Engineering Data Management

ABSTRACT Instream structures have fragmented riverine habitats throughout much of the world, including the Western USA. Whitewater parks (WWPs) are relatively new instream structures designed to create hydraulic waves for recreational boating and surfing by constricting flows into a steep chute or drop. The altered hydraulics at these structures can adversely affect fish passage, particularly in locations where fish species are not adapted to the new hydraulic regime. This study evaluates the effects of WWPs on fish passage at two sites in Colorado by comparing water velocity and depth to fish passage criteria for three size classes (juvenile, average adult, and large adult) and species of interest (Brown Trout, Colorado Sculpin, and Flannelmouth Sucker). The before‐after study design utilized two‐dimensional hydrodynamic modeling, spatial analysis, and logistic regression to evaluate fish passage over a range of flows. WWP construction altered channel hydraulics, including elevated and more variable velocity, and decreased depth. Complete barriers to upstream passage were created for certain combinations of species, size class, and flows due to velocity and/or depth limitations. Passable pathways and passage probability decreased for all species following WWP construction, with Brown Trout maintaining the highest proportion of passable paths (23%) when averaged across flows and structure, followed by Colorado Sculpin (15%) and Flannelmouth Sucker (2%). These results indicate that WWP construction decreased fish passage at these sites and highlight the importance of using site‐specific criteria and permitting requirements to ensure that adequate safeguards for fish passage are incorporated into the design of WWP structures.

The Electric Power Systems Foundation (EPSF) Committee of the Deep Foundations Institute (DFI) is developing a design guide for assessing combined loads on transmission foundations imposed by the structure and transient environmental events. A recent EPSF state of practice paper identified the lack of standard approaches for assessing combined loading as a design shortcoming needing to be addressed. The DFI document will provide guidance to drive consistency across the industry, support efficient, competent designs, and bridge the gap between structural and geotechnical design parameters for foundation designs. This paper summarizes efforts to date by the EPSF Committee in the development of these guidelines. Current design codes such as NESC, G.O. 95, and industry accepted loading cases defined in ASCE 74 are used in the transmission line foundation design process and provides the sources of structure loading. But other foundation loads can result from transient environmental events that impose loads directly on transmission foundations or loss of soil support around foundations. Background information is presented on load and ground loss contributions from environmental impacts such as river scour and seismic events and associated risks of these loads are identified. Design load combinations with environmental considerations should consider event probability in alignment with other current industry standards and sound engineering judgment. The effort to develop and implement load combinations is discussed. The purpose of this paper and future guidelines is to raise awareness of current design shortcomings and provide the industry with best practices for foundation design that align with an upcoming ASCE overhead line and substation foundations Manual of Practice.

Abstract The World Meteorological Organization has recognized a new world record lightning discharge distance of 829 km ± 8 km (515 ± 5 mi) that extended from eastern Texas to near Kansas City MO USA within a 22 October 2017 thunderstorm complex.

Abstract. Biomass burning (BB) affects air quality and climate by releasing large quantities of gaseous and particulate pollutants into the atmosphere. Photochemical processing during daylight transforms these emissions, influencing their overall environmental impact. Accurately quantifying the photochemical drivers, namely actinic flux and photolysis frequencies, is crucial to constraining this chemistry. However, the complex radiative transfer within BB plumes presents a significant challenge for both direct observations and numerical models. This study introduces an expanded version of the 1D VLIDORT-QS radiative transfer (RT) model, named VLIDORT for photochemistry (VPC). VPC is designed for photochemical and remote sensing applications, particularly in BB plumes and other complex scenarios. To validate VPC and investigate photochemical conditions within BB plumes, the model was used to simulate spatial distributions of actinic fluxes and photolysis frequencies for the Shady wildfire (Idaho, US, 2019) based on plume composition data from the NOAA/NASA FIREX-AQ (Fire Influence on Regional to Global Environments and Air Quality) campaign. Comparison between modeling results and observations by the CAFS (charged-coupled device actinic flux spectroradiometer) yields a modeling accuracy of 10 %–20 %. Systematic biases between the model and observations are within 2 %, indicating that the uncertainties are most likely due to variability in the input data caused by the inhomogeneity of the plume as well as 3D RT effects not captured in the model. Random uncertainties are largest in the ultraviolet (UV) spectral range, where they are dominated by uncertainties in the plume particle size distribution and brown carbon (BrC) absorptive properties. The modeled actinic fluxes show a decrease from the plume top to the bottom of the plume with a strong spectral dependence caused by BrC absorption, which darkens the plume towards shorter wavelengths. In the visible (Vis) spectral range, actinic fluxes above the plume are enhanced by up to 60 %. In contrast, in the UV, actinic fluxes above the plume are not affected or even reduced by up to 10 %. Strong reductions exceeding an order of magnitude in and below the plume occur for both spectral ranges but are more pronounced in the UV.

