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EMP - Environmental Radiological Air Monitoring Plan: PNNL Operations in Washington

The Environmental Radiological Air Monitoring Plan (EMP) for Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) describes systems/processes/practices related to radiological operations in Richland and Sequim, Washington, that are associated with environmental radiological air monitoring and surveillance activities. The activities described support the lab’s responsibility to maintain safe operations and minimize negative impacts to both onsite and offsite persons and environment. Dose assessments required by regulations and DOE Orders for the public and biota are described. PNNL conducts environmental air surveillance monitoring as part of the PNNL Site Radioactive Air Emissions License (RAEL)-005 for Richland Campus, issued in 2010 with its most recent renewal effective in January 2021. The radioactive air emissions license for the PNNL-Sequim campus (RAEL-014) was issued to the U.S. Department of Energy in 2012 with its most recent renewal effective in January 2023. The EMP is a compilation of the following four documents: - Environmental Radiological Air Monitoring Plan (this main document) (PNNL-20919) - Sampling and Analysis Plan (Attachment 1) (PNNL-20919-1) - Data Management Plan (Attachment 2) (PNNL-20919-2) - Dose Assessment Guidance (Attachment 3) (PNNL-20919-3).

40 CFR 61 Subpart H↗

Digital Biosurveillance for Zoonotic Disease Detection in Kenya

Infectious disease surveillance is crucial for early detection and situational awareness of disease outbreaks. Digital biosurveillance monitors large volumes of open-source data to flag potential health threats. This study investigates the potential of digital surveillance in the detection of the top five priority zoonotic diseases in Kenya: Rift Valley fever (RVF), anthrax, rabies, brucellosis, and trypanosomiasis. Open-source disease events reported between August 2016 and October 2020 were collected and key event-specific information was extracted using a newly developed disease event taxonomy. A total of 424 disease reports encompassing 55 unique events belonging to anthrax (43.6%), RVF (34.6%), and rabies (21.8%) were identified. Most events were first reported by news media (78.2%) followed by international health organizations (16.4%). News media reported the events 4.1 (±4.7) days faster than the official reports. There was a positive association between official reporting and RVF events (odds ratio (OR) 195.5, 95% confidence interval (CI); 24.01–4756.43, p < 0.001) and a negative association between official reporting and local media coverage of events (OR 0.03, 95% CI; 0.00–0.17, p = 0.030). This study highlights the usefulness of local news in the detection of potentially neglected zoonotic disease events and the importance of digital biosurveillance in resource-limited settings.

59 BASIC BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES↗

Performance of methods for SARS-CoV-2 variant detection and abundance estimation within mixed population samples

The accurate identification of SARS-CoV-2 (SC2) variants and estimation of their abundance in mixed population samples (e.g., air or wastewater) is imperative for successful surveillance of community level trends. Assessing the performance of SC2 variant composition estimators (VCEs) should improve our confidence in public health decision making. Here, we introduce a linear regression based VCE and compare its performance to four other VCEs: two re-purposed DNA sequence read classifiers (Kallisto and Kraken2), a maximum-likelihood based method (Lineage deComposition for Sars-Cov-2 pooled samples (LCS)), and a regression based method (Freyja). We simulated DNA sequence datasets of known variant composition from both Illumina and Oxford Nanopore Technologies (ONT) platforms and assessed the performance of each VCE. We also evaluated VCEs performance using publicly available empirical wastewater samples collected for SC2 surveillance efforts. Bioinformatic analyses were performed with a custom NextFlow workflow (C-WAP, CFSAN Wastewater Analysis Pipeline). Relative root mean squared error (RRMSE) was used as a measure of performance with respect to the known abundance and concordance correlation coefficient (CCC) was used to measure agreement between pairs of estimators. Based on our results from simulated data, Kallisto was the most accurate estimator as it had the lowest RRMSE, followed by Freyja. Kallisto and Freyja had the most similar predictions, reflected by the highest CCC metrics. We also found that accuracy was platform and amplicon panel dependent. For example, the accuracy of Freyja was significantly higher with Illumina data compared to ONT data; performance of Kallisto was best with ARTICv4. However, when analyzing empirical data there was poor agreement among methods and variations in the number of variants detected (e.g., Freyja ARTICv4 had a mean of 2.2 variants while Kallisto ARTICv4 had a mean of 10.1 variants). This work provides an understanding of the differences in performance of a number of VCEs and how accurate they are in capturing the relative abundance of SC2 variants within a mixed sample (e.g., wastewater). Such information should help officials gauge the confidence they can have in such data for informing public health decisions.

