Genome in a Bottle Consortium-Progress and Planning Workshop, 226-227 [2015-33140]

Download as PDF 226 Federal Register / Vol. 81, No. 2 / Tuesday, January 5, 2016 / Notices comparisons between competing services. In the fall of 2015, the California Division of Measurement Standards submitted a proposal through multiple regional weights and measures associations to establish a separate NIST Handbook 44 code to address ‘‘Transportation Network Services.’’ The S&T Committee will examine these proposals and the result of recent discussions from a November 2015 USNWG meeting to assess how to best address these systems. L&R Committee The following items are proposals to amend NIST Handbook 130 or NIST Handbook 133: NIST Handbook 130—Section on Uniform Regulation for the Method of Sale of Commodities: Item 232–7 Bedding [FR Doc. 2015–33128 Filed 1–4–16; 8:45 am] BILLING CODE 3510–13–P DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE NIST Handbook 133—Chapter 3 Items 260–3 and 260–4 Section 3.14. Firewood—(Volumetric Test Procedures for Packaged Firewood with a Labeled Volume of 113 L [4 ft3] or Less) asabaliauskas on DSK5VPTVN1PROD with NOTICES Authority: 15 U.S.C. 272(b). Richard Cavanagh, Acting Associate Director for Laboratory Programs. Section 2.23. Animal The L&R Committee will consider a proposal to recommend adoption of a uniform method of sale for animal bedding that will enhance the ability of consumers to make value comparisons and will ensure fair competition. Animal Bedding is generally defined as any material, except for baled straw, that is kept, offered or exposed for sale or sold to retail consumers for primary use as a medium for any pet or companion or livestock animal to nest or eliminate waste. If adopted, the proposal will require packers to advertise and sell packages of animal bedding on the basis of the expanded volume of the bedding. Most packages of animal bedding are compressed during packaging and the expanded volume is the amount of product that consumers will recover through unwrapping and decompressing the bedding according to the instructions provided by the packer. See also Item 260–5, Section 3.15. Test Procedure for Verifying the Usable Volume Declaration on Packages of Animal Bedding. The current test procedure in NIST Handbook 133, Section 3.14., Firewood—(Volumetric Test Procedure for Packaged Firewood with a Labeled Volume of 113 L [4 ft3] or Less) has provided different test results when applied in various state inspections. If adopted, this proposal would clarify the test procedure and improve the accuracy of length determinations when VerDate Sep<11>2014 determining the volume of wood in bags, bundles and boxes. Improving the test procedures will help ensure that consumers can make value comparisons and reduce unfair competition. Also Item 232–4, NIST Handbook 130, Method of Sale of Sale of Commodities Regulation, Section 2.4. Fireplace and Stove Wood, is being considered for revision to recognize traditional industry labeling practice and eliminate language that appears to conflict with the requirements of the Uniform Packaging and Labeling Regulation. 18:43 Jan 04, 2016 Jkt 238001 National Institute of Standards and Technology Genome in a Bottle Consortium— Progress and Planning Workshop National Institute of Standards and Technology, Commerce. ACTION: Notice of public workshop. AGENCY: The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) announces the Genome in a Bottle Consortium—Progress and Planning Workshop to be held on Thursday, January 28, 2016, and Friday, January 29, 2016. The Genome in a Bottle Consortium is developing the reference materials, reference methods, and reference data needed to assess confidence in human whole genome variant calls. A principal motivation for this consortium is to enable performance assessment of sequencing and science-based regulatory oversight of clinical sequencing. The purpose of this workshop is to update participants about progress of the consortium work, continue to get broad input from individual stakeholders to update or refine the consortium work plan, continue to broadly solicit consortium membership from interested stakeholders, and invite members to participate in work plan implementation. Topics of discussion at this workshop will include progress and planning of the Analysis Group, which is analyzing and integrating the large variety of sequencing data for four candidate NIST Reference Materials (RMs), with a particular focus on challenging types of variants and challenging regions of the genome. Other potential NIST RMs that SUMMARY: PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 4703 Sfmt 4703 might be developed by the consortium will also be discussed. DATES: The Genome in a Bottle Consortium workshop will be held on Thursday, January 28, 2016 from 9:00 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Pacific Time, and Friday, January 29, 2016 from 9:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. Pacific Time. Attendees must register by 5:00 p.m. Pacific Time on Thursday, January 21, 2016. ADDRESSES: The meeting will be held on the second floor of the Li Ka Shing Conference Center, Stanford University, 291 Campus Drive, Palo Alto, CA 94305. Please note admittance instructions under the SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION section of this notice. FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For further information contact Justin Zook by email at jzook@nist.gov or by phone at (301) 975–4133 or Marc Salit by email at salit@nist.gov or by phone at (650) 350–2338. To register, go to: https:// web.stanford.edu/∼saracl/GIAB2016.fb SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Clinical application of ultra high throughput sequencing (UHTS) for hereditary genetic diseases and oncology is rapidly growing. At present, there are no widely accepted genomic standards or quantitative performance metrics for confidence in variant calling. These standards and quantitative performance metrics are needed to achieve the confidence in measurement results expected for sound, reproducible research and regulated applications in the clinic. On April 13, 2012, NIST convened the workshop ‘‘Genome in a Bottle’’ to initiate a consortium to develop the reference materials, reference methods, and reference data needed to assess confidence in human whole genome variant calls (www.genomeinabottle.org). On August 16–17, 2012, NIST hosted the first large public meeting of the Genome in a Bottle Consortium, with about 100 participants from government, academic institutions, and industry. This meeting was announced in the Federal Register (77 FR 43237) on July 24, 2012. A principal motivation for this consortium was to enable science-based regulatory oversight of clinical sequencing. At the August 2012 meeting, the consortium established work plans for four technical working groups with the following responsibilities: (1) Reference Material (RM) Selection and Design: Select