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)

Verifying data- and control-oriented properties combining static and runtime verification : theory and tools

Static verification techniques are used to analyse and prove properties about programs before they are executed. Many of these techniques work directly on the source code and are used to verify data-oriented properties over all possible executions. The analysis is necessarily an over-approximation as the real executions of the program are not available at analysis time. In contrast, runtime verification techniques have been extensively used for control-oriented properties, analysing the current execution path of the program in a fully automatic manner. In this article, we present a novel approach in which data-oriented and control-oriented properties may be stated in a single formalism amenable to both static and dynamic verification techniques. The specification language we present to achieve this that of ppDATEs, which enhances the control-oriented property language of DATEs, with data- oriented pre/postconditions. For runtime verification of ppDATE specifications, the language is translated into a DATE. We give a formal semantics to ppDATEs, which we use to prove the correctness of our translation from ppDATEs to DATEs. We show how ppDATE specifi- cations can be analysed using a combination of the deductive theorem prover KeY and the runtime verification tool LARVA. Verification is performed in two steps: KeY first partially proves the data-oriented part of the specification, simplifying the specification which is then passed on to LARVA to check at runtime for the remaining parts of the specification including the control-oriented aspects. We show the applicability of our approach on two case studies.peer-reviewe

The patatin-like lipase family in Gallus gallus

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>In oviparous species, genes encoding proteins with functions in lipid remodeling, such as specialized lipases, may have evolved to facilitate the assembly and utilization of yolk lipids by the embryo. The mammalian gene family of patatin-like phospholipases (PNPLAs) has received significant attention, but studies in other vertebrates are lacking; thus, we have begun investigations of PNPLA genes in the chicken (<it>Gallus gallus</it>).</p> <p>Results</p> <p>We scanned the draft chicken genome using human PNPLA sequences, and performed PCR to amplify and sequence orthologous cDNAs. Full-length cDNA sequences of galline <it>PNPLA2/ATGL, PNPLA4, -7, -8, -9</it>, and the activator protein <it>CGI-58</it>, as well as partial cDNA sequences of avian <it>PNPLA1, -3</it>, and <it>-6 </it>were obtained. The high degree of sequence identities (~50 to 80%) between the avian and human orthologs suggests conservation of important enzymatic functions. Quantitation by qPCR of the transcript levels of <it>PNPLA</it>s and <it>CGI-58 </it>in 21 tissues indicates that expression patterns and levels diverge greatly between species. A particularly interesting tissue in which certain PNPLAs may contribute to physiological specialization is the extraembryonic yolk sac.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Knowledge about the exact <it>in-vivo </it>functions of PNPLAs in any system is still sparse. Thus, studies about the temporal expression patterns and functions of the enzymes identified here, and of other already known extracellular lipases and co-factors, in the yolk sac and embryonic tissues during embryogenesis are called for. Based on the information obtained, further studies are anticipated to provide important insights of the roles of PNPLAs in the yolk sac and embryo development.</p

Crystallization of octadecane solutions treated by ultrasound, in presence of oil resins

Ultrasonic treatment of octadecane solution in hexane was carried out. The influence of acoustic action duration and concentration of resins on the process of crystallization of octadecane solutions is shown

StaRVOOrS : unifying static and runtime verification of Java

Over the past decades, several forms of automated verification techniques have been proposed and explored in the literature. These techniques mostly fall in one of two categories: static and dynamic verification. Runtime verification is a dynamic technique concerned with the monitoring of software, providing guarantees that observed runs comply with specified properties. It is strong in analysing systems of a complexity that is difficult to address by static verification, like systems with numerous interacting sub-units, heavy usage of mainstream libraries, real (as opposed to abstract) data, and real world deployments. On the other hand, the major drawbacks of runtime verification are the impossibility to extrapolate correct observations to all possible executions, and that monitoring introduces runtime overheads. In the work we present here, these issues are addressed by combining runtime verification with static verification, such that: (i) Static verification attempts to ‘resolve’ those parts of the properties which can be confirmed statically; (ii) the static results, even if only partial, are used to change the property specification such that generated monitors will not check dynamically what was confirmed statically.peer-reviewe

Exploratory Chandra Observations of the Three Highest Redshift Quasars Known

We report on exploratory Chandra observations of the three highest redshift quasars known (z = 5.82, 5.99, and 6.28), all found in the Sloan Digital Sky Survey. These data, combined with a previous XMM-Newton observation of a z = 5.74 quasar, form a complete set of color-selected, z > 5.7 quasars. X-ray emission is detected from all of the quasars at levels that indicate that the X-ray to optical flux ratios of z ~ 6 optically selected quasars are similar to those of lower redshift quasars. The observations demonstrate that it will be feasible to obtain quality X-ray spectra of z ~ 6 quasars with current and future X-ray missions.Comment: 15 pages, ApJL, in press; small revisions to address referee Comment

A unified approach for static and runtime verification : framework and applications

Static verification of software is becoming ever more effective and efficient. Still, static techniques either have high precision, in which case powerful judgements are hard to achieve automatically, or they use abstractions supporting increased automation, but possibly losing important aspects of the concrete system in the process. Runtime verification has complementary strengths and weaknesses. It combines full precision of the model (including the real deployment environment) with full automation, but cannot judge future and alternative runs. Another drawback of runtime verification can be the computational overhead of monitoring the running system which, although typically not very high, can still be prohibitive in certain settings. In this paper we propose a framework to combine static analysis techniques and runtime verification with the aim of getting the best of both techniques. In particular, we discuss an instantiation of our framework for the deductive theorem prover KeY, and the runtime verification tool Larva. Apart from combining static and dynamic verification, this approach also combines the data centric analysis of KeY with the control centric analysis of Larva. An advantage of the approach is that, through the use of a single specification which can be used by both analysis techniques, expensive parts of the analysis could be moved to the static phase, allowing the runtime monitor to make significant assumptions, dropping parts of expensive checks at runtime. We also discuss specific applications of our approach.peer-reviewe