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This paper concerns elliptic problems involving supercritical Sobolev growth without the (AR) condition and with a mixed boundary Dirichlet-Neumann type condition. The conditions imposed on the nonlinearity considered here generalizes several previous papers, including that presented in the work that inspired this paper, due to Peral and Colorado, in 2003. Beyond that, we present some complementary results, concerning the non-existence of solutions to a class of elliptic problems and a comparison result inspired by the case of Dirichlet boundary conditions, presented by the work of Ambrosetti, Brezis and Cerami. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this research, we propose a novel technique for visualizing nonstationarity in geostatistics, particularly when confronted with a single realization of data at irregularly spaced locations. Our method hinges on formulating a statistic that tracks a stable microergodic parameter of the exponential covariance function, allowing us to address the intricate challenges of nonstationary processes that lack repeated measurements. We implement the fused lasso technique to elucidate nonstationary patterns at various resolutions. For prediction purposes, we segment the spatial domain into stationary sub-regions via Voronoi tessellations. Additionally, we devise a robust test for stationarity based on contrasting the sample means of our proposed statistics between two selected Voronoi subregions. The effectiveness of our method is demonstrated through simulation studies and its application to a precipitation dataset in Colorado. Supplementary materials accompanying this paper appear online. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The ethnohistory of the Colorado River delta has been substantively misunderstood, owing to the widespread neglect and/or misinterpretations of the writings of Francisco Garcés. In 1771, 1774, and 1775–1776, Garcés undertook three entradas into the delta, and wrote a series of valuable ethnographic accounts. Not only have Garcés's locations and routes frequently been misidentified by earlier scholars, his observations on agricultural production and population size have been ignored or marginalized, enabling misconceptions about delta historical demography and adaptation to flourish. The present paper seeks to restore Garcés's accounts, making his locations and ethnographic observation intelligible and interpretable, and to show how these can help resolve extant misconceptions. Part I focuses on some key texts, tying his locations to a master map. Part II focuses on ethnolinguistic groups and settlement sites, discusses the implications for a better understanding of historical demography and agricultural adaptation in the delta. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The remove–compute–restore (RCR) approach is widely used in local quasi-geoid modeling. However, the classical RCR approach usually does not take into account the noise of the satellite-only global gravity field model (GGM), which may lead to a suboptimal result. This paper presents an approach for local quasi-geoid modeling based on spherical radial basis functions that combines local noisy datasets and a noisy satellite-only GGM. This approach includes an RCR procedure using a satellite-only GGM. This is a direct approach that takes the spherical harmonic coefficients of satellite-only GGM as a noisy dataset and includes the corresponding full-noise covariance matrix in the least-squares estimation, aiming to obtain a statistically optimal local quasi-geoid model. The direct approach goes beyond the indirect approach, which treats the height anomalies generated from the satellite-only GGM as a noisy dataset. However, the generated GGM height anomaly dataset is not an equivalent representation of the satellite-only GGM, which may result in the loss of information from the satellite-only GGM. Through mathematical deduction, we demonstrate the theoretical consistency between the direct approach and the indirect approach. The direct approach also has an advantage over the indirect approach in terms of computational complexity due to the simpler algorithm. We conducted a synthetic closed-loop test with a real data distribution in Colorado, and numerical results demonstrated the advantage of the direct approach in local quasi-geoid modeling. In terms of the root mean square of the differences between the predicted values and the true reference values, the direct approach provided an improvement of approximately 14% compared to the indirect approach. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background and Objectives Ageism is oftentimes sugarcoated within humor. Paper birthday cards are 1 delivery approach in which ageist messages are perpetuated and reinforced through humor. Research Design and Methods A convenience sample of birthday cards (k = 227), all indicating a decade of age, were acquired from 7 national retail stores in Colorado Springs, CO. The decades sampled ranged from 21 to 100. With a predeveloped codebook, 3 raters coded the decade birthday cards on various variables, including age group, ageist tone, and humor. Results Birthday cards intended for age 30–60 contained significantly more ageist messages compared to cards intended for age 21 and age 70–100, which did not show a significant difference from each other. Additionally, birthday cards with humor showed more ageist messages than cards without humor. Characteristics of decade birthday cards were also explored. Discussion and Implications Consumers need to learn to evaluate these ageist messages in birthday cards to reduce the perpetuation of damaging stereotypes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Workforce housing does not reproduce all workers equally. So, what kind of workers does "workforce" housing reproduce? Whose reproduction is prioritized, whose is devalued, and how? A case study of housing access and design in three elite Vail Resorts enclaves in Colorado shows that workforce housing prioritizes the reproduction of a young, flexible androcentric workforce who can be cheaply and easily housed. Extending McIntyre and Nast's theorization of racial subsidies, I argue that resort capital awards unearned gendered subsidies to privileged workers and instantiates what Susanne Soederberg calls "displaced survival," or recursive dislocation, for women workers and those with dependents. I detail how twin processes of displaced survival and gendered subsidy emerge in resort communities using data from interviews, survey, ethnographic observation, autoethnography, and municipal records. By attending to the lived experiences of workers in this niche industry, this paper contributes to literature on geographies of exclusion and expands scholarly understandings of how the gendered political economy of labor is sedimented in housing regimes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

