Comprehensive Validation Research Articles

Predicting shear failure in reinforced concrete members using a three-dimensional peridynamic framework

The assumptions made in design codes can result in unconservative predictions of shear strength for reinforced concrete members. The limitations of empirical methods have prompted the development and use of numerical techniques. A three-dimensional bond-based peridynamic framework is developed for predicting shear failure in reinforced concrete members. The predictive accuracy and generality of the framework is assessed against existing experimental results. Nine reinforced concrete beams that exhibit a wide range of failure modes are modelled. The shear-span-to-depth ratio is systematically varied from 1 to 8 to facilitate a study of different load-transfer mechanisms and failure modes. A comprehensive validation study such as this has until now been missing in the peridynamic literature. A bilinear constitutive law is employed, and the sensitivity of the model is tested using two levels of mesh refinement. The predictive error between the experimental and numerical failure loads ranges from +3% to −57%, highlighting the importance of validation against a series of problems. The results demonstrate that the model captures many of the factors that contribute to shear and bending resistance. New insights into the capabilities and deficiencies of the peridynamic model are gained by comparing the expected load-transfer mechanisms with the predictive error.

Sit-to-Stand Weight-Bearing Symmetry Performance in Total Knee Arthroplasty: Recovery Curves, Correlates, and Predictive Validity With Gait Speed.

After total knee arthroplasty, the ability to weight bear symmetrically during the sit-to-stand task provides important information regarding altered movement patterns. Despite this, comprehensive recovery curves and validity data for sit-to-stand weight-bearing symmetry are lacking in the total knee arthroplasty population. Our study aimed to (1) develop recovery curves with reference ranges, (2) identify the correlates of standard and constrained sit-to-stand weight-bearing symmetry, and (3) evaluate their predictive validity with gait speed. We performed a retrospective longitudinal study of 706 patients with primary unilateral total knee arthroplasty. Monthly, for 4 mos after surgery, sit-to-stand weight-bearing symmetry, knee pain, knee range of motion, quadriceps strength, and gait speed were quantified. Standard and constrained sit-to-stand weight-bearing symmetry measures improved nonlinearly over time. Standard sit-to-stand weight-bearing symmetry was most strongly associated with bilateral quadriceps strength, whereas constrained sit-to-stand weight-bearing symmetry was most strongly associated with ipsilateral quadriceps strength. Knee range of motion and contralateral knee pain were additional correlates. Both standard sit-to-stand and constrained sit-to-stand weight-bearing symmetry were independently and nonlinearly associated with gait speed in multivariable models. Our study provided recovery curves and validity data to support routine clinical measurement of sit-to-stand weight-bearing symmetry in total knee arthroplasty. Our results also indicate that constrained sit-to-stand may promote greater use of the operated limb than standard sit-to-stand.

Effective solution for underwater image enhancement.

Degradation of underwater images severely limits people to exploring and understanding underwater world, which has become a fundamental but vital issue needing to be addressed in underwater optics. In this paper, we develop an effective solution for underwater image enhancement. We first employ an adaptive-adjusted artificial multi-exposure fusion (A-AMEF) and a parameter adaptive-adjusted local color correction (PAL-CC) to generate a contrast-enhanced version and a color-corrected version from the input respectively. Then we put the contrast enhanced version into the famous guided filter to generate a smooth base-layer and a detail-information containing detail-layer. After that, we utilize the color channel transfer operation to transfer color information from the color-corrected version to the base-layer. Finally, the color-corrected base-layer and the detail-layer are added together simply to reconstruct the final enhanced output. Enhanced results obtained from the proposed solution performs better in visual quality, than those dehazed by some current techniques through our comprehensive validation both in quantitative and qualitative evaluations. In addition, this solution can be also utilized for dehazing fogged images or improving accuracy of other optical applications such as image segmentation and local feature points matching.

