A common phytoene synthase mutation underlies white petal varieties of the California poppy.

The California poppy (Eschscholzia californica) is renowned for its brilliant golden-orange flowers, though white petal variants have been described. By whole-transcriptome sequencing, we have discovered in multiple white petal varieties a single deletion leading to altered splicing and C-terminal truncation of phytoene synthase (PSY), a key enzyme in carotenoid biosynthesis. Our findings underscore the diverse roles of phytoene synthase in shaping horticultural traits, and resolve a longstanding mystery of the regaled golden poppy

Using Kotter’s Eight Stage Process to Manage an Organisational Change Program: Presentation and Practice

© 2014, Springer Science+Business Media New York. Kotter’s eight stage process for creating a major change is one of the most widely recognised models for change management, and yet there are few case studies in the academic literature that enquire into how this process has been used in practice. This paper describes a change manager’s action research enquiring into the use of this Process to manage a major organisational change. The change was initiated in response to the organisation’s ageing workforce, introducing a knowledge management program focusing on the interpersonal aspects of knowledge retention. Although Kotter’s process emphasises a top-led model for change, the change team found it was necessary to engage at many levels of the organisation to implement the organisational change. The process is typically depicted as a linear sequence of steps. However, this image of the change process was found to not represent the complexity of the required action. Managing the change required the change team to facilitate multiple concurrent instances of Kotter’s process throughout the organisation, to re-create change that was locally relevant to participants in the change process

Land landing couch dynamics computer program

Computer programs perform landing stability studies of mechanical impact system designs for advanced spacecraft. The programs consider variation in spacecraft vertical and horizontal velocity, attitude and orientation, shock strut load-stroke characteristics, and ground coefficient of friction

Carbon Free Boston: Waste Technical Report

Part of a series of reports that includes: Carbon Free Boston: Summary Report; Carbon Free Boston: Social Equity Report; Carbon Free Boston: Technical Summary; Carbon Free Boston: Buildings Technical Report; Carbon Free Boston: Transportation Technical Report; Carbon Free Boston: Energy Technical Report; Carbon Free Boston: Offsets Technical Report; Available at http://sites.bu.edu/cfb/OVERVIEW: For many people, their most perceptible interaction with their environmental footprint is through the waste that they generate. On a daily basis people have numerous opportunities to decide whether to recycle, compost or throwaway. In many cases, such options may not be present or apparent. Even when such options are available, many lack the knowledge of how to correctly dispose of their waste, leading to contamination of valuable recycling or compost streams. Once collected, people give little thought to how their waste is treated. For Boston’s waste, plastic in the disposal stream acts becomes a fossil fuel used to generate electricity. Organics in the waste stream have the potential to be used to generate valuable renewable energy, while metals and electronics can be recycled to offset virgin materials. However, challenges in global recycling markets are burdening municipalities, which are experiencing higher costs to maintain their recycling. The disposal of solid waste and wastewater both account for a large and visible anthropogenic impact on human health and the environment. In terms of climate change, landfilling of solid waste and wastewater treatment generated emissions of 131.5 Mt CO2e in 2016 or about two percent of total United States GHG emissions that year. The combustion of solid waste contributed an additional 11.0 Mt CO2e, over half of which (5.9 Mt CO2e) is attributable to the combustion of plastic [1]. In Massachusetts, the GHG emissions from landfills (0.4 Mt CO2e), waste combustion (1.2 Mt CO2e), and wastewater (0.5 Mt CO2e) accounted for about 2.7 percent of the state’s gross GHG emissions in 2014 [2]. The City of Boston has begun exploring pathways to Zero Waste, a goal that seeks to systematically redesign our waste management system that can simultaneously lead to a drastic reduction in emissions from waste. The easiest way to achieve zero waste is to not generate it in the first place. This can start at the source with the decision whether or not to consume a product. This is the intent behind banning disposable items such as plastic bags that have more sustainable substitutes. When consumption occurs, products must be designed in such a way that their lifecycle impacts and waste footprint are considered. This includes making durable products, limiting the use of packaging or using organic packaging materials, taking back goods at the end of their life, and designing products to ensure compatibility with recycling systems. When reducing waste is unavoidable, efforts to increase recycling and organics diversion becomes essential for achieving zero waste. [TRUNCATED]Published versio