appropriate sources for whole genome RMs and identify or design synthetic DNA constructs that could be spiked-in to samples for measurement assurance. (2) Measurements for Reference Material Characterization: Design and carry out experiments to characterize E:\FR\FM\05JAN1.SGM 05JAN1 asabaliauskas on DSK5VPTVN1PROD with NOTICES Federal Register / Vol. 81, No. 2 / Tuesday, January 5, 2016 / Notices the RMs using multiple sequencing methods, other methods, and validation of selected variants using orthogonal technologies. (3) Bioinformatics, Data Integration, and Data Representation: Develop methods to analyze and integrate the data for each RM, as well as select appropriate formats to represent the data. (4) Performance Metrics and Figures of Merit: Develop useful performance metrics and figures of merit that can be obtained through measurement of the RMs. The products of these technical working groups will be a set of wellcharacterized whole genome and synthetic DNA RMs along with the methods (documentary standards) and reference data necessary for use of the RMs. These products will be designed to help enable translation of whole genome sequencing to regulated clinical applications. The pilot, NIST ‘‘Human DNA for Whole-Genome Variant Assessment (Daughter of Utah/European Ancestry)’’ RM was released in May 2015 and is available at https:// tinyurl.com/giabpilot. The consortium is currently analyzing and integrating data from two trios that are candidate NIST RMs. The consortium meets in workshops two times per year, in January at Stanford University in Palo Alto, CA, and in August at the National Institute of Standards and Technology in Gaithersburg, MD. At these workshops, including the last meetings at Stanford in January 2015 and at NIST in August 2015, participants in the consortium have discussed progress developing well-characterized genomes for NIST Reference Materials and planned future experiments and analysis of these genomes (see https:// federalregister.gov/a/2012-18064, https://federalregister.gov/a/201318934, https://federalregister.gov/a/ 2014-18841 and https:// federalregister.gov/a/2015-01158 for past workshops at NIST and Stanford). The January 2015 meeting was announced in the Federal Register (80 FR 3220) on January 22, 2015, and the meeting is summarized at https:// docs.google.com/document/d/19J6YDg 1MH1iD-8Q8mmV9L7wHOfuyUC3 aogctZ2Nh87U/edit?usp=sharing. The August 2015 meeting was announced in the Federal Register (80 FR 45194) on July 29, 2015, and the meeting is summarized at https://docs.google.com/ document/d/19-KSn0ydF8rsWRbl 6OqhIdbt2gGN10dOMRF6inKmrk4/ edit?usp=sharing. There is no cost for participating in the consortium. No proprietary information will be shared as part of the VerDate Sep<11>2014 18:43 Jan 04, 2016 Jkt 238001 consortium, and all research results will be in the public domain. All attendees are required to preregister. Anyone wishing to attend this meeting must pre-register at https:// web.stanford.edu/∼saracl/GIAB2016.fb by 5:00 p.m. Pacific Time on Thursday, January 21, 2016, in order to attend. Richard Cavanagh, Acting Associate Director of Laboratory Programs. [FR Doc. 2015–33140 Filed 1–4–16; 8:45 am] BILLING CODE 3510–13–P DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Proposed Information Collection; Comment Request; Quantitative Assessment of Spatially-Explicit Social Values Relative to Wind Energy Areas: Outer Continental Shelf Offshore North Carolina National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Commerce. ACTION: Notice. AGENCY: The Department of Commerce, as part of its continuing effort to reduce paperwork and respondent burden, invites the general public and other Federal agencies to take this opportunity to comment on proposed and/or continuing information collections, as required by the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995. DATES: Written comments must be submitted on or before March 7, 2016. ADDRESSES: Direct all written comments to Jennifer Jessup, Departmental Paperwork Clearance Officer, Department of Commerce, Room 6616, 14th and Constitution Avenue NW., Washington, DC 20230 (or via the Internet at JJessup@doc.gov). FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Requests for additional information or copies of the information collection instrument and instructions should be directed to Theresa L. Goedeke, 240– 533–0383 or theresa.goedeke@noaa.gov. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: SUMMARY: I. Abstract Pursuant to the Outer Continental Shelf Land Act, the National Environmental Policy Act and the Coastal Zone Management Act, this request is for a new data collection to benefit the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM), and policy-makers on the state PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 4703 Sfmt 4703 227 and local level in North Carolina. BOEM has identified three wind energy areas for potential development on the outer continental shelf of North Carolina. The National Ocean Service (NOS) proposes to collect data on the knowledge, beliefs, social values, and attitudes of North Carolina and South Carolina residents relative to marine and coastal landscapes, alternative energy production options, and offshore wind energy development. Respondents will be sampled from households in eight to ten coastal counties. The required information will be used to objectively assess the level of support and/or opposition for offshore wind energy development in the region, as well as identify the relevant issues and concerns most salient to residents. The information will be used by BOEM, NOAA, and others to improve agency understanding about the beliefs, social values, attitudes, and concerns of people potentially affected by offshore wind energy development. Such information will be used to ascertain the possible sociocultural outcomes of offshore wind energy development in the region, such as an enhancement or reduction in enjoyment of the coastal landscape/seascape. Additionally, information collected will be used to improve communication efforts targeted to residents, enabling agencies to more effectively and efficiently direct outreach and community inclusion activities. II. Method of Collection The data collection will take place over a three to four month period and will be comprised of a questionnaire to be completed by the respondent. The data will be collected via a mail-back survey instrument. III. Data OMB Control Number: 0648–XXXX. Form Number: None. Type of Review: Regular submission (request for a new information collection). Affected Public: Individuals or households. Estimated Number of Respondents: 4,000. Estimated Time per Response: 20 minutes. Estimated Total Annual Burden Hours: 1,333. Estimated Total Annual Cost to Public: $0 in recordkeeping/reporting costs. IV. Request for Comments Comments are invited on: (a) Whether the proposed collection of information is necessary for the proper performance E:\FR\FM\05JAN1.SGM 05JAN1

