Alternative Methods of Estimating Forage Height in Pastures can be Cross Calibrated

Describes how to cross calibrate alternative measurements of pasture forage mass

A Single Molecule Scaffold for the Maize Genome

About 85% of the maize genome consists of highly repetitive sequences that are interspersed by low-copy, gene-coding sequences. The maize community has dealt with this genomic complexity by the construction of an integrated genetic and physical map (iMap), but this resource alone was not sufficient for ensuring the quality of the current sequence build. For this purpose, we constructed a genome-wide, high-resolution optical map of the maize inbred line B73 genome containing >91,000 restriction sites (averaging 1 site/∼23 kb) accrued from mapping genomic DNA molecules. Our optical map comprises 66 contigs, averaging 31.88 Mb in size and spanning 91.5% (2,103.93 Mb/∼2,300 Mb) of the maize genome. A new algorithm was created that considered both optical map and unfinished BAC sequence data for placing 60/66 (2,032.42 Mb) optical map contigs onto the maize iMap. The alignment of optical maps against numerous data sources yielded comprehensive results that proved revealing and productive. For example, gaps were uncovered and characterized within the iMap, the FPC (fingerprinted contigs) map, and the chromosome-wide pseudomolecules. Such alignments also suggested amended placements of FPC contigs on the maize genetic map and proactively guided the assembly of chromosome-wide pseudomolecules, especially within complex genomic regions. Lastly, we think that the full integration of B73 optical maps with the maize iMap would greatly facilitate maize sequence finishing efforts that would make it a valuable reference for comparative studies among cereals, or other maize inbred lines and cultivars

Making sense of safety

The increased calls for an improved academic safety culture currently being issued by regulatory organizations outlines a very prescriptive approach to addressing safety in colleges and universities. This study focused on how academic researchers made sense of and responded to the safety programs that have been instituted by their organizations. The focus was on scientific researchers who have active research laboratories. The data was collected using semi-structured interviews and analyzed with grounded theory. The results indicated that these researchers grounded their understanding of safety and of institutional safety programs in their professional identity, developed during their own educational and early professional experiences. Further study is warranted to determine if these findings are indicative of these scientific fields across the country. This data suggested that prescriptive compliance requirements regarding safety activities would not be easily accepted by these groups if they were not consistent with this identity. While they were not overtly noncompliant, they did resist institutional safety requirements placed on them that were not in line with the social norms of their professional group. These results could lead to an altered approach towards addressing safety concerns at colleges and universities. (Published By University of Alabama Libraries

An Interbasin Comparison of Tree-Ring Reconstructed Streamflow in the Eastern United States

Tree-ring reconstructions of streamflow are uncommon in the eastern United States compared with the western United States. Although the east has not experienced severe drought on the scale of the west over the last 100 years, multiyear droughts have stressed the water management systems throughout the east. Here, we reconstruct mean May–September streamflow of three rivers serving population centers in the northeast (Beaver Kill River serving New York, NY), mid-Atlantic (Potomac River serving Washington, DC), and southeast (Flint River serving Atlanta, GA) to demonstrate the efficacy of reconstructing streamflow in the eastern United States. Then, we conducted an interbasin comparison to identify periods of common variability and examined the influence of the North Atlantic subtropical high on reconstructed streamflow. Our models explained 40–61% of the variance in the instrumental record and passed verification tests in all basins during the period 1675–2000 CE. Droughts and pluvials showed some synchrony across all basins, but the mid-Atlantic region acted as a hinge, sometimes behaving more like the northeast, and other times like the southeast. Climatic analyses suggest a relationship exists between the North Atlantic subtropical high and reconstructed streamflow that influences the probability of drought and pluvial events. Given the many factors influencing tree growth in closed-canopy systems, we have shown that careful standardization of individual tree-ring series, nested regression models, and the use of multiple species can produce robust proxies of streamflow across the eastern seaboard