60 APPLIED LIFE SCIENCES↗

Monitoring installation of partially occluded subassemblies in modular construction factories using BIM, ray tracing, and computer vision

Modular and offsite construction methods are being increasingly adopted due to the advantages they offer in terms of project completion time, quality, and energy-efficiency. Despite these advantages, the current state of monitoring systems in modular construction factories highly relies on labor-intensive, subjective, and error-prone observational methods. A large body of research has aimed to automate the monitoring process using an array of sensors, such as IMUs and RFIDs, during the past two decades. Recently, computer vision-based methods have gained increasing interest as a non-intrusive technology to monitor the process inside modular construction factories. However, partial occlusion challenges have impeded their practical application on a large scale. This challenge is specifically important for monitoring the installation of subassemblies since they can obstruct the view of the monitoring camera, especially those that enable long-term monitoring like closed-circuit television (CCTV) fixed-view surveillance cameras. Here, this paper aims to address this challenge by proposing a novel computer vision-based method to monitor the installation of new subassemblies inside modular factories in highly occluded scenes. The proposed methodology identifies the subassemblies in the CCTV video footage using computer vision, analyzes the occlusions using BIM and ray casting techniques, and estimates the progress of assembly by comparing the BIM model with the detected subassemblies in the video. The proposed methodology was successfully validated on surveillance videos captured from a volumetric modular construction factory in the U.S., achieving 93% accuracy in identifying the installation of subassemblies. The results from this research show that the integration of BIM and computer vision is a promising method for monitoring the installation processes inside modular factories under severe occlusion.

97 MATHEMATICS AND COMPUTING↗

Using artificial intelligence to detect human errors in nuclear power plants: A case in operation and maintenance

Human error (HE) is an important concern in safety-critical systems such as nuclear power plants (NPPs). HE has played a role in many accidents and outage incidents in NPPs. Despite the increased automation in NPPs, HE remains unavoidable. Hence, the need for HE detection is as important as HE prevention efforts. In NPPs, HE is rather rare. Hence, anomaly detection, a widely used machine learning technique for detecting rare anomalous instances, can be repurposed to detect potential HE. In this study, we develop an unsupervised anomaly detection technique based on generative adversarial networks (GANs) to detect anomalies in manually collected surveillance data in NPPs. More specifically, our GAN is trained to detect mismatches between automatically recorded sensor data and manually collected surveillance data, and hence, identify anomalous instances that can be attributed to HE. We test our GAN on both a real-world dataset and an external dataset obtained from a testbed, and we benchmark our results against state-of-the-art unsupervised anomaly detection algorithms, including one-class support vector machine and isolation forest. Our results show that the proposed GAN provides improved anomaly detection performance. Our study is promising for the future development of artificial intelligence based HE detection systems.

46 INSTRUMENTATION RELATED TO NUCLEAR SCIENCE AND ↗

Intensity of sample processing methods impacts wastewater SARS-CoV-2 whole genome amplicon sequencing outcomes

Wastewater SARS-CoV-2 surveillance has been deployed since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic to monitor the dynamics in virus burden in local communities. Genomic surveillance of SARS-CoV-2 in wastewater, particularly efforts aimed at whole genome sequencing for variant tracking and identification, are still challenging due to low target concentration, complex microbial and chemical background, and lack of robust nucleic acid recovery experimental procedures. The intrinsic sample limitations are inherent to wastewater and are thus unavoidable. Here, we use a statistical approach that couples correlation analyses to a random forest-based machine learning algorithm to evaluate potentially important factors associated with wastewater SARS-CoV-2 whole genome amplicon sequencing outcomes, with a specific focus on the breadth of genome coverage. We collected 182 composite and grab wastewater samples from the Chicago area between November 2020 to October 2021. Samples were processed using a mixture of processing methods reflecting different homogenization intensities (HA + Zymo beads, HA + glass beads, and Nanotrap), and were sequenced using one of the two library preparation kits (the Illumina COVIDseq kit and the QIAseq DIRECT kit). Technical factors evaluated using statistical and machine learning approaches include sample types, certain sample intrinsic features, and processing and sequencing methods. The results suggested that sample processing methods could be a predominant factor affecting sequencing outcomes, and library preparation kits was considered a minor factor. Finally, a synthetic SARS-CoV-2 RNA spike-in experiment was performed to validate the impact from processing methods and suggested that the intensity of the processing methods could lead to different RNA fragmentation

