Mission Status for Earth Science Constellation MOWG Meeting @ Sioux Falls SD EOS Aura

This presentation provides mission operations status for the Earth Observing System (EOS) Aura satellite for the past six-months (December 2017 through May 2018). It only contains information that is of interest to the International Earth Science Constellation (ESC) Mission Operations Working Group (MOWG) member missions. It will be presented at the bi-annual MOWG Meeting at the USGS EROS Data Center in Sioux Falls, South Dakota on Wednesday, June 12, 2018. These meetings have been occurring twice a year since the MOWG was formed in 2003. The presentation has been reviewed and approved by Eric Moyer, ESMO Deputy Project Manager Technical

Enhancing Federal-Tribal Coordination of Invasive Species

Invasive species are defined by the United States government to mean “with regard to a particular ecosystem, a non-native organism whose introduction causes or is likely to cause economic or environmental harm, or harm to human, animal, or plant health” (Executive Order [EO] 13751). The ecosystems to which invasive species are introduced or spread are not delimited by jurisdictional boundaries; they intersect with lands managed by federal, tribal, state, territorial, and county governments, as well as properties under private ownership. For this reason, effective coordination and cooperation across jurisdictions is of paramount importance in the prevention, eradication, and control of invasive species. Federally recognized American Indian tribes are second only to the federal government in terms of the amount of land they manage; approximately 56.2 million acres are owned either by individual tribal members or the tribe; the title to which is held in trust by the federal government. Most trust land is within reservation boundaries, but trust land can also be off-reservation, or outside the boundaries of an Indian reservation. A large amount of additional land is owned and/or managed by Native Hawaiians and Alaska Native Corporations. For the purposes of this paper, these native land stewards will hereafter be referred to collectively as indigenous peoples. Since its establishment in 1999, the National Invasive Species Council (NISC) has acknowledged the importance of working with indigenous peoples to address invasive species issues (EO 13112). To date, six representatives of federally recognized American Indian tribes have been appointed members of the non-governmental Invasive Species Advisory Committee (ISAC) which advises NISC. The 2016–2018 NISC Management Plan calls includes a priority action (2.5.1) to: Develop recommendations for coordinating Federal agency activities to implement EO 13112 with Federally-recognized tribes, as well as Native Alaskan and Native Hawaiian communities. Adopted on December 5th, 2016, EO 13751 reiterates that federal agencies are to: Coordinate with and complement similar efforts of States, territories, federally recognized American Indian tribes, Alaska Native Corporations, Native Hawaiians, local governments, nongovernmental organizations, and the private sector. In order to further these goals, a Federal-Tribal Coordination Task Team was established under the auspices of the Invasive Species Advisory Committee (ISAC). This paper reflects the work of that task team, including internal group discussions, informal consultations with other indigenous peoples, and literature review. The task team identified the following needs and recommendations to further strengthen coordination and cooperation between the United States government and indigenous peoples in their efforts to address a shared concern: the devastating impacts of invasive species on the environment and all who depend on it for their survival and quality of life. In order to be successful, coordination efforts between federal agencies and indigenous peoples to address invasive species will need to take into consideration land rights and claims; assure indigenous peoples free, prior, and informed consent; respect and facilitate the application of traditional ecological knowledge; and enable indigenous groups to build their own legal and technical capacities to address invasive species concerns

APETALA2 control of barley internode elongation

Many plants dramatically elongate their stems during flowering, yet how this response is coordinated with the reproductive phase is unclear. We demonstrate that microRNA (miRNA) control of APETALA2 (AP2) is required for rapid, complete elongation of stem internodes in barley, especially of the final 'peduncle' internode directly underneath the inflorescence. Disrupted miR172 targeting of AP2 in the Zeo1.b barley mutant caused lower mitotic activity, delayed growth dynamics and premature lignification in the peduncle leading to fewer and shorter cells. Stage- and tissue-specific comparative transcriptomics between Zeo1.b and its parent cultivar showed reduced expression of proliferation-associated genes, ectopic expression of maturation-related genes and persistent, elevated expression of genes associated with jasmonate and stress responses. We further show that applying methyl jasmonate (MeJA) phenocopied the stem elongation of Zeo1.b, and that Zeo1.b itself was hypersensitive to inhibition by MeJA but less responsive to promotion by gibberellin. Taken together, we propose that miR172-mediated restriction of AP2 may modulate the jasmonate pathway to facilitate gibberellin-promoted stem growth during flowering

Distinct Genetic Architectures for Male and Female Inflorescence Traits of Maize

We compared the genetic architecture of thirteen maize morphological traits in a large population of recombinant inbred lines. Four traits from the male inflorescence (tassel) and three traits from the female inflorescence (ear) were measured and studied using linkage and genome-wide association analyses and compared to three flowering and three leaf traits previously studied in the same population. Inflorescence loci have larger effects than flowering and leaf loci, and ear effects are larger than tassel effects. Ear trait models also have lower predictive ability than tassel, flowering, or leaf trait models. Pleiotropic loci were identified that control elongation of ear and tassel, consistent with their common developmental origin. For these pleiotropic loci, the ear effects are larger than tassel effects even though the same causal polymorphisms are likely involved. This implies that the observed differences in genetic architecture are not due to distinct features of the underlying polymorphisms. Our results support the hypothesis that genetic architecture is a function of trait stability over evolutionary time, since the traits that changed most during the relatively recent domestication of maize have the largest effects

The human body at cellular resolution: the NIH Human Biomolecular Atlas Program

Abstract: Transformative technologies are enabling the construction of three-dimensional maps of tissues with unprecedented spatial and molecular resolution. Over the next seven years, the NIH Common Fund Human Biomolecular Atlas Program (HuBMAP) intends to develop a widely accessible framework for comprehensively mapping the human body at single-cell resolution by supporting technology development, data acquisition, and detailed spatial mapping. HuBMAP will integrate its efforts with other funding agencies, programs, consortia, and the biomedical research community at large towards the shared vision of a comprehensive, accessible three-dimensional molecular and cellular atlas of the human body, in health and under various disease conditions

2016 Research & Innovation Day Program

A one day showcase of applied research, social innovation, scholarship projects and activities.https://first.fanshawec.ca/cri_cripublications/1003/thumbnail.jp