An integrated approach to use genetic resources for resurrection plants to enhance drought tolerance in breeding-extension programs [abstract]

Only abstract of poster available.Track V: BiomassThe ultimate goals of this project are to gain a basic understanding of the unique gene and gene regulatory networks that are necessary and sufficient for vegetative tissues to withstand dehydration and then rapidly recover upon rehydration and to use the knowledge gained to develop crops, maize and forage grasses that maintain biomass production under drought condition. Our approach is to combine comparative genomics and phylogenetics to identify genes and gene networks that are adaptive and central to the tolerance of cellular dehydration. This involves the use of resurrection species as models for dehydration tolerance coupled with a suite of comparative bioinformatic tools that allows for the phylogenetic assessment of gene expression patterns in response to dehydration and rehydration. Once the key genetic elements have been identified and assessed we will use a transgenic functional assessment of their involvement in the phenotype, both at a molecular and physiological level, of drought tolerance. One of our key resurrection species is the South African grass Sporobolus stapfianus, which is capable of surviving -240 MPa of water deficit (a hundred times lower than most crop plants). This plant not only serves as a model for monocot crops such as maize and switchgrass, our major targets for crop improvement, but also serves as a direct possibility for an alternate forage grass and biomass source. The improvement of biomass production under drought conditions is not only important for sustainable biofuel production but also for food and energy security. Funded by a CSREES-NRI Grant of $450,000 over three years to PI Mel Oliver USDA-ARS-PGRU Columbia, CoPIs Robert Sharp, University of Missouri; John Cushman, University of Nevada, Reno; Paxton Payton, USDA-ARS-PSRU Lubbock

A Survey of Air-to-Ground Propagation Channel Modeling for Unmanned Aerial Vehicles

In recent years, there has been a dramatic increase in the use of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), particularly for small UAVs, due to their affordable prices, ease of availability, and ease of operability. Existing and future applications of UAVs include remote surveillance and monitoring, relief operations, package delivery, and communication backhaul infrastructure. Additionally, UAVs are envisioned as an important component of 5G wireless technology and beyond. The unique application scenarios for UAVs necessitate accurate air-to-ground (AG) propagation channel models for designing and evaluating UAV communication links for control/non-payload as well as payload data transmissions. These AG propagation models have not been investigated in detail when compared to terrestrial propagation models. In this paper, a comprehensive survey is provided on available AG channel measurement campaigns, large and small scale fading channel models, their limitations, and future research directions for UAV communication scenarios

The Behavior of Total Lightning Activity in Severe Florida Thunderstorms

The development of a new observational system called LISDAD (Lightning Imaging Sensor Demonstration and Display) has enabled a study of severe weather in central Florida. The total flash rates for storms verified to be severe are found to exceed 60 flashes/min, with some values reaching 500 flashes/min. Similar to earlier results for thunderstorm microbursts, the peak flash rate precedes the severe weather at the ground by 5-20 minutes. A distinguishing feature of severe storms is the presence of lightning "jumps"-abrupt increases in flash rate in advance of the maximum rate for the storm. ne systematic total lightning precursor to severe weather of all kinds-wind, hail, tornadoes-is interpreted in terms of the updraft that sows the seeds aloft for severe weather at the surface and simultaneously stimulates the ice microphysics that drives the lightning activity

Multi-messenger observations of a binary neutron star merger

On 2017 August 17 a binary neutron star coalescence candidate (later designated GW170817) with merger time 12:41:04 UTC was observed through gravitational waves by the Advanced LIGO and Advanced Virgo detectors. The Fermi Gamma-ray Burst Monitor independently detected a gamma-ray burst (GRB 170817A) with a time delay of ~1.7 s with respect to the merger time. From the gravitational-wave signal, the source was initially localized to a sky region of 31 deg2 at a luminosity distance of 40+8-8 Mpc and with component masses consistent with neutron stars. The component masses were later measured to be in the range 0.86 to 2.26 Mo. An extensive observing campaign was launched across the electromagnetic spectrum leading to the discovery of a bright optical transient (SSS17a, now with the IAU identification of AT 2017gfo) in NGC 4993 (at ~40 Mpc) less than 11 hours after the merger by the One- Meter, Two Hemisphere (1M2H) team using the 1 m Swope Telescope. The optical transient was independently detected by multiple teams within an hour. Subsequent observations targeted the object and its environment. Early ultraviolet observations revealed a blue transient that faded within 48 hours. Optical and infrared observations showed a redward evolution over ~10 days. Following early non-detections, X-ray and radio emission were discovered at the transient’s position ~9 and ~16 days, respectively, after the merger. Both the X-ray and radio emission likely arise from a physical process that is distinct from the one that generates the UV/optical/near-infrared emission. No ultra-high-energy gamma-rays and no neutrino candidates consistent with the source were found in follow-up searches. These observations support the hypothesis that GW170817 was produced by the merger of two neutron stars in NGC4993 followed by a short gamma-ray burst (GRB 170817A) and a kilonova/macronova powered by the radioactive decay of r-process nuclei synthesized in the ejecta

Trends in mortality and hospitalisations for cardiovascular, kidney and liver disease in people with type 2 diabetes in England, 2009–2019