Agencies

[Federal Register Volume 81, Number 2 (Tuesday, January 5, 2016)]
[Notices]
[Pages 226-227]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2015-33140]


-----------------------------------------------------------------------

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Institute of Standards and Technology


Genome in a Bottle Consortium--Progress and Planning Workshop

AGENCY: National Institute of Standards and Technology, Commerce.

ACTION: Notice of public workshop.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

SUMMARY: The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) 
announces the Genome in a Bottle Consortium--Progress and Planning 
Workshop to be held on Thursday, January 28, 2016, and Friday, January 
29, 2016. The Genome in a Bottle Consortium is developing the reference 
materials, reference methods, and reference data needed to assess 
confidence in human whole genome variant calls. A principal motivation 
for this consortium is to enable performance assessment of sequencing 
and science-based regulatory oversight of clinical sequencing. The 
purpose of this workshop is to update participants about progress of 
the consortium work, continue to get broad input from individual 
stakeholders to update or refine the consortium work plan, continue to 
broadly solicit consortium membership from interested stakeholders, and 
invite members to participate in work plan implementation.
    Topics of discussion at this workshop will include progress and 
planning of the Analysis Group, which is analyzing and integrating the 
large variety of sequencing data for four candidate NIST Reference 
Materials (RMs), with a particular focus on challenging types of 
variants and challenging regions of the genome. Other potential NIST 
RMs that might be developed by the consortium will also be discussed.

DATES: The Genome in a Bottle Consortium workshop will be held on 
Thursday, January 28, 2016 from 9:00 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Pacific Time, 
and Friday, January 29, 2016 from 9:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. Pacific Time. 
Attendees must register by 5:00 p.m. Pacific Time on Thursday, January 
21, 2016.

