Category Archives: DNA

RICHMOND, Va. (WRIC) On day two of the Thomas Clark murder and rape trial, a DNA expert with the Virginia Department of Forensic Science testified that Clarks DNA cannot be eliminated as a match to DNA found on Suzanne Fairmans body, in addition to DNA found on several items at the crime scene.

Scientists explained that they wont declare that DNA matches with 100% certainty. Instead, they will eliminate a persons DNA if its too unlikely to be a match. If its more likely the persons DNA does indeed match the sample, scientists will say the person cannot be eliminated as a DNA contributor.

In addition to samples taken from Fairmans body, Clark cannot be eliminated as a DNA contributor on several items found in the bathroom where Fairman died, including the handle of a steak knife likely used to hold Fairman at knifepoint. She lived alone.

Clark faces first-degree murder, rape, and abduction with intent to defile charges after Fairman was found dead, face-up in the bathtub of her Tanlgewood road home on May 9, 2019. Clark had been hired as a contractor by Fairman around the time she was killed.

According to family, before the victim died, she told the contractors that she wasnt happy with the work done on her deck and asked them to fix it. Ultimately, they came back and corrected the work.

Fairman was found dead shortly after that.

The trial began at the John Marshall Courthouse on Monday. During opening arguments, prosecutors described what happened as every womans worst nightmare. Jury selection ultimately took more than three hours.

On Tuesday, prosecutors rested their case around 5:15 p.m. after calling more than a dozen witnesses to testify. Witnesses included a medical examiner, who exposed more about the brutality of the crime and how Fairman died by getting strangled.

Every layer of muscle in that neck was bloody, said the medical examiner, who added that something must have been placed far into Fairmans neck to damage the base of her tongue. It was a tear-jerking testimony for some jurors and Fairmans family watching and listening in the courtroom.

During testimony Tuesday, prosecutors revealed that during a phone call while in jail, Clark mentioned details of how the victim was left. These were details that detectives said they hadnt told him or released to the public, specifically that Fairman was submerged in water. The detectives who interviewed Clark after the crime testified that they only told Clark that Fairman had been murdered.

The suspect also said that he did not have a romantic relationship with Fairman and only had sexual encounters with his girlfriend, who he lived with.

Also among those testifying Tuesday was an FBI cellular analysis expert who reviewed both the victim and the suspects cell phone records from the weeks leading up to the murder. According to the expert, cell phone tower records place Clarks cell phone in Fairmans neighborhood two different times that he didnt tell police about, including the exact time frame in which she would have been killed.

During testimony, a medical examiner said Fairman would have been killed any time between 2:30 a.m. on May 8 to 6:30 p.m. on May 9. The cellular analysis expert said a cell phone tower picked up Clarks phone in the victims neighborhood between 3 p.m. and 5:15 p.m. on May 9, the night she was found.

The defense, Ali Amirshahi, tried to discredit that point by questioning if the cell phone data is accurate and suggested that someone else could have been using Clarks phone. Lending his phone to a friend is something Amirshahi said Clark frequently did.

On May 14, the suspect told police theres no way his DNA is near her body. Two days later on May 16, the suspect told investigators that he hadnt been back to Fairmans home since finishing the contractor work at least two and a half weeks prior.

I think you did go back the RPD detective said in the interview.

During testimony on Tuesday afternoon, a forensic scientist testified that Thomas Clarks DNA couldnt be eliminated as a match to DNA found on several items at the crime scene, including Fairmans underwear, a sample taken from her body, and a bandana. Clark had admitted that he left a bandana at her house when working on the home.

A bloody knife and glove were also found in the bathroom. Prosecutors have not tied the knife to any of Fairmans injuries, but DNA experts confirmed that it is very likely the blood on the knife is Fairmans. Detectives also said that she was at some time held at knife point.

During the trial, Amirshahi has repeatedly questioned the accuracy of several testimonials, including how the cell phone data was collected and if DNA could have been cross-contaminated during sampling. Its not clear how the defense attorney plans to defend his client. He hasnt had a chance to call witnesses but will do so on Wednesday morning.

Clark deserves a fair trial here, he told the jury during opening statements, adding theres no doubt that she was murdered, a horrible crime occurred The question is who did it? Are you convinced beyond reasonable doubt that he did it?

When Fairman was found, a laptop, journal, and cup of steeping tea were sitting out in her kitchen. On Tuesday, prosecutors rested their case by having Scott Fairman, the victims son, read one of her journal entries aloud for the jury.

Im most appreciative of my life and my family. My safe house, Scott Fairman read.