A geometrically accurate 3 dimensional model of human thermoregulation for transient cold and hot environments

This paper outlines the development of a finite element human thermoregulatory model using an anatomically and geometrically correct human body model. The finite element body model was constructed from digital Phantoms and is anatomically realistic, including 13 organs and tissues: skin, muscles, fat, bones, heart, lungs, brain, bladder, intestines, stomach, kidneys, liver, and eyes. The model simulates thermal responses through a passive and active system. The passive system describes heat balance within the body and between the skin surface and environment. The active system describes thermoregulatory mechanisms, i.e., vasodilation, vasoconstriction, sweating, and shivering heat production. This model predicts temperature distribution across the body at high spatial resolution, and provides insight into human thermoregulatory responses to non-uniform and transient environments. Predicted temperatures (i.e., core, skin, muscle and fat) at 29 sites were compared with measured values in comfort, hot, and cold conditions. The comprehensive validation shows predictions are accurate and acceptable.

Numerical investigations of endwall film cooling design of a turbine vane using four-holes pattern

PurposeEndwall film cooling protects vane endwall by coolant coverage, especially at the leading edge (LE) region and vane-pressure side (PS) junction region. Strong flow impingement and complex vortexaa structures on the vane endwall cause difficulties for coolant flows to cover properly. This work aims at a full-scale arrangement of film cooling holes on the endwall which improves coolant efficiency in the LE region and vane-PS junction region.Design/methodology/approachThe endwall film holes are grouped in four-holes constructal patterns. Three ways of arranging the groups are studied: based on the pressure field, the streamlines or the heat transfer field. The computational analysis is done with the k-ω SST model after validating the turbulence model properly.FindingsBy clustering the film cooling holes in four-holes patterns, the ejection of the coolant flow is stronger. The four-holes constructal patterns also improve the local coolant coverage in the “tough” regions, such as the junction region of the PS and the endwall. The arrangement based on streamlines distribution can effectively improve the coolant coverage and the arrangement based on the heat transfer distribution (HTD) has benefits by reducing high-temperature regions on the endwall.Originality/valueA full-scale endwall film cooling design is presented considering interactions of different film cooling holes. A comprehensive model validation and mesh independence study are provided. The cooling holes pattern on the endwall is designed as four-holes constructal patterns combined with several arrangement choices, i.e. by pressure, by heat transfer and by streamline distributions.

Numerical investigation of soot emission sources in a direct-injection spark-ignition engine based on comprehensive breakup model validation

Direct injection system is widely adopted in spark-ignition engines to achieve higher thermal efficiency, but it accompanies a penalty in particulate emission, especially when engine is not fully warmed-up. Split injection strategy is known to be an effective measure to reduce engine-out particulate emissions. To better understand the role of split injections, this study aims to analyze the effect of split injection strategy on the sources of soot formation using computational fluid dynamics simulation. To accurately predict changes in particulate mass and number associated with split injection strategy, it is vital that spray models be carefully validated against the experimental data since spray dynamics govern the formation of soot emission sources, such as local fuel-rich mixtures and wall-deposited fuel-films. To this end, a set of spray experiments for free sprays is performed to measure liquid penetration length and droplet size distribution, and hence a comprehensive validation is conducted for spray breakup models. Then, engine simulations are carried out to predict the change in soot sources according to split injection, and the trend of simulation results is compared against the measured engine-out particulate mass and number. Simulation results indicate that breakup model validation using both penetration length and droplet size data is critical for predicting fuel spray dynamics and formation of sources of soot emission. It is also revealed that the piston wetting decreases as the number of injections increases because less amount of fuel is injected when piston is closer to the injector. Lastly, the late evaporation of heavy gasoline components from fuel-film appears to be a significant contributor to soot precursors formation.

Development, validation and reliability of a questionnaire for assessment of physician's knowledge, attitude and practices (KAPs) regarding foodborne diseases in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia

Background: The burden of foodborne illness is considered to be high across the world. Based on the Knowledge-Attitude-Practice (KAP) model, physician’s awareness is essential for conducting individualized treatments, thus reducing the burden of foodborne illness. However, there have been no validated questionnaires specific to the awareness of physicians with foodborne diseases. This study aims to develop and validate a KAP questionnaire for physicians to assess their awareness about the diagnosis and management of foodborne illness. Methods The questionnaire was developed in three phases: a comprehensive literature review, face and content validity, followed by a reliability test by internal consistency. A cross-sectional study was designed in Abha, Saudi Arabia. Physicians (n=125) were opportunistically recruited from both public and private primary healthcare centers. The questionnaire’s content and validity were confirmed by experts in their corresponding fields. After signing the informed consent, the study participants received the questionnaire to evaluate their KAPs on foodborne diseases. Results: A total of 160 physicians from both public and private primary health care centers were approached to enrol 125 study participants into the survey (response rate 78.13%). Of the 31 items designed for assessing the KAP of physicians on foodborne illnesses, three items were excluded after Cronbach’s α analysis. In total, 29 items were included in the final set of the questionnaire. Results of different validity and reliability analyses suggest the questionnaire has a high face and content validity as well as good reliability in internal consistency and stability. Conclusions: This study introduces a newly developed questionnaire with good reliability and validity values that can assess physician’s awareness of foodborne disease. The awareness questionnaire, as a study instrument, had a favourable acceptance among physicians. It is a sound method for evaluating and measuring levels of foodborne disease-related awareness among physicians in Abha, Saudi Arabia.

Effects of Coolants of Double Layer Transpiration Cooling System in the Leading Edge of a Hypersonic Vehicle

As a promising and efficient active cooling method, double layer transpiration cooling is introduced into the design of the cooling system in the leading edge of a hypersonic vehicle. The physical model is built combined with hypersonic transpiration cooling, film cooling, heat conduction, porous media heat conduction and convection heat transfer. In addition, effects of different kinds of coolants are considered to reveal cooling mechanisms in different operation conditions. A comprehensive turbulence model validation and mesh independence study are provided. Flow characteristics caused by flow impingement, separation, transition and interaction with the cooling flows are displayed and analyzed in the work. When different kinds of coolants supplied at the same mass flow rate, the coolants with low densities, i.e., H2and He, have the lowest peak temperature compared with the coolants with large densities, i.e., N2and CO2. The coolants with low densities have a large ejecting velocity which provides large kinetic energy to penetrate deeply in the porous media. In addition, when the ejecting velocity is large enough, a recirculation is formed in front of the leading edge and pushes the high temperature region located in stagnation region away from the leading edge. However, when the coolants are ejected at the same velocity, the coolants with large densities exhibit better cooling performance.

Teachers’ professional identity: validation of an assessment instrument for preservice teachers

This study aims to develop and validate an instrument to analyse future Secondary Education teachers' perceptions regarding the development of Teachers' Professional Identity (TPI). The data were collected from a sample of 733 participants who were students enrolled in the Master's Degree for Secondary Education teachers. The psychometric properties of the instrument were obtained by analysing content, and comprehension validity, construct validity and reliability. A first subsample was used for an Exploratory Factor Analysis, and a second one to verify the identified factor structure via Confirmatory Factor Analysis. The instrument is made up of 31 items in four scales namely the understanding of TPI, the development of TPI at various educational levels, the development of TPI in comparison with that of other professionals and the influencing factors. The results show that it has high levels of validity and reliability. Therefore, it provides TPI research field with an instrument to assess it during the initial teacher training period in consecutive training models where it seems to occur more identity crisis.

1258Development of a valid evaluation tool assessing health behaviours among Māori & Pasifika young people

Abstract Background The Māori & Pasifika population experience high rates of health inequity, with a greater prevalence of obesity and the associated, life diminishing comorbidities. This is in part attributable to higher socioeconomic disadvantage, low health literacy and a lack of culturally tailored health services. Currently no validated tool exists to assess health behaviour change among Māori & Pasifika populations or success of tailored health interventions to tackle chronic disease. Methods The project incorporates a comprehensive validation and pilot testing process, including 1) cognitive interviewing and 2) test-retest reproducibility. Participants will include a representative sample of Māori & Pasifika young people and their parents/guardians. All research methodology is guided by cultural experts, specific to the Māori & Pasifika population. Results Qualitative data collected via cognitive interviewing will provide feedback regarding the readability, comprehension and content validity of the questionnaire items. Thematic analysis will inform improvements, optimising participant understandability. Cronbach’s alpha will be used to assess internal consistency and Pearson’s r will determine questionnaire test-retest reproducibility. Conclusions A validated questionnaire articulating with cultural values will provide meaningful data to researchers, health practitioners and government bodies regarding the lifestyle decisions of Māori & Pasifika peoples. Enhanced monitoring will determine the success of health initiatives to improve health outcomes of a priority population, across Australia and internationally. Key messages Lifestyle programs aiming to improve health outcomes are increasingly adapted to incorporate and acknowledge cultural values. Reliable measurement tools, including questionnaires, are fundamental to advancing future health research and tackling health inequity among priority populations.