Aims: To assess longitudinal trends in total and cause‐specific mortality rates and in hospitalisation rates for diabetes complications among people with type 2 diabetes in England between 2009 and 2019; and to assess how trends differ by patient characteristics. Materials and Methods: A sequential cohort study of people with type 2 diabetes aged ≥20 years was performed using data from the National Diabetes Audit. Discretised Poisson regression models, adjusted for age, sex, ethnicity, socio‐economic deprivation and diabetes duration, were used to calculate total and cause‐specific mortality rates, as well as hospitalisation rates for myocardial infarction, stroke, heart failure, kidney and liver disease. Results: Total mortality declined in people aged 20–74 years (rate ratio [RR] 0.96, 95% CI 0.95–0.97) and aged ≥75 years (0.93, 0.92–0.94) between 2009–2011 and 2018–2019, predominantly due to reductions in cardiovascular deaths. Over the same time period, in those aged 20–74 years, total mortality declined in people of South Asian (0.92:0.0.87–0.96) but was unchanged in people of White (1.00: 0.99–1.01) ethnicities. Total mortality declined more in people living in the least (0.91:0.88–0.94) compared to the most (0.97:0.95–1.00) deprived areas. A composite endpoint of cardiovascular hospitalisations and mortality increased between 2009–2011 and 2018–2019 in those aged 20–49 years (1.20:1.14–1.27) and 50–74 years (1.04:1.03–1.05) but declined in those aged ≥75 years (0.85:0.84–0.86). Rates of hospitalisation for kidney and liver disease increased in all age groups. Conclusions: By examining longitudinal trends in mortality and hospitalisations according to different characteristics in people with type 2 diabetes in England, we have identified important targets for improvement through changes in health policy and care delivery

Plant Adaptation to Drought --- Interdisciplinary Research at the University of Missouri [abstract]

Only abstract of poster available.Track V: BiomassDrought is the most important cause of crop failure in Missouri and limits plant productivity in large parts of the US and the world. Drought induces severe reductions in average annual crop yields on a regional scale and can have devastating effects at the farm level. Regional droughts can also strikingly reduce net primary productivity of natural ecosystems. Research on plant adaptation to drought is a long-standing, important component of MU faculty members, who comprise a strong, collaborative team of university and USDA-ARS scientists and are among the international leaders in drought research. Group members represent expertise from a broad range of disciplines, including plant physiology, agronomy, forestry, plant breeding, molecular biology, biotechnology, entomology, plant pathology, and soil science. Areas of research span from basic to applied aspects of plant adaptation to drought, fostering the translation of basic discoveries of underlying mechanisms to the delivery of more drought-tolerant crops at the doorsteps of American farmers. In addition to local collaborations, the team interacts with other scientists in the state of Missouri (e.g. Danforth Plant Sciences Center and Washington University in St. Louis) and at the national and international levels (including Australia, England, India, Mexico [CIMMYT], and The Philippines [International Rice Research Institute]). Active research projects conducted by the drought community at MU include research funded by state, federal, commodity group (e.g. Missouri Soybean Merchandising Council, United Soybean Board, Cotton Inc.) and private (Monsanto, Syngenta) sources. Of particular note, members of the group were recently awarded over $1.5 million from the Missouri Life Sciences Research Board to establish “rainout shelters” that will allow control of precipitation under field conditions. The ability to manage the timing, duration, and intensity of water deficit stress under field conditions is essential to examine plant responses to drought and interactions of drought and biotic stresses in mid-western environments. The track record of excellence in drought research and the broad range of expertise of the interdisciplinary group provide fertile grounds for creative and productive research endeavors that are directed to optimize crop and woody plant biomass production

Finishing the euchromatic sequence of the human genome

The sequence of the human genome encodes the genetic instructions for human physiology, as well as rich information about human evolution. In 2001, the International Human Genome Sequencing Consortium reported a draft sequence of the euchromatic portion of the human genome. Since then, the international collaboration has worked to convert this draft into a genome sequence with high accuracy and nearly complete coverage. Here, we report the result of this finishing process. The current genome sequence (Build 35) contains 2.85 billion nucleotides interrupted by only 341 gaps. It covers ∼99% of the euchromatic genome and is accurate to an error rate of ∼1 event per 100,000 bases. Many of the remaining euchromatic gaps are associated with segmental duplications and will require focused work with new methods. The near-complete sequence, the first for a vertebrate, greatly improves the precision of biological analyses of the human genome including studies of gene number, birth and death. Notably, the human enome seems to encode only 20,000-25,000 protein-coding genes. The genome sequence reported here should serve as a firm foundation for biomedical research in the decades ahead

What is housing affordability? The case for the residual income approach

This article seeks to increase the awareness of and support for the residual income approach to housing affordability indicators and standards, especially in the United States. It begins with an overview of various semantic, substantive, and definitional issues relating to the notion of affordability, leading to an argument supporting the conceptual soundness of the residual income approach. The concept is then briefly set into the historical context of U.S. and British debates on affordability measures. This description is followed by a discussion of two of the principal issues involved in crafting an operational residual income standard: the selection of a normative standard for non-housing items and the treatment of taxes. The article concludes by considering some of the potential implications of the residual income paradigm for the analysis of housing problems and needs, for housing subsidy policy, and for mortgage underwriting practice