Amirshahi then made a motion to strike the three charges, which prosecutors argued against and the judge ultimately denied.

According to online records, Clark has a lengthy criminal history, including a rape conviction in Alexandria in 1988.

The trial will continue on Wednesday morning.

Original post:
Thomas Clark trial: Expert witnesses tie rape and murder suspects DNA and cell phone to crime scene - 8News

Electric vehicle makers are all the rage in 2021 and General Motors GM, -0.85% and Ford Motor F, -0.87% have made tremendous strides in growing their EV businesses, but investment manager Cathie Wood says it may be too little, too late for those traditional car manufacturers.

Wood said that GM and Ford are seeing stellar stock performances this year, with investors giving them some credit for their attempts to shift from internal combustion engines, or ICE, to electric vehicles. The big challenge though is that EV manufacturing is not inherent to those companies.

And the reason is they dont have the DNA for this brave new world, said Wood during an interview with MarketWatch sister publication Barrons in a Wednesday afternoon interview.

Wood said that Ford and GM wereborn in the industrial, gas-powered age and said that they have to make one giant leapto transform their ICE focused businesses. Ford was founded in 1903 and GM was founded in 1908, but both have recently emerged with promising EV vehicles to compete with the likes of Tesla Inc. TSLA, +3.71%.

Shares of Ford are up 126% so far this year, bringing the companys market cap to around $80 billion; GMs shares, meanwhile, are up 55% for this year, with its market cap at $94 billion.

Investors have been keenly focused on the performance of EV upstarts like Lucid Group LCID, +17.34%, whose surge in recent sessions brought its market cap to $91 billion on Tuesday. A rally in Rivian Automotive Inc. RIVN, +4.23%, which recently made its debut on the Nasdaq, saw its shares surge, bringing its total value to $150 billion.

Wood is a renowned money manager, whose funds focus on making investments in disruptive innovations and she manages the flagship $20.7 billionARK Innovation ETF ARKK, -0.51%. ARK Innovation had been a highflier in 2021 until a rotation out of growth stocks helped to pummel her vehicle which is down 6% so far in 2021.

By comparison, the Dow Jones Industrial Average DJIA, -0.75% was up 17% in the year to date, the S&P 500 index SPX, -0.14% was rising nearly 25%, and the technology-heavy Nasdaq Composite Index COMP, +0.40% was up nearly 24%.

Continued here:
Why is there no EV love for Ford and GM? Cathie Wood says 'they don't have the DNA for this brave new world' of electric cars - MarketWatch

It is unlikely that as a Cisco customer or person that reads blogs.cisco.com you have not seen or heard of Cisco DNA Center. While they have done an impressive job with Cisco DNA Center- the talk is often about the technical merits, intents and functions. As we talk of cross domain, I want to cross the domain from what Cisco DNA Center does to why you should move to the solution in terms of business outcomes and user experience.

[Link]

Recently there has been a lot of talk about Prime Infrastructure to Cisco DNA Center migration. It is important to call-out that while Prime Infrastructure is a network management/monitoring tool, Cisco DNA Center is a platform that does so much more - helping companies accelerate their digital transformation by providing insights, automation, and security across their networks in new and innovative ways.

So why should we move our IT organization to Cisco DNA Center? Part of my answer is that if you want to continue to run IT as we did 10 to 15 years ago - Prime Infrastructure will suit you just fine. However, if you are in a business that is growing, actively working on its digital transformation, grappling with hybrid work, wanting to leverage artificial intelligence and machine learning, or overall want to be more efficient, then you should read on.

Just as we see electric cars redefining transportation, Cisco DNA Center is redefining enterprise infrastructure software and network management. It is transforming infrastructure organizations across so many different use cases and personas including AIOPS, NETOPS, SECOPS, and DEVOPS which is no small endeavor.

In talking to various CIO's and IT leaders, a common question comes up; "How do I turn IT into a competitive advantage for my organization?". I interpret the question to be, "How do I use my IT infrastructure to drive business outcomes?" It is my belief that there are countless opportunities to differentiate depending on your industry sector.

My top 5 reasons why your organization would benefit from Cisco DNA Center:

Your Reputation

Reputation is critical. An IT organization's reputation comes from delivery of services and uptime. As network infrastructure has reached the status of utility - everyone expects to have the infrastructure up and running 24/7, anything less than that can hurt the organizational reputation. The fact that Cisco DNA Center can help prevent outages and drastically shorten Mean Time to Resolution (MTTR) directly contributes to reputation. At the University, we are proud of the reputation our IT department has established and it is in large part due to the success we have had with Cisco DNA Center.