Domain knowledge augmentation of parallel MR image reconstruction using deep learning.

A deep learning (DL) method for accelerated magnetic resonance (MR) imaging is presented that incorporates domain knowledge of parallel MR imaging to augment the DL networks for accurate and stable image reconstruction. The proposed DL method employs a novel loss function consisting of a combination of mean absolute error, structural similarity, and sobel edge loss. The DL model takes both original measurements and images reconstructed by the parallel imaging method as inputs to the network. The accuracy of the proposed method was evaluated using two anatomical regions and six MRI contrasts and was compared with state-of-the-art parallel imaging and deep learning methods. The proposed method significantly outperformed the other methods for all the six different contrasts in terms of structural similarity, peak signal to noise ratio, and normalized mean squared error. The out-of-sample performance of the proposed method was assessed for a truly "unseen" case in a volunteer scan. The method produced images without any artificial features, often occurring in the DL image reconstruction methods. A stability analysis was performed by adding perturbations to the input, which demonstrated that the proposed method is robust and stable with respect to small structural changes, and different undersampling ratios. Comprehensive validation on large datasets demonstrated that incorporation of domain knowledge sufficiently regularizes the DL based image reconstruction and produces accurate and stable image enhancement.

MP45-01 VALIDATION AND PUBLIC HEALTH MODELLING OF RISK PREDICTION MODELS FOR KIDNEY CANCER IN UK BIOBANK

You have accessJournal of UrologyKidney Cancer: Epidemiology & Evaluation/Staging/Surveillance I (MP45)1 Sep 2021MP45-01 VALIDATION AND PUBLIC HEALTH MODELLING OF RISK PREDICTION MODELS FOR KIDNEY CANCER IN UK BIOBANK Hannah Harrison, Lisa Pennells, Angela Wood, Sabrina Rossi, Grant Stewart, Simon Griffin, and Juliet Usher-Smith Hannah HarrisonHannah Harrison More articles by this author , Lisa PennellsLisa Pennells More articles by this author , Angela WoodAngela Wood More articles by this author , Sabrina RossiSabrina Rossi More articles by this author , Grant StewartGrant Stewart More articles by this author , Simon GriffinSimon Griffin More articles by this author , and Juliet Usher-SmithJuliet Usher-Smith More articles by this author View All Author Informationhttps://doi.org/10.1097/JU.0000000000002066.01AboutPDF ToolsAdd to favoritesDownload CitationsTrack CitationsPermissionsReprints ShareFacebookLinked InTwitterEmail Abstract INTRODUCTION AND OBJECTIVE: Kidney cancer is the 14th most common cancer worldwide. Although early detection is associated with improved survival rates, many newly diagnosed kidney cancers are metastatic. A barrier to the introduction of a screening programme is low population prevalence. Population risk stratification could minimise harms to individuals and improve the efficiency of a screening programme. Stratification requires a model that accurately identifies individuals at high risk of kidney cancer. Although several models have been developed most have not been externally validated, and the benefits of incorporating them in a screening programme have not been assessed. METHODS: We identified phenotypic risk models in a recent systematic review and validated them in a large population cohort (UK Biobank). We assessed discrimination and calibration of the models for men, women and the whole cohort. We undertook a public health modelling analysis using the best performing models to estimate accuracy in the UK population (individuals aged 40-70). We accounted for differences in demographics (age and sex) and kidney cancer incidence between the UK Biobank cohort and the general population. We compared the ability of the models to identify high-risk individuals for screening with age- and sex-based screening strategies. RESULTS: We included 30 models in the review. Eight had reasonable discrimination (AUROC>0.62) in men, women and the mixed-sex cohort. Many of the models had poor calibration in the UK Biobank. Modelling demonstrated the accuracy of the best models over a range of thresholds (6-year risk: 0.1%-1.0%). At any threshold, the models performed similarly. Overall, they showed a small improvement in ability to identify high-risk individuals compared to age- and sex- based screening. At a cut-off threshold of 0.4%, the best performing model screens 12.3% of the population and detects one case for every 180 individuals screened. Screening all men over the age of 60 (14.1%) would detect one case for every 206 individuals screened. All of the models performed less well in women than men. CONCLUSIONS: This is the first comprehensive external validation of risk prediction models for kidney cancer. Five models showed both reasonable discrimination and good calibration in a UK population. The best-performing models could improve the efficiency of screening by similar amounts, with the choice of model depending on the availability of data. Future research may consider adding biomarkers or genetic risk factors to models. Source of Funding: HH is supported by a NIHR DSE Award (NIHR301182) © 2021 by American Urological Association Education and Research, Inc.FiguresReferencesRelatedDetails Volume 206Issue Supplement 3September 2021Page: e802-e802 Advertisement Copyright & Permissions© 2021 by American Urological Association Education and Research, Inc.MetricsAuthor Information Hannah Harrison More articles by this author Lisa Pennells More articles by this author Angela Wood More articles by this author Sabrina Rossi More articles by this author Grant Stewart More articles by this author Simon Griffin More articles by this author Juliet Usher-Smith More articles by this author Expand All Advertisement Loading ...

