseball hats, t-shirts, sweatpants, socks, and other items commonly submitted to crime labs for DNA analysis. The habitual wearer and the second/last wearer wore each item for a predetermined amount of time. The results of the research showed that Gel-Pak ‘0’ recovered a similar number of CODIS (local and national) eligible profiles as swabbing. However, coupled with the fact that it is time consuming, costly, and cannot be used on all surfaces, Gel-Pak ‘0’ was determined to not make for an effective collection method of the most recent wearer’s DNA. Therefore, Gel-Pak ‘0’ will not be considered for casework. Although Gel-Pak ‘0’ will not be further used, the results did reveal some trends that may shed light on how DNA analysts may approach wearer DNA cases. Swabbing had a tendency to yield smaller amounts of DNA in comparison to scraping, but obtain DNA from the last wearer of the piece of clothing more effectively than the other two methods. Scraping had a tendency to yield greater quantities of DNA, recovering more DNA from the habitual wearer due to its invasive nature. Revealing individuals who last wore an item can be of great importance in forensic science, and therefore, further research with various adhesives and gel films could be vital for solving forensic investigations

Dynamics of warped compactifications and the shape of the warped landscape

The dynamics of warped/flux compactifications is studied, including warping effects, providing a firmer footing for investigation of the "landscape." We present a general formula for the four-dimensional potential of warped compactifications in terms of ten-dimensional quantities. This allows a systematic investigation of moduli-fixing effects and potentials for mobile branes. We provide a necessary criterion, "slope-dominance," for evading "no-go" results for de Sitter vacua. We outline the ten-dimensional derivation of the non-perturbative effects that should accomplish this in KKLT examples, and outline a systematic discussion of their corrections. We show that potentials for mobile branes receive generic contributions inhibiting slow-roll inflation. We give a linearized analysis of general scalar perturbations of warped IIB compactifications, revealing new features for both time independent and dependent moduli, and new aspects of the kinetic part of the four-dimensional effective action. The universal Kahler modulus is found_not_ to be a simple scaling of the internal metric, and a prescription is given for defining holomorphic Kahler moduli, including warping effects. In the presence of mobile branes, this prescription elucidates couplings between bulk and brane fields. Our results are thus relevant to investigations of the existence of de Sitter vacua in string theory, and of their phenomenology, cosmology, and statistics.Comment: (80 pages; two appendices; harvmac. v3: minor corrections, and references added. v4: argument that pure Kahler deformations are flat.

Exposure to Δ9-tetrahydrocannabinol during rat pregnancy leads to impaired cardiac dysfunction in postnatal life

Background: Cannabis use in pregnancy leads to fetal growth restriction (FGR), but the long-term effects on cardiac function in the offspring are unknown, despite the fact that fetal growth deficits are associated with an increased risk of developing postnatal cardiovascular disease. We hypothesize that maternal exposure to Δ9-tetrahydrocannabinol (Δ9-THC) during pregnancy will impair fetal development, leading to cardiac dysfunction in the offspring. Methods: Pregnant Wistar rats were randomly selected and administered 3 mg/kg of Δ9-THC or saline as a vehicle daily via intraperitoneal injection from gestational days 6 to 22, followed by echocardiogram analysis of cardiac function on offspring at postnatal days 1 and 21. Heart tissue was harvested from the offspring at 3 weeks for molecular analysis of cardiac remodelling. Results: Exposure to Δ9-THC during pregnancy led to FGR with a significant decrease in heart-to-body weight ratios at birth. By 3 weeks, pups exhibited catch-up growth associated with significantly greater left ventricle anterior wall thickness with a decrease in cardiac output. Moreover, these Δ9-THC-exposed offsprings exhibited increased expression of collagen I and III, decreased matrix metallopeptidase-2 expression, and increased inactivation of glycogen synthase kinase-3β, all associated with cardiac remodelling. Conclusions: Collectively, these data suggest that Δ9-THC-exposed FGR offspring undergo postnatal catch-up growth concomitant with cardiac remodelling and impaired cardiac function early in life. Impact: To date, the long-term effects of perinatal Δ9-THC (the main psychoactive component) exposure on the cardiac function in the offspring remain unknown.We demonstrated, for the first time, that exposure to Δ9-THC alone during rat pregnancy results in significantly smaller hearts relative to body weight.These Δ9-THC-exposed offsprings exhibited postnatal catch-up growth concomitant with cardiac remodelling and impaired cardiac function.Given the increased popularity of cannabis use in pregnancy along with rising Δ9-THC concentrations, this study, for the first time, identifies the risk of perinatal Δ9-THC exposure on early postnatal cardiovascular health

Searching for physics beyond the Standard Model through the dipole interaction

The magnetic dipole interaction played a central role in the development of QED, and continued in that role for the Standard Model. The muon anomalous magnetic moment has served as a benchmark for models of new physics, and the present experimental value is larger than the standard-model value by more than three standard deviations. The electric dipole moment (EDM) violates parity ({$P$}) and time-reversal ({$T$}) symmetries, and in the context of the $CPT$ theorem, the combination of charge conjugation and parity ($CP$). Since a new source of {$CP$} violation outside of that observed in the $K$ and $B$ meson systems is needed to help explain the baryon asymmetry of the universe, searches for EDMs are being carried out worldwide on a number of systems. The standard-model value of the EDM is immeasurably small, so any evidence for an EDM would signify the observation of new physics. Unique opportunities exist for EDM searches using polarized proton, deuteron or muon beams in storage rings. This talk will provide an overview of the theory of dipole moments, and the relevant experiments. The connection to the transition dipole moment that could produce lepton flavor violating interactions such as $\mu^+ \rightarrow e^+ \gamma$ is also mentioned.Comment: Invited Plenary talk at the 19th International Spin Physics Symposium, Juelic

A Picture’s Worth a Thousand Words: Conversational versus Eyewitness Testimony in Criminal Convictions

Scholars and practitioners alike share a widespread belief that the single greatest cause of wrongful conviction is erroneous eyewitness testimony. This conventional wisdom is almost certainly wrong. Conversational testimonydescribing earlier conversations or statements-is more common, more likely to be inaccurate, more likely to be believed by jurors, and more likely to produce irreversible errors than eyewitness testimony. Nonetheless, the dangers to the innocent posed by conversational testimony have been largely unrecognized. This Article highlights the case for further psychological and legal attention to conversational witnesses by comparing how the psychological processes and legal responses differ between eyewitness and conversational testimony. The Article concludes with implications for reform that may minimize the ongoing and unrecognized miscarriages of justice which result from erroneous conversational testimony

Extending xpath to support linguistic queries

Linguistic research and language technology development employ large repositories of ordered trees. XML, a standard ordered tree model, and XPath, its associated language, are natural choices for linguistic data storage and queries. However, several important expressive features required for linguistic queries are missing in XPath. In this paper, we motivate and illustrate these features with a variety of linguistic queries. Then we define extensions to XPath which support linguistic tree queries, and describe an efficient query engine based on a novel labeling scheme. Experiments demonstrate that our language is not only sufficiently expressive for linguistic trees but also efficient for practical usage. 1