60 APPLIED LIFE SCIENCES↗

Updraft and Downdraft Core Size and Intensity as Revealed by Radar Wind Profilers: MCS Observations and Idealized Model Comparisons

This study explores the updraft and downdraft properties of mature stage mesoscale convective systems (MCSs) in terms of draft core width, shape, intensity, and mass flux characteristics. The observations use extended radar wind profiler (RWP) and surveillance radar datasets from the U.S. Department of Energy Atmospheric Radiation Measurement program for midlatitude (Oklahoma, USA) and tropical (Amazon, Brazil) sites. MCS drafts behave qualitatively similar to previous aircraft and RWP cloud summaries. The Oklahoma MCSs indicate larger and more intense convective up- and downdraft cores, and greater mass flux than Amazon MCS counterparts. However, similar size-intensity relationships and draft vertical profile behaviors are observed for both regions. Additional similarities include weak positive correlations between core intensity and core width (correlation coefficient r ~ 0.5), and increases in draft intensity with altitude. A model-observational intercomparison for draft properties (core width, intensity, mass flux) is also performed to illustrate the potential usefulness of statistical observed draft characterizations. Idealized simulations with the Weather Research and Forecasting model aligned with midlatitude MCS conditions are performed at model grid spacings (?x) that range from 4 km to 250 m. It is shown that the simulations performed at ?x = 250 m at similar mature MCS lifecycle stages are those that exhibit draft intensity, width, mass flux, and shape parameter performances best matching with observed properties.

radar, arm, wind profiler, goamazon↗

Multiscale influenza forecasting

Abstract Influenza forecasting in the United States (US) is complex and challenging due to spatial and temporal variability, nested geographic scales of interest, and heterogeneous surveillance participation. Here we present Dante, a multiscale influenza forecasting model that learns rather than prescribes spatial, temporal, and surveillance data structure and generates coherent forecasts across state, regional, and national scales. We retrospectively compare Dante’s short-term and seasonal forecasts for previous flu seasons to the Dynamic Bayesian Model (DBM), a leading competitor. Dante outperformed DBM for nearly all spatial units, flu seasons, geographic scales, and forecasting targets. Dante’s sharper and more accurate forecasts also suggest greater public health utility. Dante placed 1st in the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s prospective 2018/19 FluSight challenge in both the national and regional competition and the state competition. The methodology underpinning Dante can be used in other seasonal disease forecasting contexts having nested geographic scales of interest.

59 BASIC BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES↗

Applying MALDI-TOF MS to resolve morphologic and genetic similarities between two Dermacentor tick species of public health importance

Abstract Hard ticks (Acari: Ixodidae) have been historically identified by morphological methods which require highly specialized expertise and more recently by DNA-based molecular assays that involve high costs. Although both approaches provide complementary data for tick identification, each method has limitations which restrict their use on large-scale settings such as regional or national tick surveillance programs. To overcome those obstacles, the matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization time-of-flight mass spectrometry (MALDI-TOF MS) has been introduced as a cost-efficient method for the identification of various organisms, as it balances performance, speed, and high data output. Here we describe the use of this technology to validate the distinction of two closely relatedDermacentortick species based on the development of the first nationwide MALDI-TOF MS reference database described to date. The dataset obtained from this protein-based approach confirms that tick specimens collected from United States regions west of the Rocky Mountains and identified previously asDermacentor variabilisare the recently described species,Dermacentor similis. Therefore, we propose that this integrative taxonomic tool can facilitate vector and vector-borne pathogen surveillance programs in the United States and elsewhere.

Science & Technology - Other Topics↗

Tracking Volumetric Units in Modular Factories for Automated Progress Monitoring Using Computer Vision

The construction industry is increasingly adopting off-site and prefabricated methods due to advantages offered in safety, quality, and lead time. Applying industrialized methods for plant management in offsite construction factories requires the collection of large volumes of production process data, which is a tedious task when performed manually. Recent attempts to automate this process have relied on sensor-based data collection methods which are susceptible to noise, expensive, and difficult to validate. Computer vision methods, however, enable process data collection from videos without the limitations of the other sensor-based methods. This technology has not been applied for offsite construction except in very few instances and therefore, this study proposes a novel method to reliably collect the production process data using computer vision method in near real-time from widely used surveillance cameras in offsite construction. The proposed method allows the user to annotate the workstations of interest on the video as ground truths and process these areas throughout the entire video to track the units entering and leaving stations, while continuously updating a near real-time schedule of the production line. This framework was validated by implementing on the surveillance videos of the production process of modular home manufacturing in a factory. The results consistently provided 100% accuracy, after denoising, for all the videos processed including 60 h of work for a station. The developed method enables real-time tracking of station performance, which can enable continuous improvement methods for factory management and resource allocation.