Bolted angle members in compression –new design model including joint stiffness

AbstractPrevious research activities at Graz University of Technology, highlighted the fact that the joint stiffness has substantial influence on the compression member capacity of bolted angles.Consequently, analytical models for the estimation of appropriate spring stiffness values have been developed for several practical applications in buildings and two‐bolt connections at both member's ends. The investigated connection details comprise a fixed gusset plate (e.g. as attachment to concrete walls), a joint to the flange of an I‐shaped girder and a joint to the web of an I‐shaped girder via a gusset plate. Based on that, a design model was developed for bolted angle members with rotational spring restraints at both member's ends and an eccentric compression loading N, in order to calculate the compression member capacity Nr.This paper presents the design model in detail. In addition, the background of the model is shown, with a comprehensive calibration and validation procedure based on real tests and numerous numerical tests, respectively. Based on that, also complex failure modes, such as lateral torsional buckling, can be covered by the proposed model.

A comprehensive experimental validation of a scaled car-like vehicle: Lateral dynamics identification, stability analysis, and control application

The use of scaled vehicle prototyping is driven through costs, safety, and time effectiveness in evaluating state-of-the-art algorithms, particularly to demonstrate and facilitate application in advanced vehicle control and sensing systems. This paper illustrates the use of a car-like 1:5-scale vehicle as a valid and reliable test-bed platform whose lateral dynamics are similar to those of a full-sized vehicle. The validation scheme is proposed by way of three model-based essential concepts, comprising an identification process, a stability analysis step, and a control design. The identification process is proposed to determine the unknown model parameters necessary to correctly describe the vehicle behavior. The mathematical model, validated through a series of matching experiments, is then used for further analysis and control purposes. The analysis design is intended to identify the vehicle’s operating conditions, according to its stability properties. Finally, a lateral control strategy that merges knowledge acquired from these analyses is introduced for a path-following system. For each presented characterization, a wide set of experiments were carried out using the scaled vehicle platform. A persistent agreement between expected (simulated) and achieved (measured) lateral response was obtained. The results demonstrate a systematic consistency regarding the platform test-bed and the behavior described by the mathematical model.

Medical Professionals’ Perspective on Virtual Autopsy: Comprehensive Analysis and Validation Study with Respect to Traditional Autopsy

Virtual autopsy is a specialized technique of postmortem examination where in radiological imagingtechniques are used to scan body of dead to make opinion regarding cause of death and other valuables. It isperformed independently or with traditional autopsy. There are numerous advantages of this technique overtraditional autopsy. Due to technical and organizational problem, virtual autopsy service is not commonlyin use in developing countries. In our study we have collected responses of medical professionals throughquestionnaires based on virtual autopsy facts, techniques, advantage, and disadvantage in comparison totraditional autopsy (TA). Results are heartening to know that most of the participants are well aware of thefact of our study objectives but more awareness is needed to promote this important aspect of medicolegaland forensic medicine practice to minimize time, energy and risk due to COVID 19 pandemic and otherfactors.