State policymaking is at the center of many oil and gas related disputes. Driven by the promise of affordable energy, economic development, and new revenues, supporters of oil and gas have pushed for policies designed to nurture the oil and gas industry, whereas opponents have emphasized a myriad of environmental threats and disruptions. Statewide ballot initiatives related to oil gas extraction offer a particularly useful lens to examine the preferences of voters in that states are home to residents who directly and indirectly experience the promises and perils of extraction. This paper examines two ballot initiatives in Colorado from 2018, one of which was supported by the oil and gas industry; the other of which was opposed by the same industry. We find that the inclusion of natural amenities, livelihood, and population change provides a useful set of variables for further study. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The ethnohistory of the Colorado River delta has been substantively misunderstood, owing to the widespread neglect and/or misinterpretations of the writings of Francisco Garcés. In 1771, 1774, and 1775–76, Garcés undertook three entradas into the delta, and wrote a series of valuable ethnographic accounts. Not only have Garcés's locations and routes frequently been misidentified by earlier scholars, his observations on agricultural production and population size have been ignored or marginalized, enabling misconceptions about delta historical demography and adaptation to flourish. The present paper seeks to restore Garcés's accounts, making his locations and ethnographic observations intelligible and interpretable, and to show how these can help resolve extant misconceptions. Part I focuses on some key texts, tying his locations to a master map. Part II focuses on ethnolinguistic groups and settlement sites, and discusses the implications for a better understanding of historical demography and agricultural adaptation in the delta. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

When advocating for policy change, coalitions rely on various elements and strategies of policy narratives, including emotions. However, past research on the Narrative Policy Framework, and more broadly on the policy process, has largely ignored the role of emotions. This paper argues that emotions, such as anger and fear, are central to how coalitions advocate for policy change. It explores the role of anger and fear in policy narratives by examining the oral testimony (n = 474) given over four legislative committee hearings in March 2019 concerning Colorado Senate Bill 19‐181. This bill changed the mission of the Colorado Oil and Gas Conservation Commission to prioritize protecting the environment and public health over oil and gas development. This research finds the coalition that successfully supported the bill used anger towards the oil and gas industry, while those that opposed the bill relied more on fear of the uncertain consequences of the bill. It also finds the coalition that opposed the bill relied on self‐characterization as heroes and victims, which was a failed strategy. The implications for this research on the Narrative Policy Framework and, more broadly, for the policy process and advocacy are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Fire/smoke barriers are designed to isolate building spaces into manageable compartments that resist the spread of fire and/or smoke, but there are situations in which these life-safety barriers are purposely compromised. Firestopping is a construction and postconstruction activity used to maintain the integrity of fire/smoke barriers. The activity of firestopping is typically the responsibility of either the contractor(s) that caused the penetration or a designated specialty contractor whose primary project function is to monitor and remediate barrier penetrations. There has been limited research on the classification and/or quantity of penetrations that are typically installed in the built environment. This case study collected data from the construction of two separate healthcare construction projects along Colorado's Front Range. Results of this case study across both buildings showed that the majority of penetrations were the results of electrical/low-voltage scopes of work, followed by plumbing, mechanical, fire, structural, and pneumatic tube system penetrations. Life-safety barriers are common in certain building types, and penetrating these barriers is often necessary. This paper provided a method and classification for penetrations of these barriers. Being able to classify the type of penetration and responsible party allows contractors and designers the ability to manage the mitigation efforts. This process also provides a benchmark for owners and designers to quantify the impact of barrier penetrations on building design and maintenance requirements. This may result in building designs that minimize the number of penetrations and provide access areas for building operators to easily inspect and maintain these penetrations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper draws from a dataset focusing on two rural communities in Colorado (USA). Data collection occurred over two periods: late‐2019 and again during COVID‐19 lockdowns in mid‐2020. The communities differed demographically: one had a growing minoritized population, especially among its youth; the other was overwhelmingly white. The paper troubles the concept of subjective wellbeing (SWB) as it asks about the productive potentials of discomfort, with assistance from such concepts as colorblind ideology, motivated reasoning, and network homophily. While important to think about so‐called positive emotional states in the context of community development, we must also ask questions like, "SWB for who and at whose expense?" How respondents thought about individual‐ and community‐level SWB had much to do with the social networks they were in. I also explore why the community that fared pandemic‐related disruptions, from a SWB standpoint, better than the other performed worse during this same period from an economic (material) standpoint. Sociological factors explain these dynamics, which are leveraged to enhance our understanding of how to conceptualize community development in productive ways. In sum, I argue that certain expressions of discomfort have value and are therefore necessary for creating resilient, flourishing, and, ultimately, just communities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Wildfire risk is greatest during