computer vision↗

SPIDARman: System-Level Physics-Informed Detection of Anomalies in Reactor Collected Data Considering Human Errors

In nuclear power plants (NPPs), anomalies arising from sensors or human errors (HEs) can undermine the performance and reliability of plant operations. Anomaly detection models can be employed to detect sensor errors and HEs. Additionally, physics-informed machine learning models can utilize the known physics of the system, as described by mathematical equations, to ensure that sensor values are consistent with physical laws. Hence, we propose SPIDARman: System-level Physics-Informed Detection of Anomalies in Reactor Collected Data Considering Human Errors, a holistic physics-informed anomaly detection approach based on generative adversarial networks (GANs) to detect anomalies in both automatically collected sensor data and manually collected surveillance data. Here we test our approach on data collected from a flow loop testbed, showcasing its potential to detect anomalies. Results demonstrate that the proposed model performs better than the baseline GAN-based models in detecting sensor and surveillance anomalies, suggesting the potential of physics-informed anomaly detection GAN models in NPPs.

46 INSTRUMENTATION RELATED TO NUCLEAR SCIENCE AND ↗

Longitudinal seroprevalence of Crimean-Congo hemorrhagic fever virus in Southern Uganda

Crimean-Congo hemorrhagic fever (CCHF) is a tick-borne disease endemic to many regions of Africa, the Middle East, Southeast Asia and the Balkans. Caused by the CCHF virus (CCHFV), CCHF has been a recognized cause of illness in Uganda since the 1950s and recently, more intensive surveillance suggests CCHFV is widely endemic within the country. Most surveillance has been focused on the Ugandan cattle corridor due to the risk of CCHFV exposure associated with livestock practices. Here we evaluated the seroprevalence of CCHFV in several Southern Ugandan communities outside the cattle corridor combined with longitudinal sample sets to measure the immune response to CCHFV for up to a decade. Interestingly, across three community types, agrarian, trading and fishing, we detected CCHFV seroprevalence in all three but found the highest seroprevalence in fishing communities. We also measured consistent CCHFV-specific antibody responses for up to a decade. Our findings support the conclusion that CCHFV is widely endemic in Uganda and highlight that additional communities may be at risk for CCHFV exposure.

60 APPLIED LIFE SCIENCES↗

Population-level incidence of human papillomavirus–positive oropharyngeal, cervical, and anal cancers, by smoking status

Abstract We estimated the population-level incidence of human papillomavirus (HPV)–positive oropharyngeal, cervical, and anal cancers by smoking status. We combined HPV DNA genotyping data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Cancer Registry Sentinel Surveillance System with data from the Kentucky Cancer Registry and Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System across smoking status. During 2004-2005 and 2014-2015 in Kentucky, most cases of oropharyngeal (63.3%), anal (59.7%), and cervical (54.9%) cancer were among individuals who ever smoked. The population-level incidence rate was higher among individuals who ever smoked than among those who never smoked for HPV-positive oropharyngeal (7.8 vs 2.1; adjusted incidence rate ratio = 2.6), cervical (13.7 vs 6.8; adjusted incidence rate ratio = 2.0), and anal (3.9 vs 1.6; adjusted incidence rate ratio = 2.5) cancers. These findings indicate that smoking is associated with increased risk of HPV-positive oropharyngeal, cervical, and anal cancers, and the population-level burden of these cancers is higher among individuals who ever smoked.

Oncology↗

Landscape analysis of environmental data sources for linkage with SEER cancer patients database

Abstract One of the challenges associated with understanding environmental impacts on cancer risk and outcomes is estimating potential exposures of individuals diagnosed with cancer to adverse environmental conditions over the life course. Historically, this has been partly due to the lack of reliable measures of cancer patients’ potential environmental exposures before a cancer diagnosis. The emerging sources of cancer-related spatiotemporal environmental data and residential history information, coupled with novel technologies for data extraction and linkage, present an opportunity to integrate these data into the existing cancer surveillance data infrastructure, thereby facilitating more comprehensive assessment of cancer risk and outcomes. In this paper, we performed a landscape analysis of the available environmental data sources that could be linked to historical residential address information of cancer patients’ records collected by the National Cancer Institute’s Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results Program. The objective is to enable researchers to use these data to assess potential exposures at the time of cancer initiation through the time of diagnosis and even after diagnosis. The paper addresses the challenges associated with data collection and completeness at various spatial and temporal scales, as well as opportunities and directions for future research.