Development, validation and reliability of a questionnaire for assessment of physician's knowledge, attitude and practices (KAPs) regarding foodborne diseases in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia

Background: The burden of foodborne illness is considered to be high across the world. Based on the Knowledge-Attitude-Practice (KAP) model, physician’s awareness is essential for conducting individualized treatments, thus reducing the burden of foodborne illness. However, there have been no validated questionnaires specific to the awareness of physicians with foodborne diseases. This study aims to develop and validate a KAP questionnaire for physicians to assess their awareness about the diagnosis and management of foodborne illness. Methods The questionnaire was developed in three phases: a comprehensive literature review, face and content validity, followed by a reliability test by internal consistency. A cross-sectional study was designed in Abha, Saudi Arabia. Physicians (n=125) were opportunistically recruited from both public and private primary healthcare centers. The questionnaire’s content and validity were confirmed by experts in their corresponding fields. After signing the informed consent, the study participants received the questionnaire to evaluate their KAPs on foodborne diseases. Results: A total of 160 physicians from both public and private primary health care centers were approached to enrol 125 study participants into the survey (response rate 78.13%). Of the 31 items designed for assessing the KAP of physicians on foodborne illnesses, three items were excluded after Cronbach’s α analysis. In total, 29 items were included in the final set of the questionnaire. Results of different validity and reliability analyses suggest the questionnaire has a high face and content validity as well as good reliability in internal consistency and stability. Conclusions: This study introduces a newly developed questionnaire with good reliability and validity values that can assess physician’s awareness of foodborne disease. The awareness questionnaire, as a study instrument, had a favourable acceptance among physicians. It is a sound method for evaluating and measuring levels of foodborne disease-related awareness among physicians in Abha, Saudi Arabia.

Human upper-airway respiratory airflow: In vivo comparison of computational fluid dynamics simulations and hyperpolarized 129Xe phase contrast MRI velocimetry.

Computational fluid dynamics (CFD) simulations of respiratory airflow have the potential to change the clinical assessment of regional airway function in health and disease, in pulmonary medicine and otolaryngology. For example, in diseases where multiple sites of airway obstruction occur, such as obstructive sleep apnea (OSA), CFD simulations can identify which sites of obstruction contribute most to airway resistance and may therefore be candidate sites for airway surgery. The main barrier to clinical uptake of respiratory CFD to date has been the difficulty in validating CFD results against a clinical gold standard. Invasive instrumentation of the upper airway to measure respiratory airflow velocity or pressure can disrupt the airflow and alter the subject’s natural breathing patterns. Therefore, in this study, we instead propose phase contrast (PC) velocimetry magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) of inhaled hyperpolarized 129Xe gas as a non-invasive reference to which airflow velocities calculated via CFD can be compared. To that end, we performed subject-specific CFD simulations in airway models derived from 1H MRI, and using respiratory flowrate measurements acquired synchronously with MRI. Airflow velocity vectors calculated by CFD simulations were then qualitatively and quantitatively compared to velocity maps derived from PC velocimetry MRI of inhaled hyperpolarized 129Xe gas. The results show both techniques produce similar spatial distributions of high velocity regions in the anterior-posterior and foot-head directions, indicating good qualitative agreement. Statistically significant correlations and low Bland-Altman bias between the local velocity values produced by the two techniques indicates quantitative agreement. This preliminary in vivo comparison of respiratory airway CFD and PC MRI of hyperpolarized 129Xe gas demonstrates the feasibility of PC MRI as a technique to validate respiratory CFD and forms the basis for further comprehensive validation studies. This study is therefore a first step in the pathway towards clinical adoption of respiratory CFD.