Visibility

Visibility; It is impossible to manage that which you can not see. As today's infrastructure is everywhere, especially with the proliferation of wireless and IoT, visibility into the network with streaming telemetry enhances IT's ability to monitor and manage the infrastructure. With AI/ML it enables visibility not possible before. As an innovative University IT, with Cisco DNA Center, we have gained tremendous new insights into the health of our entire network estate infrastructure previously not possible with Prime Infrastructure.

Automation

Automation and orchestration is something a lot of IT organizations talk about, but largely speaking, it is more commonly seen managing cloud applications, not network infrastructure. Cisco DNA Center helps with automation workflows which saves time, effort, and creates consistency across the infrastructure and can help eliminate operator errors, the leading cause of outages. The IT staff is so much happier not having to worry about making errors when doing high volume or highly repetitive tasks.

User Experience

User Experience is king - if your IT team does not have a way to measure and track the user experience, it is hard to deliver what you can't measure. That being said, there are a plethora of different ways to track and measure wired and wireless user experience with Cisco DNA Center. Measuring user experience with Cisco DNA Center is a topic unto itself and warrants its own blog, so stay tuned for that. But so far, our student, faculty, and guest user experience has been dramatically improved since using Cisco DNA Center.

Proactive Management/Actions

Proactive Actions - The fact is that "IT" is a service organization and as we strive to perform service improvement - we make every effort to become more and more proactive. Cisco DNA Center has been able to redefine proactive AI/ML and the ability to identify early stages of failures and allow notification and intervention before it becomes a user-impacting event.

The Machine Reasoning Engine (MRE) is another capability that leverages artificial intelligence (AI) to automate complex network operation workflows. It is like having a 30-year Cisco veteran standing behind your shoulder when you are trying to solve a difficult problem by automatically troubleshooting the issues, identifying the most probable root cause, and providing the recommended corrective action. The MRE is powered by a cloud-hosted knowledge base, built by Cisco, and will progressively give you more and more options to not only automatically troubleshoot issues, but to automatically resolve and remediate them as well.

Security

Information/Cyber security is one of the holy grails of IT. I am guessing many struggle with what is more important, user experience or information security. The good news is that they are complementary with Cisco DNA Center. Cisco DNA Center can help keep the network in compliance with software, best practices, and security advisories. It can also provide visibility to the InfoSec department about the security posture of the infrastructure. To top the icing on the cake, Cisco DNA Center is also able to install hot patches on equipment with IOX-SE without system reloads. This is huge from the aspect that we can react quickly to security remediation when we can do it without having to take downtime.

I know I said top five - but it worked itself into a Top 6 list. The reality is that I can go on and on as with each new release of Cisco DNA Center, there are tons of new features, workflows and innovations added to the platform. Deploying Cisco DNA Center into an organization and realizing its full potential can take some time and effort - but it is super easy to get started and start seeing value right away. There is also an abundance of resources to help your organization achieve its goals and progressively add capabilities at the pace that makes sense to your organization. But rest assured, it will improve how your organization operates and functions and can really add significant business value across your business.

To that end, I wanted to conclude with some tangible business value and benefits that organizations can yield from Cisco DNA Center. As always your mileage may vary (YMMV) depending on your organization.

Ticket Resolution Time (MTTR metric)

Reduction in Tickets

Within 90 days of activity using Cisco DNA Center assurance to optimize the network, we have seen:

Cost Savings/Operational Efficiency improvements

Business Confidence

Learn More

Cisco DNA Center Readiness tool for Cisco Prime Infrastructure

Cisco DNA Center Home Page

Check out our Cisco Networking video channel

Subscribe to the Networking blog

Share:

Read more from the original source:
Cisco : The Business Why's of migration to Cisco DNA Center - marketscreener.com

Celebrating our thirty-sixth anniversary this year,DNA Lounge has been one of San Francisco's most popular nightclubssince 1985, hosting an always-eclectic variety of events,including all-ages live music, 18+ dance parties, burlesque shows,lecture series and private parties. Two stages, four dance floors, seven bars and a full-servicelate-night restaurant and cafe!

Most recently declared both "Best Dance Club" and "Best Live MusicVenue" in the SF Weekly Readers' Poll, DNA Lounge has won over 60"best of" awards from local publications like The Guardian, SF Weeklyand 7x7 Magazine, and has been voted "Best Dance Club" every yearsince 2008.