60 APPLIED LIFE SCIENCES↗

Benchmarking SARS CoV-2 Infection in the Workplace to Support Continuity of Operations

Objective: The COVID-19 pandemic jeopardizes continuity of operations of workplaces and the health and safety of workers. Exemplar workplace-related SARS-CoV-2 benchmarks are described and illustrated with empirical data. Methods: Benchmarks were collected over a 9-month period on a large workplace (N = 5500+). These ranged from quantitative indices associated with RT-qPCR targeted testing and random surveillance screening, surveillance for new variants of SARS-CoV-2, intensive contact tracing, case management, return to work procedures, to monitoring of antibody seropositive status. Results: Data and analyses substantiated effectiveness of interventions. This was evidenced in suppressed infection rates, rapid case identification and isolation, acceptance of the program by employees, documentation of presumptive immunity, and working relationships with senior management. Conclusions: These SARS-CoV-2 exemplar benchmarks provided an evidence-base for practice and contributed strategically to organizational decisions.

60 APPLIED LIFE SCIENCES↗

Genomic analysis of Klebsiella aerogenes circulating in New Mexico

Klebsiella aerogenes is an opportunistic pathogen and a growing cause of healthcare-associated infections, characterized by multidrug resistance and the emergence of global high-risk clones. However, regional genomic surveillance data remain limited. Here, we sought to characterize the population structure, transmission dynamics and resistance mechanisms of clinical K. aerogenes in Albuquerque, New Mexico. We sequenced 177 clinical isolates collected between 2021 and 2023. We also developed a novel, species-specific PopPUNK database to facilitate rapid, high-resolution typing. The New Mexico K. aerogenes population was diverse but dominated by two global pandemic lineages, ST93 (47.5%) and ST4 (7.9%), which were significantly enriched for the virulence factors yersiniabactin and colibactin. Genomic evidence for recent local transmission was rare, with only four putative transmission pairs identified. The resistome was characterized by intrinsic and adaptive mutations. Nearly all isolates possessed gyrA mutations associated with decreased fluoroquinolone susceptibility. Mutations in the AmpC regulator AmpD and the outer membrane porin Omp36 were common, particularly within the dominant ST93 lineage. These mutations have been associated with increased AmpC-mediated carbapenem resistance. Our findings underscore the critical importance of genomic surveillance to monitor the transmission and evolution of adaptive resistance.

59 BASIC BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES↗

Trust Model Utilization for Energy Grid Communication

The internet information that is used by the Energy Grid of Things requires both preventative security measures as well as surveillance measures. The preventative security measures include certificates, encryption, and all of the basic security protocols as defined by published standards. The surveillance measures include monitoring information flow activities and evaluating these messages for indications of potential security attacks. We describe in this paper the utilization of a Distributed Trust Model that was developed specifically for monitoring communication within an Energy Grid of Things. The goal for the Distributed Trust Models is to provide a level of aggregate trust that a Distributed Energy Resource Management System can meet its grid service obligations, as opposed to a detailed individual Distributed Energy Resources assessment.

32 ENERGY CONSERVATION, CONSUMPTION, AND UTILIZATI↗

Cooperative Routing for an Air–Ground Vehicle Team—Exact Algorithm, Transformation Method, and Heuristics

This paper considers a cooperative vehicle routing problem for an intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance mission in the presence of communication constraints between the vehicles. The proposed framework uses a ground vehicle and an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) that travel cooperatively and visit a set of targets while satisfying the communication constraints. The problem is formulated as a mixed-integer linear program, and a branch-and-cut algorithm is developed to solve the problem to optimality. Furthermore, a transformation method and a heuristic are also developed for the problem. The effectiveness of all the algorithms is corroborated through extensive computational experiments on several randomly generated instances. Furthermore, this paper is motivated by an intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance mission involving a single unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) and a ground vehicle, where the vehicles must coordinate their activity in the presence of communication constraints. The combination of a small UAV and a ground vehicle is an ideal platform for such missions, since small UAVs can fly at low altitudes and can avoid obstacles or threats that would be problematic for the ground vehicle alone. This paper addresses the coordinated routing problem involving these two vehicles and presents an algorithm to obtain an optimal solution for this problem, fast heuristics to obtain good feasible solutions, and also a transformation method to transform any instance of this cooperative vehicle routing problem to an instance of the one-in-a-set traveling salesman problem.

33 ADVANCED PROPULSION SYSTEMS↗