Faulty data detection and classification for bridge structural health monitoring via statistical and deep‐learning approach

Over the last several decades, a lot of bridges have been equipped with the bridge structural health monitoring system, leading to an accumulation of voluminous monitoring data. Since the sensors and associated transmission hardware are subjected to harsh environments, the monitoring data frequently contains various faults, and it is laborious to cleanse the data manually. For the purpose of automatically detecting and classifying faulty monitoring data in large quantities, this paper proposes a novel method that uses the relative frequency distribution histograms (RFDH) of monitoring data as well as the one-dimensional convolutional neural network (1-D CNN). The overall procedure of this method can be described as follows: First, RFDHs are constructed from different classes of hour-long data segments. Second, inverted envelopes of the RFDHs are labeled as the training data to train the 1-D CNN. Third, a well-trained 1-D CNN is used to detect and classify long-term monitoring data according to their RFDHs of hour-long data segments. Comprehensive validation of the proposed method is conducted with selective acceleration data collected from two long-span bridges. The validation yields satisfactory results, demonstrating the accuracy, efficiency, and generality of the method.

A comprehensive calibration and validation of SWAT-T using local datasets, evapotranspiration and streamflow in a tropical montane cloud forest area with permeable substrate in central Veracruz, Mexico

Tropical montane cloud forests (TMCF) are threatened ecosystems despite their capacity to maintain high dry-season baseflow. A number of conservation policies, including payments for hydrological services, have been implemented to protect these forests. However, since most of the modeling tools used to assess the impacts of these policies were developed for temperate zones, more work is needed to understand and improve the applicability of popular models in tropical contexts. This study uses local evapotranspiration and streamflow datasets to calibrate and validate an improved version of the Soil and Water Assessment Tool model for the Tropics (SWAT-T). Vegetation growth and canopy water storage capacity were calibrated using field data. Three methods provided by SWAT-T to calculate potential evapotranspiration (PET) were compared: Penman-Monteith (SWAT-T-PM), Hargreaves (SWAT-T-HA), and Priestly-Taylor (SWAT-T-PT). Sensitivity analysis and calibration of daily streamflow were conducted at the catchment scale (34 km2). Furthermore, the calibrated models were validated at three sites with evapotranspiration data, and at four distinct micro-catchments (0.137–0.446 km2) with gauged streamflow data. Overall, SWAT-T satisfactorily simulated streamflow during the calibration period producing acceptable goodness of fit indices. However, the model incorrectly predicted the dominance of lateral flow instead of the deep groundwater flow observed from isotope-based studies. SWAT-T-HA performed better than SWAT-T-PM and SWAT-T-PT, but all models underestimated the influence of rainfall interception losses since evaporation is limited by daily PET in forests. Finally, SWAT-T largely over- and underestimated mean annual daily low flow in pastures and forests, respectively. Taken together, these results indicate that improvements in the parametrization of rainfall interception and deep subsurface flow dynamics in SWAT-T are required to improve applicability of this modeling tool in tropical montane areas underlain by permeable substrates.

Creation of an Expert Curated Variant List for Clinical Genomic Test Development and Validation: A ClinGen and GeT-RM Collaborative Project

Modern genomic sequencing tests often interrogate large numbers of genes. Identification of appropriate reference materials for development, validation studies, and quality assurance of these tests poses a significant challenge for laboratories. It is difficult to develop and maintain expert knowledge to identify all variants that must be validated to ensure analytic and clinical validity. Additionally, it is usually not possible to procure appropriate and characterized genomic DNA reference materials containing the number and scope of variants required. To address these challenges, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's Genetic Testing Reference Material Program (GeT-RM) has partnered with the Clinical Genome Resource (ClinGen) to develop a publicly available list of expert curated, clinically important variants. ClinGen Variant Curation Expert Panels nominated 546 variants found in 84 disease-associated genes, including common pathogenic and difficult-to-detect variants. Variant types nominated included 346 single nucleotide variants, 104 deletions, 37 copy number variants, 25 duplications, 18 deletion-insertions, 5 inversions, 4 insertions, 2 complex rearrangements, 3 difficult-to-sequence regions, and 2 fusions. This expert-curated variant list is a resource that provides a foundation for designing comprehensive validation studies and for creating in silico reference materials for clinical genomic test development and validation.