Abstract Birds frequently nest on overhead electrical infrastructure, which can lead to electrocutions, equipment damage, fires, and power outages when birds or nests contact energized equipment. Consequently, it is important that electric utilities have data‐driven plans for addressing avian nesting on power structures. Iran's Birds and Power Lines Committee (IBPLC) establishes guidelines for how electric utilities in Iran address avian interactions with electrical infrastructure. To support the IBPLC, we gathered information on avian nesting on power lines in Iran by searching posts from 4 crowd‐sourced groups: Bargh News, the Iranian linemen group on Instagram, and the Power Distribution Lines Experts and Linemen of Iran groups on Telegram. Contributions (e.g., postings) for each of these groups was limited to electric utility personnel in Iran. We reviewed photos and contacted members in the groups to identify nesting species and voltages of the electrical infrastructure supporting nests. We found 976 nests reported by 89 linemen from January 2019 through December 2020. Most (88%) were found during routine operations and maintenance, but some (12%) were found during power outage investigations. Most (77%) were on distribution pylons, with the rest (23%) on transmission towers. Of the nests found, 203 (21%) were species protected under Iranian law due to small and declining populations. The information we gathered was used by IBPLC to revise electric utility guidelines and ban the destruction of occupied nests (containing eggs or young) on power structures, except in cases where nests create an immediate safety hazard to nesting birds, electric utility linemen, or the public.

Abstract In the United States, the bald eagle Haliaeetus leucocephalus and golden eagle Aquila chrysaetos are managed by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to ensure the species are stable or increasing while allowing for potentially negative effects from anthropogenic sources. Compensatory mitigation, through retrofitting high-risk power poles to reduce electrocutions, can be used to offset negative effects, enabling the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to achieve their management objectives of species stability and persistence. Regulators, permit holders, electric utilities, and consultants lack an objective and repeatable method for discriminating between high-risk and low-risk power poles. To illustrate the importance of accurately identifying and retrofitting high-risk poles, we compare conservation benefits among three retrofitting project scenarios: 1) high-risk poles only, 2) a circuit of both low- and high-risk poles, and 3) low-risk poles only. We assert that, in the absence of a common definition of high-risk power poles applied uniformly across the landscape, mitigation approved by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service could fall short of its intended value and be unable to meet management objectives. We define high-risk poles in the context of compensatory mitigation as poles in high-quality bald or golden eagle habitat with a relative risk index ≥ 0.40 based on number of phases, number of jumper wires, and presence of pole grounding. We estimate that the conservation benefit of retrofitting a high-risk pole is at least 5.25 times greater than the benefit of retrofitting a low-risk pole. In the long-term, if compensatory mitigation intended to achieve management objectives falls short of its assumed conservation value, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service could be forced to limit future permit authorizations until bald or golden eagles can recover from incorrectly calculated conservation benefits. To avoid that negative outcome, we recommend that the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service set consistent and transparent standards for identifying poles to count as compensatory mitigation credit using our proposed definition of a high-risk power pole.

