Perspectives of Women in Prostitution diversion program on DNA Collection for a High-Risk DNA Database

DNA can be collected from women at high risk of violent crime as a pre-emptive biometric for post-mortem identification. We conducted focus groups with women in a prostitution diversion program that offers pre-emptive DNA collection. In general, the women supported the program but voiced concern for law enforcement collecting DNA. These data provide insights into the challenges of collecting DNA from women whom law enforcement might consider alternately to be victims or vilified. Hearing the voices of these women provides the forensic community an opportunity to design programs to minimize harm and maximize utility of DNA for victim identification

Structures of EccB\u3csub\u3e1\u3c/sub\u3e and EccD\u3csub\u3e1\u3c/sub\u3e from the Core Complex of the Mycobacterial ESX-1 Type VII Secretion System

Background: The ESX-1 type VII secretion system is an important determinant of virulence in pathogenic mycobacteria, including Mycobacterium tuberculosis. This complicated molecular machine secretes folded proteins through the mycobacterial cell envelope to subvert the host immune response. Despite its important role in disease very little is known about the molecular architecture of the ESX-1 secretion system. Results: This study characterizes the structures of the soluble domains of two conserved core ESX-1 components – EccB1 and EccD1. The periplasmic domain of EccB1 consists of 4 repeat domains and a central domain, which together form a quasi 2-fold symmetrical structure. The repeat domains of EccB1 are structurally similar to a known peptidoglycan binding protein suggesting a role in anchoring the ESX-1 system within the periplasmic space. The cytoplasmic domain of EccD1has a ubiquitin-like fold and forms a dimer with a negatively charged groove. Conclusions: These structures represent a major step towards resolving the molecular architecture of the entire ESX-1 assembly and may contribute to ESX-1 targeted tuberculosis intervention strategies

Advancing Our Functional Understanding of Host–Microbiota Interactions: A Need for New Types of Studies

Multicellular life evolved in the presence of microorganisms and formed complex associations with their microbiota, the sum of all associated archaea, bacteria, fungi, and viruses. These associations greatly affect the health and life history of the host, which led to a new understanding of “self” and establishment of the “metaorganism” concept.1 The Collaborative Research Centre (CRC) 1182 aims at elucidating the evolution and function of metaorganisms. Its annual conference, the Young Investigator Research Day (YIRD), serves as a platform for scientists of various disciplines to share novel findings on host–microbiota interactions, thereby providing a comprehensive overview of recent developments and new directions in metaorganism research. Even though we have gained tremendous insights into the composition and dynamics of host‐associated microbial communities and their correlations with host health and disease, it also became evident that moving from correlative toward functional studies is needed to examine the underlying mechanisms of interactions within the metaorganism. Non‐classical model organisms in particular possess significant potential to functionally address many open questions in metaorganism research. Here, we suggest and introduce a roadmap moving from correlation toward a functional understanding of host–microbiota interactions and highlight its potential in emerging ecological, agricultural, and translational medical applications

The state of the Martian climate

60°N was +2.0°C, relative to the 1981–2010 average value (Fig. 5.1). This marks a new high for the record. The average annual surface air temperature (SAT) anomaly for 2016 for land stations north of starting in 1900, and is a significant increase over the previous highest value of +1.2°C, which was observed in 2007, 2011, and 2015. Average global annual temperatures also showed record values in 2015 and 2016. Currently, the Arctic is warming at more than twice the rate of lower latitudes

Biomarker Discovery by Novel Sensors Based on Nanoproteomics Approaches

During the last years, proteomics has facilitated biomarker discovery by coupling high-throughput techniques with novel nanosensors. In the present review, we focus on the study of label-based and label-free detection systems, as well as nanotechnology approaches, indicating their advantages and applications in biomarker discovery. In addition, several disease biomarkers are shown in order to display the clinical importance of the improvement of sensitivity and selectivity by using nanoproteomics approaches as novel sensors

Standalone vertex finding in the ATLAS muon spectrometer

A dedicated reconstruction algorithm to find decay vertices in the ATLAS muon spectrometer is presented. The algorithm searches the region just upstream of or inside the muon spectrometer volume for multi-particle vertices that originate from the decay of particles with long decay paths. The performance of the algorithm is evaluated using both a sample of simulated Higgs boson events, in which the Higgs boson decays to long-lived neutral particles that in turn decay to bbar b final states, and pp collision data at √s = 7 TeV collected with the ATLAS detector at the LHC during 2011

Measurements of Higgs boson production and couplings in diboson final states with the ATLAS detector at the LHC

Measurements are presented of production properties and couplings of the recently discovered Higgs boson using the decays into boson pairs, H →γ γ, H → Z Z∗ →4l and H →W W∗ →lνlν. The results are based on the complete pp collision data sample recorded by the ATLAS experiment at the CERN Large Hadron Collider at centre-of-mass energies of √s = 7 TeV and √s = 8 TeV, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of about 25 fb−1. Evidence for Higgs boson production through vector-boson fusion is reported. Results of combined fits probing Higgs boson couplings to fermions and bosons, as well as anomalous contributions to loop-induced production and decay modes, are presented. All measurements are consistent with expectations for the Standard Model Higgs boson