Because antivaxxers have ruined it for everybody, you will be required to show proof of full vaccination before entering DNA Lounge: either your original CDC Vaccination Card (not a copy or photo); or a SMART Health QR Code, downloadable from myvaccinerecord.cdph.ca.gov and participating states and networks. A valid, government-issued photo ID is also required for entry.

You must wear a mask while indoors.

Partially vaccinated? No. Negative test? No. Student ID? No.

Buy tickets for this week's shows

Support DNA Lounge!

Your donation helps ensure that we can continue bringing you the kind of awesome, eclectic and weird events that you've come to expect from us! Your donation keeps us independent, and lets us continue to take chances on the kind of local live entertainment that makes San Francisco great. Won't you pitch in?

Read more here:
DNA Lounge

Vanderbilt University researchers used neutrons at ORNL to reveal the hydrogen bonding patterns between water molecules (shown in blue) and DNA. The findings could help provide insights into how water influences DNA function. Credit: ORNL/Jill Hemman

Water plays several important roles within the human body, even affecting the DNA in our cells. The entire surface of a DNA double helix is coated in layers of water molecules. This sheath of water attaches to the genetic material through hydrogen bonds, made by sharing hydrogen atoms between molecules. Through hydrogen bonds, water can influence how DNA takes shape and interacts with other molecules. In some cases, water can help proteins recognize DNA sequences.

Scientists can estimate where hydrogen bonds occur and how hydrogen atoms are shared, but it is difficult to gather experimental evidence. A research team led by Vanderbilt University has used a method that successfully captured the most detailed view to date of waters hydrogen bonding patterns around DNA, opening new possibilities for studying how water impacts DNA function. Details on the methodology and the results, produced in part through neutron scattering at the Department of Energys (DOEs) Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL), are published in the journal Nucleic Acids Research.

Water serves as a mediator between DNA and other molecules, even for very specific interactions. Before any molecule can bind to a segment of DNA, it must first go through this water shell, said Martin Egli, a biochemistry professor at Vanderbilt University and corresponding author of the study. To advance our understanding of DNA processes, its important to know exactly what the surrounding water does and how it arranges itself around molecules.

X-ray diffraction experiments have shed light on where water molecules are located around DNA, but the hydrogen bonding patterns between these molecules have remained hidden. Neutrons, on the other hand, are more sensitive to light elements, like the hydrogen atoms in water, which enable researchers to determine where hydrogen bonds occur and from which molecules they originate.

With x-rays, the typical electron density you get for a water molecule is a sphere, like a soccer ball. You cannot see hydrogen atoms, so the molecule has no directionality to it, said Leighton Coates, an ORNL scientist involved in this study. Whereas, with neutrons, water molecules look more like boomerangs. You can see how the hydrogens are oriented and determine hydrogen bonding patterns.

To conduct this research, the team used a crystalized sample of a well-studied DNA fragment with six base pairs, alternating between cytosine and guanine. Known as d(CGCGCG), this fragment was the first DNA sequence to have its crystal structure determined in 1979. Using a deuterium oxide solution, the scientists replaced many of the hydrogen atoms in the fragment with deuterium atoms. Deuterium, an isotope of hydrogen, is seen differently by neutrons compared with hydrogen, allowing the researchers to use deuterium to selectively collect information on the DNA and water structures.

The research team collected neutron diffraction data on this fragment using the macromolecular neutron diffractometer (MaNDi) at ORNLs Spallation Neutron Source (SNS). To reduce water movement, the team cooled the sample to 100 K (nearly 280F) using cold nitrogen gas.

By lowering water mobility in our sample, we can keep the water molecules in a lattice-like arrangement, allowing us to lock down where they are and how they are positioned, said Egli. If we collected this data at room temperature, the positions of many water molecules would essentially be smeared, distributed over various locations in space.

With neutrons, we could also differentiate water molecules by the number of hydrogen bonds, such as whether they are involved in multiple bonds or just one, added Joel Harp, a research assistant professor of biochemistry at Vanderbilt University and study co-author.

X-ray diffraction experiments were performed on a similar crystal at the Biomolecular Crystallography Facility at the Vanderbilt University Center for Structural Biology to determine where the oxygen atoms of water molecules are situated around the DNA fragment.

By combining these complementary techniques, the researchers achieved the most detailed analysis yet of water molecule orientations around a DNA double helix. They captured the orientations of 64 water molecules either in direct contact with the DNA fragment or nearby. The study revealed how hydrogen bonds are donated or accepted by water molecules within prominent parts of the DNA structure, including inside its grooves and around its sugar-phosphate backbone. Some of the hydrogen bonds were unexpected, going against previous assumptions, demonstrating that this method could help verify molecular dynamics models for DNA water networks.

