Identification of burglars using foil impressioning based on tool marks and DNA evidence.

In burglary cases, the skeleton keys used by burglars often leave tool marks that can not be identified. Hence, forensic trace experts can only provide investigating authorities with useful information by categorizing the lock opening method of pin tumbler lock cylinders and defining the class characteristics of the tool used. It is important to note that as per the standard processes, expensive and more time consuming DNA-tests may not be applied to this evidence type.

Sex-specific regulation of neuronal functions in Caenorhabditis elegans: the sex-determining protein TRA-1 represses goa-1/Gα.

Females and males differ substantially in various neuronal functions in divergent, sexually dimorphic animal species, including humans. Despite its developmental, physiological and medical significance, understanding the molecular mechanisms by which sex-specific differences in the anatomy and operation of the nervous system are established remains a fundamental problem in biology. Here, we show that in Caenorhabditis elegans (nematodes), the global sex-determining factor TRA-1 regulates food leaving (mate searching), male mating and adaptation to odorants in a sex-specific manner by repressing the expression of goa-1 gene, which encodes the Gα subunit of heterotrimeric G (guanine-nucleotide binding) proteins triggering physiological responses elicited by diverse neurotransmitters and sensory stimuli.

xol-1, the master sex-switch gene in C. elegans, is a transcriptional target of the terminal sex-determining factor TRA-1.

In the nematode Caenorhabditis elegans, sex is determined by the ratio of X chromosomes to sets of autosomes: XX animals (2X:2A=1.0) develop as hermaphrodites and XO animals (1X:2A=0.5) develop as males.