ADDRESSES: The meeting will be held on the second floor of the Li Ka 
Shing Conference Center, Stanford University, 291 Campus Drive, Palo 
Alto, CA 94305. Please note admittance instructions under the 
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION section of this notice.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For further information contact Justin 
Zook by email at jzook@nist.gov or by phone at (301) 975-4133 or Marc 
Salit by email at salit@nist.gov or by phone at (650) 350-2338. To 
register, go to: https://web.stanford.edu/~saracl/GIAB2016.fb

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Clinical application of ultra high 
throughput sequencing (UHTS) for hereditary genetic diseases and 
oncology is rapidly growing. At present, there are no widely accepted 
genomic standards or quantitative performance metrics for confidence in 
variant calling. These standards and quantitative performance metrics 
are needed to achieve the confidence in measurement results expected 
for sound, reproducible research and regulated applications in the 
clinic. On April 13, 2012, NIST convened the workshop ``Genome in a 
Bottle'' to initiate a consortium to develop the reference materials, 
reference methods, and reference data needed to assess confidence in 
human whole genome variant calls (www.genomeinabottle.org). On August 
16-17, 2012, NIST hosted the first large public meeting of the Genome 
in a Bottle Consortium, with about 100 participants from government, 
academic institutions, and industry. This meeting was announced in the 
Federal Register (77 FR 43237) on July 24, 2012. A principal motivation 
for this consortium was to enable science-based regulatory oversight of 
clinical sequencing.
    At the August 2012 meeting, the consortium established work plans 
for four technical working groups with the following responsibilities:
    (1) Reference Material (RM) Selection and Design: Select 
appropriate sources for whole genome RMs and identify or design 
synthetic DNA constructs that could be spiked-in to samples for 
measurement assurance.
    (2) Measurements for Reference Material Characterization: Design 
and carry out experiments to characterize

[[Page 227]]

the RMs using multiple sequencing methods, other methods, and 
validation of selected variants using orthogonal technologies.
    (3) Bioinformatics, Data Integration, and Data Representation: 
Develop methods to analyze and integrate the data for each RM, as well 
as select appropriate formats to represent the data.
    (4) Performance Metrics and Figures of Merit: Develop useful 
performance metrics and figures of merit that can be obtained through 
measurement of the RMs.
    The products of these technical working groups will be a set of 
well-characterized whole genome and synthetic DNA RMs along with the 
methods (documentary standards) and reference data necessary for use of 
the RMs. These products will be designed to help enable translation of 
whole genome sequencing to regulated clinical applications. The pilot, 
NIST ``Human DNA for Whole-Genome Variant Assessment (Daughter of Utah/
European Ancestry)'' RM was released in May 2015 and is available at 
https://tinyurl.com/giabpilot. The consortium is currently analyzing and 
integrating data from two trios that are candidate NIST RMs. The 
consortium meets in workshops two times per year, in January at 
Stanford University in Palo Alto, CA, and in August at the National 
Institute of Standards and Technology in Gaithersburg, MD. At these 
workshops, including the last meetings at Stanford in January 2015 and 
at NIST in August 2015, participants in the consortium have discussed 
progress developing well-characterized genomes for NIST Reference 
Materials and planned future experiments and analysis of these genomes 
(see https://federalregister.gov/a/2012-18064, https://federalregister.gov/a/2013-18934, https://federalregister.gov/a/2014-18841 and https://federalregister.gov/a/2015-01158 for past workshops 
at NIST and Stanford). The January 2015 meeting was announced in the 
Federal Register (80 FR 3220) on January 22, 2015, and the meeting is 
summarized at https://docs.google.com/document/d/19J6YDg1MH1iD-8Q8mmV9L7wHOfuyUC3aogctZ2Nh87U/edit?usp=sharing. The August 2015 
meeting was announced in the Federal Register (80 FR 45194) on July 29, 
2015, and the meeting is summarized at https://docs.google.com/document/d/19-KSn0ydF8rsWRbl6OqhIdbt2gGN10dOMRF6inKmrk4/edit?usp=sharing.
    There is no cost for participating in the consortium. No 
proprietary information will be shared as part of the consortium, and 
all research results will be in the public domain.
    All attendees are required to pre-register. Anyone wishing to 
attend this meeting must pre-register at https://web.stanford.edu/
~saracl/GIAB2016.fb by 5:00 p.m. Pacific Time on Thursday, January 21, 
2016, in order to attend.

Richard Cavanagh,
Acting Associate Director of Laboratory Programs.
[FR Doc. 2015-33140 Filed 1-4-16; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 3510-13-P
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