The research team is now using this method to study how water behaves around other macromolecules, such as RNA.

Now, I believe its time to apply what we have learned in more challenging projects, said Egli. Water is such a basic entity of life, and there are still many things to be discovered.

Reference: Water structure around a left-handed Z-DNA fragment analyzed by cryo neutron crystallography by Joel M Harp, Leighton Coates, Brendan Sullivan and Martin Egli, 19 April 2021, Nucleic Acids Research.DOI: 10.1093/nar/gkab264

This research was supported by the DOE Office of Science and the National Institutes of Health (NIH).

Go here to read the rest:
Neutron Crystallography Takes a Deep Dive Into Water Networks Surrounding DNA - SciTechDaily

As a result of this report, the body of a 15-year old boy who had disappeared at Srebrenica was identified. This marked the start of a revolutionary new process using advanced database and DNA technology to identify large numbers of persons missing from armed conflict and human rights abuses.

Working with families of the missing and governments in the Western Balkans, ICMP became the first organization to successfully implement a population-based, DNA-led identification process in a post-conflict environment. The use of DNA not only increased the speed of identifications, but also provided irrefutable evidence of a persons identity that could be linked back to the original crime scene, said Kathryne Bomberger, Director-General of ICMP.

As she stated this process has enabled families of the missing to secure their rights to truth and justice and has laid the foundations for an honest reckoning of atrocities that were committed.

It has helped to uncover the truth about war crimes and I hope that it will prevent the political manipulation of the missing persons issue, she added.

Following the conflicts in the former Yugoslavia more than 40,000 persons were reported missing. ICMP supported the work of families of the missing and the regional governments starting in 1996. In addition to supporting the investigation into thousands of missing persons cases, to creating purpose-specific legislation and to enabling the establishment of impartial missing persons institutions, ICMP collected data, including genetic reference samples from over 100,000 families of the missing who voluntarily provided their data.

This means that all families, regardless of nationality religion, gender, or any other factor, participate in efforts to find their missing relatives. In addition, ICMP received over 60,000 post-mortem samples from governments and issued 41,055 DNA-match reports enabling DNA to be used as the frontline of regional identification efforts.

This unprecedented achievement includes identifying 7,000 of the approximately 8,000 persons missing from the Srebrenica Genocide, announced the ICMP.

See the original post:
ICMP issued its first DNA match report on this day 20 years ago Sarajevo Times - Sarajevo Times

DNA kits are useful, popular ways for discovering your roots, as well as identifying potential health conditions. AncestryDNA and 23andMe are the most well-known consumer DNA services, and they cost roughly the same amount of money. So, which DNA kit should you pick to learn more about your family history and genetics? We pit the DNA giants against each other to help you make an informed decision.

OnceAncestryprocesses your DNA sample, your dashboard displays an interactive map of your ethnicity estimate, possible DNA matches, and a map of where your ancestors lived. If you cancel your account, you can download your raw DNA report and take it with you.

Ancestry continually updates your results as the company collects more reference samples and builds better tools. My profile was last updated in September 2021. Subscribers can access an array of historical records, including Census data; create family trees; and contact other Ancestry members.

The company offers three subscription options: AncestryDNA (the original version), AncestryDNA + World Explorer Membership, and AncestryDNA Traits + All Access Membership. The World Explorer Membership opens up access to international records, and the All Access Membership includes access to Fold3 and Newspapers.com. Fold3 has over half a million military records and millions of nonmilitary. A membership to Newspapers.com comes with more than 2 billion articles that go back to the 1700s.

The third-tier plan includes AncestryDNA Traits, which tests for more than 30 traits. These tests reveal many traits, including eye color, vitamin levels, and muscle fatigue. You can view how AncestryDNA determined your results, and learn which factors besides genetics affect those traits, such as diet.

23andMereports cover a few categories: Ancestry Composition, DNA Relatives List, Neanderthal Ancestry, and Maternal and Paternal haplogroups. You unearth more detail by interacting with the map on the ancestry composition page, including the exact heritage percentages. You can also see the last time when that information was updated (our data was refreshed in June 2021).

Based on your mitochondrial (maternal) DNA, the maternal haplogroup section shows which haplogroup you belong to, as well as subgroups. People in the same haplogroup have a common ancestor. For example, the haplogroup T2b shares an ancestor who lived 10,000 years ago; most people in this haplogroup live in Europe. The Y chromosome determines paternal haplogroups.