Particle motion in atmospheric boundary layers of Mars and Earth

To study the eolian mechanics of saltating particles, both an experimental investigation of the flow field around a model crater in an atmospheric boundary layer wind tunnel and numerical solutions of the two- and three-dimensional equations of motion of a single particle under the influence of a turbulent boundary layer were conducted. Two-dimensional particle motion was calculated for flow near the surfaces of both Earth and Mars. For the case of Earth both a turbulent boundary layer with a viscous sublayer and one without were calculated. For the case of Mars it was only necessary to calculate turbulent boundary layer flow with a laminar sublayer because of the low values of friction Reynolds number; however, it was necessary to include the effects of slip flow on a particle caused by the rarefied Martian atmosphere. In the equations of motion the lift force functions were developed to act on a single particle only in the laminar sublayer or a corresponding small region of high shear near the surface for a fully turbulent boundary layer. The lift force functions were developed from the analytical work by Saffman concerning the lift force acting on a particle in simple shear flow

An analysis of the Mariner 4 photography of Mars

Crater analysis of Mariner 4 photography of Mar

Dust storms on Mars: Considerations and simulations

Aeolian processes are important in modifying the surface of Mars at present, and appear to have been significant in the geological past. Aeolian activity includes local and global dust storms, the formation of erosional features such as yardangs and depositional features such as sand dunes, and the erosion of rock and soil. As a means of understanding aeolian processes on Mars, an investigation is in progress that includes laboratory simulations, field studies of earth analogs, and interpretation of spacecraft data. This report describes the Martian Surface Wind Tunnel, an experimental facility established at NASA-Ames Research Center, and presents some results of the general investigation. Experiments dealing with wind speeds and other conditions required for the initiation of particle movement on Mars are described and considerations are given to the resulting effectiveness of aeolian erosion

Abrasion by aeolian particles: Earth and Mars

Estimation of the rate of aeolian abrasion of rocks on Mars requires knowledge of: (1) particle flux, (2) susceptibilities to abrasion of various rocks, and (3) wind frequencies on Mars. Fluxes and susceptibilities for a wide range of conditions were obtained in the laboratory and combined with wind data from the Viking meteorology experiment. Assuming an abundant supply of sand-sized particles, estimated rates range up to 2.1 x 10 to the minus 2 power cm of abrasion per year in the vicinity of Viking Lander 1. This rate is orders of magnitude too great to be in agreement with the inferred age of the surface based on models of impact crater flux. The discrepancy in the estimated rate of abrasion and the presumed old age of the surface cannot be explained easily by changes in climate or exhumation of ancient surfaces. The primary reason is thought to be related to the agents of abrasion. At least some sand-sized (approx. 100 micrometers) grains appear to be present, as inferred from both lander and orbiter observations. High rates of abrasion occur for all experimental cases involving sands of quartz, basalt, or ash. However, previous studies have shown that sand is quickly comminuted to silt- and clay-sized grains in the martian aeolian regime. Experiments also show that these fine grains are electrostatically charged and bond together as sand-sized aggregates. Laboratory simulations of wind abrasion involving aggregates show that at impact velocities capable of destroying sand, aggregates from a protective veneer on the target surface and can give rise to extremely low abrasion rates

Jupiter: Its infrared spectrum from 10 to 40 microns

Spectral measurements of the thermal radiation from Jupiter in the 16-40 micrometer band were analyzed under the assumption that pressure broadened H2 transitions are responsible for the bulk of the infrared opacity over most of this spectral interval. Both the vertical pressure-temperature profile and the hydrogen mixing ratio were determined. The derived value of the molecular hydrogen mixing ratio, 0.89 + or - 0.11, is consistent with the solar value, 0.86

Diurnal variations in optical depth at Mars: Observations and interpretations

Viking lander camera images of the Sun were used to compute atmospheric optical depth at two sites over a period of 1 to 1/3 martian years. The complete set of 1044 optical depth determinations is presented in graphical and tabular form. Error estimates are presented in detail. Optical depths in the morning (AM) are generally larger than in the afternoon (PM). The AM-PM differences are ascribed to condensation of water vapor into atmospheric ice aerosols at night and their evaporation in midday. A smoothed time series of these differences shows several seasonal peaks. These are simulated using a one-dimensional radiative convective model which predicts martial atmospheric temperature profiles. A calculation combining these profiles with water vapor measurements from the Mars Atmospheric Water Detector is used to predict when the diurnal variations of water condensation should occur. The model reproduces a majority of the observed peaks and shows the factors influencing the process. Diurnal variation of condensation is shown to peak when the latitude and season combine to warm the atmosphere to the optimum temperature, cool enough to condense vapor at night and warm enough to cause evaporation at midday