Abstract Ax-101, a small-molecule immunomodulator with a yet-to-be elucidated MoA, enhances lymphocyte proliferation, induces a Th1 profile, increases T-cell cytotoxicity, and improves the M1/M2 ratio. Specific Ax-101 effects include upregulated cell-surface TNFalpha (sTNF) on human T cells and monocytes, increased (>7.5x) T-cell cytotoxicity, upregulation by human PBMC of antitumor cytokines (e.g., IL-2, IFN-gamma, TNFalpha) and downregulation of cytokines that mediate immune evasion (e.g., IL-10), and decreased immune-suppressive myeloid cells. Syngeneic mouse cancer models including bladder (MBT-2), colorectal (CT-26), melanoma (Cloudman), and lymphoma (A20) show the addition of Ax-101 to anti-PD1 to improve outcomes. For example, neither Ax-101 nor anti-PD1 monotherapy had significant effects on mean tumor volume (MTV) in MBT-2 mice, while an Ax-101/anti-PD1 (same doses/regimen) combo resulted in up to 44% reduction in MTV c/w anti-PD1 alone (p < 0.05). Further, 30% (3/10) of MBT-2 mice achieved CR with the combo, whereas no CRs were seen with anti-PD1 alone. In CT-26 mice, 25% (2/8) achieved CR, whereas no CRs occurred with anti-PD1 only; subset analysis of mice exhibiting at least some antitumor response to anti-PD1 alone (6/8) or the Ax-101/anti-PD1 combo (5/8) revealed a 40% CR rate and MTV reduction of up to 75% in combo-treated animals. In Cloudman melanomas, all (5/5) mice receiving Ax-101/anti-PD1 throughout their treatment achieved CR. Importantly, in mice with rapidly growing melanomas refractory to anti-PD1 for 12 d, Ax-101 addition reversed growth, with 4/5 mice achieving CR. Of note, 9 Cloudman mice achieving CR were re-injected with 3x the melanoma cells they initially received and followed with no therapy. Only 1/9 mice developed tumor over 73 d; thus, Ax-101/anti-PD1 may elicit a vaccine-like effect. Anti-PD1 alone and the Ax-101/antiPD1 combo in A20 mice resulted in 23% and 40% lower MTVs c/w control. Ax-101 was previously in Ph 1/2 monotherapy studies in follicular lymphoma (FL) and myeloma (M) (CT.gov IDs: NCT00006466, NCT00007839). Thirty-two patients received 2 µg SQ Ax-101 q2 wkly or wkly for up to 18 months. No Grade 3 or higher toxicities were observed. Five of 14 FL patients showed tumor reduction from 16-64%, while 1/17 M patients showed 50% reduced M-protein; maximum responses occurred between 43 days and over 1 year. Increased PBMC sTNF was seen in all patients tested (8 with FL, 6 with M) (p = 0.0006). Consistent with Ax-101 activity depending on a functional immune system, delayed type hypersensitivity (DTH) testing showed all responders to be DTH+ (5 tumor reduction, 4 SD); 5 anergic (DTH-) patients had SD at best (2 SD, 3 worse). Current Ax-101 clinical development will leverage its beneficial immunostimulatory properties to augment the efficacy of anti-PD1 inhibitors such as pembrolizumab, nivolumab and cemiplimab. Citation Format: Stephan W. Morris, Betsy Fisher, Kent Murphy. Ax-101, an immunostimulatory small molecule, markedly enhances the antitumor activity of PD1 immune checkpoint blockade in multiple preclinical solid tumor models [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the American Association for Cancer Research Annual Meeting 2021; 2021 Apr 10-15 and May 17-21. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2021;81(13_Suppl):Abstract nr 1720.

Abstract Applying models to developed agricultural regions remains a difficult problem because there are no existing modeling codes that represent both the complex physics of the hydrology and anthropogenic manipulations to water distribution and consumption. We apply an integrated groundwater – surface water and hydrologic river operations model to an irrigated river valley in northwestern Nevada/northern California, United States to evaluate the impacts of climate change on snow‐fed agricultural systems that use surface water and groundwater conjunctively. We explicitly represent individual surface water rights within the hydrologic model and allow the integrated code to change river diversions in response to earlier snowmelt runoff and water availability. Historically under‐used supplemental groundwater rights are dynamically activated within the model to offset diminished surface water deliveries. The model accounts for feedbacks between the natural hydrology and anthropogenic stresses, which is a first‐of‐its‐kind assessment of the impacts of climate change on individual water rights, and more broadly on river basin operations. Earlier snowmelt decreases annual surface water deliveries to all water rights, not just the junior water rights, owing to a lack of surface water storage in the upper river basin capable of capturing earlier runoff. Conversely, downstream irrigators with access to reservoir storage benefit from earlier runoff flowing past upstream points of diversion prior to the start of the irrigation season. Despite regional shifts toward greater reliance on groundwater for irrigation, crop consumption (a common surrogate for crop yield) decreases due to spatiotemporal changes in water supply that preferentially impact a subset of growers in the region.

Long-term patterns of phenotypic change are the cumulative results of tens of thousands to millions of years of evolution. Yet, empirical and theoretical studies of phenotypic selection are largely based on contemporary populations. The challenges in studying phenotypic evolution, in particular trait-fitness associations in the deep past, are barriers to linking micro- and macroevolution. Here, we capitalize on the unique opportunity offered by a marine colonial organism commonly preserved in the fossil record to investigate trait-fitness associations over 2 Myr. We use the density of female polymorphs in colonies of Antartothoa tongima as a proxy for fecundity, a fitness component, and investigate multivariate signals of trait-fitness associations in six time intervals on the backdrop of Pleistocene climatic shifts. We detect negative trait-fitness associations for feeding polymorph (autozooid) sizes, positive associations for autozooid shape but no particular relationship between fecundity and brood chamber size. In addition, we demonstrate that long-term trait patterns are explained by palaeoclimate (as approximated by ∂18O), and to a lesser extent by ecological interactions (i.e. overgrowth competition and substrate crowding). Our analyses show that macroevolutionary outcomes of trait evolution are not a simple scaling-up from the trait-fitness associations.