If you're genetically male (as in, you have an X chromosome and a Y chromosome), you can view both your maternal and paternal lines. People with two X chromosomes can't access this data unless their father or brother submits their DNA.

23andMe offers three options: Ancestry + Traits Service; Health + Ancestry Service; and 23andMe+ membership, including the Health + Ancestry kit. The membership includes more in-depth health information, advanced DNA Relative filters, and access to more than three times the DNA Relatives.

Winner:23andMe

AncestryDNA briefly offered DNA-based health testing starting in 2019, but discontinued the service in winter 2020 to focus on its core products. Members who used this product during its brief lifespan had a chance to download their results in 2020, but they're no longer available in their profiles.

23andMe's Health and Traits reports are available in several categories, such as Health Predisposition, Carrier Status, and Wellness. The company tests for many conditions, including Celiac disease, macular degeneration, and Type-2 diabetes. As mentioned earlier, it also tests for traits like your alcohol flush reaction, muscle composition, and even asparagus odor detection (very likely in our case). The company continues to add new reports.

Even if you've opted out of health testing, you can optionally fill out 23andMe's health questionnaires to help with company research. You can also choose to save your saliva samples at 23andMe's labs for future testing. Otherwise, 23andMe will destroy your sample once it's processed (Ancestry will destroy your sample on request).

Winner:23andMe

AncestryDNA searches its database for matches using the service's DNA Matches feature. Only your username, possible relationship, and genetic ethnicity are visible to other members. AncestryDNA continues to search for matches as its database grows.

Ancestry started as family tree software, and it incorporates your AncestryDNA results into your existing family trees. Aside from that, AncestryDNA has a feature called ThruLines, which uses public Ancestry family trees and your private trees to show common ancestors you share with your matches. It also displays potential ancestors from your grandparents to multiples of great grandparents. If you mouse over a probable ancestor, AncestryDNA shows you how many DNA matches are in its system. You can view as much information about your matches as the matches allow, which can be as little as their relationship to you.

Like AncestryDNA, 23andMe looks for DNA matches among its other members, but only if you opt-in to its DNA Relatives program. You'll get email alerts about possible matches and their relationship with you. You can turn on open sharing to make specific details available for other members, such as your full name. If you leave this off, other users must send you a share request. Depending on profile settings, you can either send a message or an introduction.

Winner:Ancestry

AncestryDNA and 23andMe are both excellent DNA testing services, but they have different focuses. The former is a good choice if youre building a family tree, but the latter has robust health-testing capabilities, and rich reports on maternal/paternal lines and Neanderthal ancestry.In short, 23andMe is the DNA kit you should buy if you're looking for a wide view of your genetics.

Overall Winner:23andMe

Note that it's not just your family's human members whose ancestry might interest you.The best dog DNA test kitscan help you tell a Maltese from a mutt, and we've reviewed the top choices in that category.

Sign up for Lab Report to get the latest reviews and top product advice delivered right to your inbox.

This newsletter may contain advertising, deals, or affiliate links. Subscribing to a newsletter indicates your consent to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. You may unsubscribe from the newsletters at any time.

Read more here:
AncestryDNA vs. 23andMe: Which DNA Kit Delivers the Best Genetic Information? - PCMag.com

Walmart Inc. says it is prepared to overcome widespread COVID-related challenges this holiday season thanks to its long history dealing with similar problems and some new tools that are keeping its systems running smoothly.

Walmart WMT, -0.71% reported third-quarter earnings and revenue that beat Street estimates on Tuesday, and raised its full-year profit guidance. And while supply chain bottlenecks have delayed the movement of goods around the world, Walmart says its U.S. inventory is up 11.5% ahead of the holidays.

Fighting inflation is in our DNA, said Doug McMillon, chief executive of Walmart, on the earnings call, according to a FactSet transcript.

Walmart has served customers across economic cycles for more than 50 years.

McMillon highlighted Walmarts efforts to maintain speedy delivery, and its broader initiatives, like Walmart GoLocal, the delivery-as-a-service business that counts Home Depot Inc. HD, +0.56% as a partner.

See: Home Depot teams up with Walmarts GoLocal for speedy delivery service

Walmart was among the large retailers like included Home Depot, Target Corp. TGT, -4.82% and others that chartered their own ships to transport merchandise as bottlenecks snarled traffic at ports and elsewhere in the supply chain.

Also: Walmart, Target, Home Depot and other large retailers are chartering ships to bypass supply chain problems. Will the strategy save Christmas?

In addition, the company has an advertising arm and Walmart Luminate, which launched in the U.S. and provides data and insight to merchants and suppliers, that it says are showing results.

Stores and fulfillment centers are well staffed, and ourpriceposition remains strong, said Brett Biggs, Walmarts chief financial officer, on the call.

Customers should expect to find the items they want at great values, and we are ready to serve them however they want to shop.

Even with these additional areas of business, Walmarts bread and butter remains robust.

Grocery sales were up nearly 10% as strong unit growth and low-to-mid-single-digit inflation benefited results, Biggs said.

In fact, food sales grew $3.6 billion during Q3 which is the strongest quarterly growth in six quarters.

BMO Capital Markets analysts highlighted the grocery market share gains in its post-earnings note. BMO rates Walmart stock outperform with a $170 price target.

Read: U.S. retail sales jump 1.7%, but high inflation plays role

Brent Ramos, director of product and services at marketing insight and analytics firm Adswerve, says the retail giants focus on data is helping it to grow.

From shoppable live streams this holiday season to sponsored recipes on social media platforms and upgrading its online holiday delivery services, Walmart has been able to drive a constant stream of traffic and engagement to its site and app, Ramos said.

CFRA rates Walmart stock buy with a $169 price target.

Walmart is navigating the tough supply chain environment well[] which should result in a strong holiday season, Arun Sundaram wrote.

We expect market share gains to continue since Walmarts price gap versus competition typically widens during periods of heightened inflation.

Despite the positive results, Walmart shares slipped 2.6% in Tuesday trading. The stock is down 0.7% for the year to date.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average DJIA, -0.49% has gained 18.1% for 2021 so far.

See original here:
'Fighting inflation is in our DNA': Walmart says its pricing and inventory can deliver for the holidays - MarketWatch

The DNA Doe Project says forensic investigators determined woman was between 30-50 years old, who stood 4'-5'2 and weighed 115 pounds.

KILGORE, Texas The DNA Doe Project has taken on the case of identifying the body of a woman who was found in the Kilgore area on Dec. 23, 2000.

According to the group, a Native American woman was found between railroad tracks and a creek along Spinks Chapman Rd., about five miles northeast of Kilgore.

The woman was wearing a white Adidas shirt with black stripes on the sleeve, blue jeans, white undergarments and brown leather shoes from Mexico.

The DNA Doe Project says forensic investigators determined woman was between 30-50 years old, who stood 4'-5'2 and weighed 115 pounds.

"While initially thought to be African American, DNA results from Parabon Nano Labs, Inc. indicate she was almost entirely Native American," the DNA Doe Project said. "The analysis also showed the woman had black hair, brown or dark eyes, and light brown skin."

Officials believe the woman died sometime between 1999-2000.

In Jan. 2019, the DNA Doe Project helped identify the body of another woman who was found in Kilgore, formerly known as "Lavender Doe."

Lavender Doe's charred body was found on Oct. 29, 2006, just north of Kilgore, in a heavily wooded area off of Frtiz Swanson Rd.

In August 2018, Joseph Wayne Burnette, of Longview, confessed to "Lavender Doe's" murder after he was arrested in connection with the death of Felisha Pearson, to which he also admitted he was responsible.

After 15 years, "Lavender Doe" she was identified as Dana Lynn Dodd.

Burnette was later sentenced to prison for Dodd and Pearson's murders.

Read the original:
DNA Doe Project seeking to identify woman in 21-year-old East Texas cold case - CBS19.tv KYTX

Breadcrumb Trail Links

June Lindsey, who died in Ottawa earlier this month at the age of 99, is considered by some to be one of the unsung heroes of science.

Author of the article:

Publishing date:

When Ottawa scientist Dr. Alex MacKenzie met June Lindsey at a family birthday party in 2017, he politely asked what kind of science she had studied as a young woman.

This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below.

Her answer, and his subsequent research into her work, stunned MacKenzie and led him on a quest to have Lindseys pivotal contribution to the discovery of DNA recognized.

Lindsey, who died in Ottawa earlier this month at the age of 99, is considered by some to be one of the unsung heroes of science. Born and educated in England, she spent most of her life raising a family and living quietly in Ottawa.

Her death has renewed calls that she be formally recognized both at Cambridge University and in Canada for her contribution to one of sciences greatest discoveries: DNA.

I would love, ultimately, for her to be known, never mind plaques and prizes, said MacKenzie, a molecular biologist at the CHEO Research Institute. Just if, when one speaks about the double helix, people were aware of her contribution.

This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below.

That contribution is significant. The structural work she completed for her PhD thesis was seen as essential to the discovery of the double helix by James Watson and Francis Crick just four years later in 1953.

When MacKenzie Googled Lindseys doctoral work, soon after meeting her, the hair stood up on the back of his neck. I knew that was a central piece in the double helix. He found others over the years who were concerned that she had not been recognized.

Publicly, Lindsey tended to be self-effacing about her work, saying during a 2019 interview : I dont think about it.

But in the weeks before her death, she told MacKenzie that his efforts to shine light on the significance of her work had changed her life.

Born in a small Yorkshire village, June Broomhead, as she was then, was the first girl from her school to attend Cambridge University on a full scholarship. She excelled at physics and math, but since girls were not taught Latin at the time, she needed tutoring from a teacher at the local boys grammar school in order to qualify.

This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below.

She completed her undergraduate studies in 1944 at Cambridges Newnham Womens College, but it would be 50 years before she was granted a BA. When she finished school, Cambridge did not grant degrees to women. She later said that her heart was in Cambridge.

After a stint teaching, Lindsey returned to her beloved Cambridge to pursue a PhD, working in the storied Cavendish Laboratory where Crick and Watson would discover DNA for which they won a Nobel Prize in 1962.

Using a technique called X-ray crystallography, she worked out the physical structures of adenine and guanine, two chemical compounds known as purines, which are the largest and most complex of the four nucleic acids that make up DNA.

That structural information proved to be essential for the later discovery of the zipper-like structure of DNAs double helix.

This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below.

In fact, her doctoral work described an interaction known as a hydrogen bond. In his book The Double Helix, Watson describes how looking at her work led to his epiphany about the structure of DNA.

I was drawing the fused rings of adenine on paper. Suddenly I realized the potentially profound implications of a DNA structure in which the adenine residue formed hydrogen bonds similar to those found in crystals of pure adenine. Watson had realized the hydrogen bonds could serve as the zipper for the two nucleic acid strands, making up the double helix.

Over the following three days, using metal models based in part on Lindseys molecular dimensions, Watson arrived at the final double helix structure.

Lindsey also worked at Oxford University and the National Research Council in Ottawa, discovering the structures of vitamin B12, morphine and codeine.

This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below.

She met her husband, Canadian George Lindsey, at the Cavendish Laboratory when they were both working on PhDs. He was studying nuclear physics. A polymath, George Lindsey, who was related to William Lyon Mackenzie, did military defence work during the Cold War and, among other things, helped to create sabermetrics, featured in the movie Moneyball.

June Lindsey, who firmly believed women could either have a career or a family, but not both, gave up work to concentrate on raising their children, Robin and Jane. Robin is a professor in the operations and logistics division of the University of British Columbias Sauder School of Business. Jane is a senior research scientist at Harvards T.H. Chan School of Public Health.

This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below.

Jane Lindsey said her mother didnt think what she did was that special. She was just doing her PhD. I dont think she thinks she deserved any recognition.

But many others do.

And while Lindseys contemporary at Cambridge, Rosalind Franklin, has now been recognized for her contribution to the discovery of DNA with plaques and buildings and prizes named after her, Lindsey has not. MacKenzie and others maintain Lindseys work was more crucial to the discovery of DNA.

A cameo of June Broomhead has, however, been written into a script for a movie about Franklin, should that ever be made, say her children.

MacKenzie said it is difficult to overstate how critical Lindseys work was to the discovery of DNA and how egregious it is that she has not been recognized.

The double helix was one of the most important puzzle-solvings of the 20thcentury, potentially in all of history, he said. And June Lindsey described the pieces of that jigsaw puzzle and showed how they might be linked together.

This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below.

Sign up to receive daily headline news from Ottawa Citizen, a division of Postmedia Network Inc.

A welcome email is on its way. If you don't see it, please check your junk folder.

The next issue of Ottawa Citizen Headline News will soon be in your inbox.

We encountered an issue signing you up. Please try again

Postmedia is committed to maintaining a lively but civil forum for discussion and encourage all readers to share their views on our articles. Comments may take up to an hour for moderation before appearing on the site. We ask you to keep your comments relevant and respectful. We have enabled email notificationsyou will now receive an email if you receive a reply to your comment, there is an update to a comment thread you follow or if a user you follow comments. Visit our Community Guidelines for more information and details on how to adjust your email settings.

Link:
Obituary: 'Unsung hero' of science laid the ground work for epoch DNA discovery - Ottawa Citizen