high winds after sustained periods of dry and hot conditions. This paper is a statistical extreme-event risk attribution study that aims to answer whether extreme wildfire seasons are more likely now than under past climate. This requires modeling temporal dependence at extreme levels. We propose the use of transformed-linear time series models, which are constructed similarly to traditional autoregressive–moving-average (ARMA) models while having a dependence structure that is tied to a widely used framework for extremes (regular variation). We fit the models to the extreme values of the seasonally adjusted fire weather index (FWI) time series to capture the dependence in the upper tail for past and present climate. We simulate 10 000 fire seasons from each fitted model and compare the proportion of simulated high-risk fire seasons to quantify the increase in risk. Our method suggests that the risk of experiencing an extreme wildfire season in Grand Lake, Colorado, under current climate has increased dramatically relative to the risk under the climate of the mid-twentieth century. Our method also finds some evidence of increased risk of extreme wildfire seasons in Quincy, California, but large uncertainties do not allow us to reject a null hypothesis of no change. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As wildfires increase in both severity and frequency, understanding the role of risk saliency on human behaviors in the face of fire risks becomes paramount. While research has shown that homebuyers capitalize wildfire risk following a fire, studies of the role that risk saliency plays on residential development is limited. This paper aims to fill this gap by studying the link between wildfire risk saliency and the rate of residential development in wildfire‐prone areas, by treating recent wildfires as conditionally exogenous shocks to saliency. Using geospatial data on residential development in Colorado, we show that saliency shocks due to wildfire lead to statistically significant reductions in the rate of new development in wildfire risk zones that last upwards of 5 years, a result that is robust to a number of alternative explanations. We explore the policy implications of these findings, noting that education on fire risks may curtail some but not all of the development in these high wildfire‐risk areas due to the rapid growth of development in these regions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Inland vagrancy and overland dispersal by seabirds are rare phenomena for which the causes and consequences are poorly understood. Studying inland occurrences of seabirds is important because continental land masses form barriers to dispersal of genes and parasites; thus, the permeability of land barriers influences the extent to which seabird populations evolve on separate trajectories and co-evolve with distinct parasite faunas. The boobies (Sula spp.) are a clade of saltwater-obligate species occurring in tropical and subtropical oceans. Booby species tend to exhibit population genetic structure among oceanic regions. Although they rarely wander inland, the Brown Booby (Sula leucogaster) has occurred numerous times as a vagrant in interior North America. Previous inland records from far western North America originated from Pacific populations (subspecies brewsteri), whereas those from eastern and midwestern North America originated from Caribbean populations (subspecies leucogaster). In this paper, we describe 2 new specimens of S. leucogaster, first state records for New Mexico and Colorado, salvaged from localities nearly equidistant from Pacific and Caribbean source populations. We used mitochondrial DNA sequences to conclusively demonstrate that both specimens originated in the Caribbean. We next examined the helminth parasite fauna of the 2 S. leucogaster specimens and an inland-vagrant Blue-footed Booby (S. nebouxii) from New Mexico. The guts of these boobies contained a suite of helminths, including multiple freshwater-obligate taxa. Based on our findings, we suggest that susceptibility to freshwater parasites may cause overland dispersal to fail for boobies, or other seabirds. Thus, freshwater parasites may contribute to explaining the relative rarity of transcontinental dispersal, maintenance of strong inter-ocean population genetic structure, phylogenetic conservatism of specialization on salt-water habitats, and the strictly pelagic distributions of ocean-dwelling species from several avian families. La errancia y dispersión en tierra adentro de las aves marinas son fenómenos raros cuyas causas y consecuencias se entienden poco. Estudiar registros en tierra adentro de aves marinas es importante ya que las masas continentales forman barreras a la dispersión de genes y parásitos; por lo tanto, la permeabilidad de las barreras terrestres influye en qué tanto las poblaciones de aves evolucionan en trayectorias distintas y co-evolucionan con faunas parásitas distintas. Los alcatraces (Sula spp.) constituyen un clado de especies obligadas de agua salada que se encuentran en oceános tropicales y subtropicales. Las especies de alcatraces tienden a exhibir estructura genética poblacional entre regiones oceánicas. Aunque raramente deambula en tierra firme, el alcatraz pardo (Sula leucogaster) se ha reportado muchas veces como errante en tierra adentro de Norteamérica. Previos reportes de tierra adentro en el lejano oeste Norteamericano se originaron de poblaciones del Pacífico (subespecies brewsteri), mientras que los del este y el medioeste de Norteamérica se originan de poblaciones del Caribe (subespecie leucogaster). En este artículo, describimos 2 especímenes nuevos de S. leucogaster, primeros registros estatales para Nuevo México y Colorado, procedentes de localidades casi equidistantes de poblaciones fuente de Pacífico y el Caribe. Utilizamos secuencias de ADN mitocondrial para mostrar conclusivamente que ambos especímenes se originaron en el Caribe. Luego, examinamos la fauna de helmintos parásitos de ambos especímenes de S. leucogaster y de un alcatraz de patas azules (S. nebouxii) que vagaba tierra adentro en Nuevo México. Los intestinos de estos alcatraces contenían una serie de helmintos, incluyendo varios taxa obligadas de agua dulce. Con base en nuestros hallazgos, sugerimos que la susceptibilidad a los parásitos de agua dulce puede ocasionar que la dispersión en tierra adentro no sea exitosa para los alcatraces u otras aves marinas. Por lo tanto, los parásitos de agua dulce pueden contribuir a explicar la relativa rareza de la dispersión transcontinental, el mantenimiento de la fuerte estructura genética inter-oceánica, la conservación filogenética de la especialización en hábitats de agua salada y la distribución estrictamente pelágica de especies oceánicas pertenecientes a varias familias de aves. Palabras clave: agua dulce, errancia, espécimen, helmintos, parásito, Sula. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Rodent pest species threaten many of the world’s resources, including those in agriculture, urban, and natural environments. Goodnature® A24 rat+stoat self-resetting traps (A24s) are used extensively for invasive rat control in several countries and environments, especially in island ecosystems. Unlike traditional single-set kill traps, A24s fire and reset up to 24 times per CO2 cartridge, and represent a nontoxic device for rodent pest control. Given the rapid rise in use of A24s as a management tool, our goal was to understand why A24s work in some cases and not others. To address this goal, we briefly review A24 literature, and then we: 1) introduce a special issue of A24 effectiveness and hazard studies, and 2) propose future research needs and recommended uses for A24s including a list of potentially susceptible rodent species for which further A24 testing is required. Most papers in the special issue focus on Rattus rattus control on islands in Hawaii and New Zealand. Additionally, A24 effectiveness was compared to toxic bait use against rats in California agricultural landscapes, and snap-traps against house mice (Mus musculus) in Colorado pens. Behavioral studies in this special issue demonstrated that both rats and mice repeatedly visit and pass by A24s much more frequently than they trigger A24s. Some large-scale trapping grids in Hawaiian forests reduced rat populations, but a few endangered birds were unintentionally killed by A24s, which stimulated research on bird excluder attachments for A24s. Understanding the duration of carcass persistence of rats and birds killed by A24s has helped trap users account for unobserved target and non- target kills. Future research may investigate A24 uses on rodent species other than Rattus, as the types of species potentially vulnerable to A24s range in size from mice (e.g., Apodemus, Mus, Peromyscus, Reithrodontomys; ≥ 14 g) to squirrels (e.g., Otospermophilus, Sciurus; 353–527 g). A24s can be used successfully to control rodent populations of some species in particular environments. Studies that compare A24s with alternative and synergistic rodent management methods will help determine the most effective and efficient rodent control methods that minimize non-target risks. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This is the second of three papers dealing with metal-bearing circumneutral mine drainage from the inactive Rico-Argentine mine site located at an elevation of ≈ 2740 m (9000 feet) in the San Juan mountain range in southwestern Colorado. This paper evaluates two years of mine drainage treatment using a passive system that included a vertical-flow engineered biotreatment cell. The collapsed St. Louis Tunnel (SLT) discharges circumneutral mine water from several sources that contains elevated concentrations of Cd, Cu, Fe, Mn, Zn. A demonstration-scale 114 L/min (30 gpm) gravity-flow passive treatment system was installed, consisting of a settling basin (utilizing coagulant addition to improve suspended solids settling efficiency), an anaerobic sulfate-reducing bioreactor, and an aeration cascade for effluent polishing. The treatment system generally met target treatment goals for Cd, Cu, Fe, and Pb. Nanophase ZnS in system effluent decreased the frequency of meeting total Zn project treatment goals. Unexpectedly high levels of Mn removal were observed in both the anaerobic bioreactor and the aeration cascade. Large seasonal variations in influent metals concentrations and pH present the greatest challenge in managing system performance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The principle of reciprocity, called Maxwell–Betti theorem, initially used in mechanics in an elastic structure, establishes a relation of equality between two distinct strains under different loads. In this paper, we extend and apply this principle to flow and solute transport equations in porous media, in order to perform the pollution sources identification in aquifers. We developed general 2D expressions of the reciprocity principle for transient transport problems. This model leads to a linear equations set, with point sources coordinates, concentrations and associated water fluxes as unknowns The proposed model is then applied to the Rocky Mountain Arsenal aquifer (Konikow in Modeling Chloride Movement in the Alluvial Aquifer at the Rocky Mountain Arsenal, Colorado. Technical Report Water-Supply Paper 2044, USGS, 1979), where polluted water is injected into a well in the domain. The used inverse technique successfully recovered the position and the pollutant concentration in addition to the associated water flux. In addition, we developed and implemented the inverse method for different knowledge levels of the degrees of the aquifer contamination, i.e. more or less data available in the field. Multiple pollution point sources and noisy data situations are also developed and tested with high efficiency. The proposed method would be easy and useful to be implemented in the modeling software now widely used by researchers and groundwater managers. It can thus be applied in real case studies, to help authorities and regulators to efficiently identify the polluters and the contamination process, i.e. its location, onset, duration and the associated mass and water fluxes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Aria cryogenic distillation plant, located in Sardinia, Italy, is a key component of the DarkSide-20k experimental program for WIMP dark matter searches at the INFN Laboratori Nazionali del Gran Sasso, Italy. Aria is designed to purify the argon, extracted from underground wells in Colorado, USA, and used as the DarkSide-20k target material, to detector-grade quality. In this paper, we report the first measurement of argon isotopic separation by distillation with the 26 m tall Aria prototype. We discuss the measurement of the operating parameters of the column and the observation of the simultaneous separation of the three stable argon isotopes: 36 Ar , 38 Ar , and 40 Ar . We also provide a detailed comparison of the experimental results with commercial process simulation software. This measurement of isotopic separation of argon is a significant achievement for the project, building on the success of the initial demonstration of isotopic separation of nitrogen using the same equipment in 2019. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper aims to advance the current research on the new super diverging diamond interchange (Super DDI) design by evaluating the safety performance of its two versions (super DDI-1 and super DDI-2) using real-field data. Three interchanges were selected in Denver metro, Colorado as the potential candidates to model for future retrofit. This study considered four interchange designs (i.e., existing diamond, DDI, super DDI-1, and super DDI-2) to assess the safety performance using the combination of VISSIM, Synchro, and SSAM analyzing tools. Several microsimulation models (120 scenarios with 600 runs in total) were created with three peak hours (AM, Noon, and PM) for existing (the year 2020) and projected (the year 2030) traffic volumes. Based on the results, both super DDI versions showed high potential in improving safety. As an important finding from this research, super DDI designs outperformed DDI when considering adjacent signals, while DDI performed apparently similar or sometimes even insignificantly better compared to super DDI if no adjacent intersections were located in the vicinity and if the demand was lower than DDI's capacity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Wildfires are increasing in scale, frequency and longevity, and are affecting new locations as environmental conditions change. This paper presents a dataset collected during a community evacuation drill performed in Roxborough Park, Colorado (USA) in 2019. This is a wildland–urban interface community including approximately 900 homes. Data concerning several aspects of community response were collected through observations and surveys: initial population location, pre-evacuation times, route use, and arrival times at the evacuation assembly point. Data were used as inputs to benchmark two evacuation models that adopt different modelling approaches. The WUI-NITY platform and the Evacuation Management System model were applied across a range of scenarios where assumptions regarding pre-evacuation delays and the routes used were varied according to original data collection methods (and interpretation of the data generated). Results are mostly driven by the assumptions adopted for pre-evacuation time inputs. This is expected in communities with a low number of vehicles present on the road and relatively limited traffic congestion. The analysis enabled the sensitivity of the modelling approaches to different datasets to be explored, given the different modelling approaches adopted. The performance of the models were sensitive to the data employed (derived from either observations or self-reporting) and the evacuation phases addressed in them. This indicates the importance of monitoring the impact of including data in a model rather than simply on the data itself, as data affects models in different ways given the modelling methods employed. The dataset is released in open access and is deemed to be useful for future wildfire evacuation modelling calibration and validation efforts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The first reported Permian (Kungurian to Roadian) palynomorphs are described from Colorado, recovered from bedded gypsum and rare organic-rich shale intercalated in the red siltstone-dominated Lykins and State Bridge Formations. Surprisingly, these units generally lack the taeniate, saccate pollen that typifies most Permian continental rocks elsewhere, yet they contain abundant terrestrially derived palynomacerals, a low-diversity suite of sphaeromorph and acanthomorph acritarchs, and extremely rare non-taeniate, bissacate pollen grains. Acritarchs, known from one stratigraphic interval, are well-preserved and interpreted to represent autochthonous deposition during a marine incursion into the depocenter. This interpretation is consistent with their occurrence in a gray mudstone that is mantled by a mollusk-dominated coquina that bears conodonts, palaeoniscoid scales, and actinopterygian teeth. In contrast, most studied samples are dominated by wood fragments, charcoal, cuticles, and unidentified phytoclasts--all interpreted to represent dispersed plant cuticle and wood of continental origin. Fossils occur in black paper shale, gray fetid calcareous siltstone, and rhythmically bedded gypsum that is closely associated with thin limestone. Palynofacies analyses suggest that non-acritarch palynomacerals were deposited in dysoxic to anoxic waters that received minimal suspended terrigenous input. When combined with sedimentologic information, these non-acritarch fossils are hypothesized to have been deposited in shallow epicontinental lake-like settings that were periodically alkaline, hypersaline, and/or emergent. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Adolescent sexual violence (SV), which includes non-contact verbal sexual harassment (SH) and forced sexual contact (FSC), is a significant public health problem with long-term impacts on health and well-being. Understanding how sports participation is linked to SV can inform prevention efforts; however, the current literature is unclear about the nature of this association. Using data from 20 high schools, we investigate whether athletes in certain sports are at higher risk of SH and FSC perpetration than either other athletes or sports non-participants, and whether the risk is moderated by gender, dismissiveness of SV, or substance use intentions. We also utilize social network data to explore the role of relationships with peers and trusted adults to attenuate SH and FSC perpetration. Second, we incorporate characteristics of friends to further examine the role and composition of peer groups in the association between sports participation and perpetration of SH and FSC. Findings revealed a bivariate association between sport contact level and SH perpetration, but not FSC, and the association disappeared after adjusting for other covariates. Most prominently, dismissiveness of SV, intentions to use substances, and prior perpetration had the strongest association with perpetration regardless of sport contact level. Results also provided some support for the influence of peers and trusted adults in the sports context. Notably, the percentage of friends who perpetrated FSC and the percentage of friends who play a low-contact sport were positively associated with FSC perpetration, and the percentage of friends who play a high-contact sport was positively associated with SH perpetration. The paper concludes with a discussion of the sports context as an important venue for comprehensive prevention efforts, including a focus on changing norms around adolescent SV and substance use. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Wind speed prediction is a complex task in the field of wind energy resource forecasting. For prediction, highly nonlinear temporal features are required for wind speed time series, which are highly variable data sources. In this paper, a two-stage fuzzy nonlinear fusion model is proposed for the utmost short-term wind speed prediction problem of 5 and 15 min ahead. First, empirical mode decomposition decomposes the wind speed time series, and the resulting intrinsic mode functions (IMFs) are employed as features in the later modeling study. The first stage of modeling follows. Each IMF feature is fed into one of the three sub-models of the T-S fuzzy model based on triangle, fuzzy C-mean clustering, and Gaussian, yielding three prediction outputs. The second stage is then modeled, which takes advantage of the IT2-based nonlinear aggregation mechanism to overcome the inherent flaws of single methods and linear combinations. Finally, two real cases from wind farms in Colorado, USA, are analyzed to demonstrate the validity of the TFG-IT2 model. The prediction effect of various approaches was measured using three assessment indicators and a statistical test. The simulation results reveal that the TFG-IT2 model outperforms the other seven models in terms of prediction accuracy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Major cities located in the Colorado River Basin (CRB) rely on incentive‐based policies to address water use and supply reliability challenges, through programs provided by cities themselves, by state and federal agencies, and by NGOs. This review examines water use trends across cities, the phenomena of declining per capita use, and finds that most large cities have adopted municipal rate structures designed to incentivize lower use. A number of urban areas provide incentives to use gray water and effluent for outdoor use and to harvest rainwater. Incentive‐based programs to protect watershed health have become a water supply strategy implemented through programs and partnerships across the CRB. The paper concludes by reviewing the ways that incentive‐based urban water policies are being evaluated, and by providing guidelines for designing and evaluating programs to reduce urban use and protect watersheds that provide urban supplies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This publication is a case study of the seasonal variability of mine water drainage from the Saint Louis Tunnel (SLT) at the inactive Rico-Argentine mine site located in southwestern Colorado. It is an introductory paper for the two passive water treatment system technology evaluations contained in this issue. Mine water chemistry changes from baseflow to a snowmelt runoff event (SMRE) where snowmelt runoff follows preferential migration pathways to flush acidic weathering products from the upper mine workings to the SLT. Baseflow mine drainage is characterized as circumneutral, with Zn, Cd, Mn, and Ni concentrations primarily in the dissolved form. Dissolved Zn, Mn, Fe, and potentially Cd illustrate equilibrium with carbonate minerals. Total concentrations of Fe, Cu, Pb, and As are primarily in the suspended form and suggest sorption to Fe oxides. Mine water chemistry during the SMRE reflects mixing of circumneutral baseflow waters with more acidic waters flushing the upper mine workings. Geothermal activity provides for a consistently warm mine water discharge from the SLT. The two seasons that provide the most challenge to passive water treatment of SLT mine drainage are the SMRE period and the low flow stage of the Dolores River. Mine water flow and chemistry during SMRE are highly correlated with Dolores River flow and this site conceptual model was and will be used to assist in pilot project evaluation, water treatment system design, monitoring system design, a seasonal compliance approach, and water management. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Marginalized individuals are less likely to participate or have their interests represented in political processes than historically privileged individuals. Interest groups are considered the best means to address this gap, but there is little research on the role of interest groups in mobilizing people to participate in political processes and none on marginalized communities in particular. This paper is the first to test hypotheses about organizational strategies used to mobilize vulnerable communities for political participation around unconventional oil and gas policies in California and Colorado. Based on a survey of interest groups in both states, the results show that interest groups working in vulnerable communities do more outside advocacy (i.e., connecting residents to representatives) and use more personal communication methods (i.e., door-to-door canvassing) than interest groups working in historically privileged communities. However, organizational strategies in general are not well predicted by the target community's composition, suggesting that decisions around mobilization strategies are driven by other factors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Rodent pest species threaten many of the world's resources, including those in agriculture, urban, and natural environments. Goodnature® A24 rat+stoat self-resetting traps (A24s) are used extensively for invasive rat control in several countries and environments, especially in island ecosystems. Unlike traditional single-set kill traps, A24s fire and reset up to 24 times per CO2 cartridge, and represent a nontoxic device for rodent pest control. Given the rapid rise in use of A24s as a management tool, our goal was to understand why A24s work in some cases and not others. To address this goal, we briefly review A24 literature, and then we: 1) introduce a special issue of A24 effectiveness and hazard studies, and 2) propose future research needs and recommended uses for A24s including a list of potentially susceptible rodent species for which further A24 testing is required. Most papers in the special issue focus on Rattus rattus control on islands in Hawaii and New Zealand. Additionally, A24 effectiveness was compared to toxic bait use against rats in California agricultural landscapes, and snap-traps against house mice (Mus musculus) in Colorado pens. Behavioral studies in this special issue demonstrated that both rats and mice repeatedly visit and pass by A24s much more frequently than they trigger A24s. Some large-scale trapping grids in Hawaiian forests reduced rat populations, but a few endangered birds were unintentionally killed by A24s, which stimulated research on bird excluder attachments for A24s. Understanding the duration of carcass persistence of rats and birds killed by A24s has helped trap users account for unobserved target and nontarget kills. Future research may investigate A24 uses on rodent species other than Rattus, as the types of species potentially vulnerable to A24s range in size from mice (e.g., Apodemus, Mus, Peromyscus, Reithrodontomys; = 14 g) to squirrels (e.g., Otospermophilus, Sciurus; 353-527 g). A24s can be used successfully to control rodent populations of some species in particular environments. Studies that compare A24s with alternative and synergistic rodent management methods will help determine the most effective and efficient rodent control methods that minimize non-target risks. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper describes a non-invasive inspection technique for the estimation of longitudinal stress in continuous welded rails (CWR) to infer the rail neutral temperature (RNT), i.e., the temperature at which the net longitudinal force in the rail is zero. The technique is based on the use of finite element method (FEM), vibration measurements, and machine learning (ML). FEM is used to model the relationship between the boundary conditions and the longitudinal stress of any given CWR to the vibration characteristics (mode shapes and frequencies) of the rail. The results of the numerical analysis are used to train a ML algorithm that is then tested using field data obtained by an array of accelerometers polled on the track of interest. In the study presented in this article, the proposed technique was proven in the field during an experimental campaign conducted in Colorado. A commercial FEM software was used to model the rail track as a short rail segment repeated indefinitely and under varying boundary conditions and stress. Three datasets were prepared and fed to ML models developed using hyperparameter search optimization techniques and k-fold cross validation to infer the stress or the RNT. The frequencies of vibration were extracted from the time waveforms obtained from two accelerometers temporarily attached to the rail. The results of the experiments demonstrated that the success of the technique is dependent on the accuracy of the model and the ability to properly identify the modeshapes. The results also proved that the ML was also able to predict successfully the neutral temperature of the tested rail by using only a limited number of experimental data for the training. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Existing research portrays elite places as prone to exclusion, welcoming of upscaling, and focused on protecting their economic self-interests. This paper provides nuance to this research by exploring how stakeholders understand and respond to supergentrification. During the fall of 2016, a group of citizen activists in the exclusive community of Aspen, Colorado, initiated an ordinance seeking to limit the expansion of luxury chain stores. Drawing on qualitative data related to this case, we show that how communities respond to supergentrification depends on locally specific understandings of place and social class, and how class interests have been institutionalized in local policies. In Aspen, residents opposed luxury chain stores by marshaling narratives that foreground the community's history of class mixing and the significance of working locals. Elected officials responded by taking account of the political power of local residents as well as the city's dependence on tax revenues from affluent visitors and second homeowners. Our findings extend and complicate understandings of how power works in elite places, highlighting both the potential for, and limitations of, efforts to thwart supergentrification and associated dislocation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Social determinants profoundly impact health. Many primary care practices now seek to screen their patients for health‐related social needs (HRSN) and refer them to resources in the community. However, there is little empirical evidence to guide communication with patients in order to ensure their comfort with the process and increase the likelihood that it results in positive outcomes. This paper describes the first phase of the Improving Messaging Around Gaps in Needs and rEfferals (IMAGINE) study—a multi‐phase study aiming to develop and test patient‐centred messages about screening and referral for HRSN. In this initial qualitative phase, our objective was to identify communication strategies that might make western Colorado primary care patients more comfortable with the HRSN screening and referral process. From May to July 2020 we interviewed 10 staff members responsible for HRSN screening from primary care practices participating in the western Colorado Accountable Health Communities (AHC) initiative and 20 patients from 2 of these practices. We used a rapid qualitative analysis process that involved summarising interview transcripts across key domains of interest and then identifying emergent themes within each domain using a data matrix. Through this process, we examined current communication about HRSN screening, as well as suggestions for messages and other strategies that could improve communication. In most practices, the AHC Screening Tool was handed to patients by front desk staff at check‐in with little explanation as to its purpose. Patients and staff alike recommended that patients be provided with information that: normalises the screening and referral process; assures privacy; clarifies that the purpose is to help and support rather than judge or report; emphasises community benefits; and respects patient autonomy. Interviewees also suggested broader strategies to support more effective communication, such as practice staff and clinicians building trusting relationships with patients and understanding and acknowledging the complex structural barriers that often prevent patients from accessing meaningful assistance. These findings provide actionable suggestions for improving communication about HRSN screening and referral in primary care settings. The next steps include developing specific messages based on these findings and testing their impact on screening tool completion rate, referral uptake, and patient‐reported comfort with the process. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Gentrification, growing income inequality, urban development, and the affordable housing crisis necessitate understanding the impact of the concern of displacement on health — prior to or even in the absence of a displacement event. In this paper, I use the term "exclusionary displacement pressure" to unify the literature on exclusionary displacement and displacement pressure, highlighting the disproportionate and inequitable impacts of displacement pressure among communities of color. Through following 35 residents over 2.5-years (2019–2022) in one predominantly low-income Hispanic/Latinx immigrant neighborhood in Denver, Colorado, I examine how exclusionary displacement pressure shapes their health and wellbeing over time. Through paying attention to how participants' lived experience is shaped by structural vulnerability (e.g. lack of documentation status, inadequate work, limited access to safety net systems), I identify how exclusionary displacement pressure is constantly internalized and responded to as a unique embodied health experience, wearing on individuals over time and reproducing population health inequities. The framework of embodied health experiences captures the wide range of health-related impacts, from diagnosable health conditions to idioms of distress, using participant's own language of suffering to express how they were feeling , battling , and enduring the pressure. Theorizing on structural vulnerability within specific subpopulations with intersecting identities, such as low-income immigrant Hispanic/Latinx communities, provides a bottom-up refinement to existing theories of embodied health. Understanding the place-health experiences of individuals in changing neighborhoods over time is also critically important to define time points at which context-specific supports and interventions are appropriate. • Gentrification impacts health through exclusionary displacement pressure. • Embodied health experiences highlight residents' structural vulnerability. • Stabilizing interventions are needed in advance of physical displacement. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article is based on research conducted in Colorado in late-2019 and again post-COVID outbreak, from April through May of 2020. In addition to (virtual) face-to-face interviews, the study used a GPS tracking app to map respondents' macromobilities – trips from one GPS coordinate to another. The data presented are informed by practice theory. The paper's findings focus on the themes of competencies, moralities, and mobilities. Gender proved a particularly significant variable for disentangling the diversity and contingency involved in the social effects of the pandemic, while also stressing the continuities of practice for some, and disruptions for others. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Representativeness and quality of collected meteorological data impact accuracy and precision of climate, hydrological, and biogeochemical analyses and predictions. We developed a comprehensive Quality Assurance (QA) and Quality Control (QC) statistical framework, consisting of three major phases: Phase I—Preliminary data exploration, i.e., processing of raw datasets, with the challenging problems of time formatting and combining datasets of different lengths and different time intervals; Phase II—QA of the datasets, including detecting and flagging of duplicates, outliers, and extreme data; and Phase III—the development of time series of a desired frequency, imputation of missing values, visualization and a final statistical summary. The paper includes two use cases based on the time series data collected at the Billy Barr meteorological station (East River Watershed, Colorado), and the Barro Colorado Island (BCI, Panama) meteorological station. The developed statistical framework is suitable for both real-time and post-data-collection QA/QC analysis of meteorological datasets. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Using a two-stage, matched design, we found dual enrollment students enrolled in college within one year of their expected high school graduation at higher rates than control students who did not take college classes in high school (OR = 3.06). For students that matriculated within one year after high school, compared to control, treatment students showed higher rates of persistence (OR = 1.30), and completion of "any" degree (OR = 2.08), a two-year credential within two years (OR = 2.87), and a four-year degree within four years (OR = 1.61). And five years after high school, treatment students had higher earnings (g = .079). Subgroup findings revealed no significant moderation effects of the treatment by income, race, gender, or achievement level. Prior quantitative studies have largely failed to consider the role of academic achievement, so that is an important contribution of this paper. Ours is also the first study we are aware of to examine the impact of dual enrollment on earnings. While awaiting future research replicating our achievement and earnings results, results suggest dual enrollment is a promising strategy for increasing postsecondary success and earnings after college. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Since early 2020, non-pharmaceutical interventions (NPIs)—implemented at varying levels of severity and based on widely-divergent perspectives of risk tolerance—have been the primary means to control SARS-CoV-2 transmission. This paper aims to identify how risk tolerance and vaccination rates impact the rate at which a population can return to pre-pandemic contact behavior. To this end, we developed a novel mathematical model and we used techniques from feedback control to inform data-driven decision-making. We use this model to identify optimal levels of NPIs across geographical regions in order to guarantee that hospitalizations will not exceed given risk tolerance thresholds. Results are shown for the state of Colorado, United States, and they suggest that: coordination in decision-making across regions is essential to maintain the daily number of hospitalizations below the desired limits; increasing risk tolerance can decrease the number of days required to discontinue NPIs, at the cost of an increased number of deaths; and if vaccination uptake is less than 70%, at most levels of risk tolerance, return to pre-pandemic contact behaviors before the early months of 2022 may newly jeopardize the healthcare system. The sooner we can acquire population-level vaccination of greater than 70%, the sooner we can safely return to pre-pandemic behaviors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Point sources in spatially referenced data can impact outcomes in surrounding locations (e.g., a factory that emits air pollution). Previous statistical methods have sought to describe the non-stationary correlation induced by the presence of a point source, with fewer attempting to quantify its overall impact. We introduce directionally varying change points (DVCP), a model that aims to estimate the magnitude of the impact of a point source as well as its range of influence across the spatial domain. DVCP allows for a unique change point parameter, describing the range of influence of a point source, at every angle extending from the source and uses a Gaussian process with directionally defined correlation function to facilitate estimation of the parameters. The Gaussian predictive process approximation is used for fitting the model to large datasets. Through simulation, we show that DVCP can easily accommodate a wide range of shapes defining the range of influence. We apply DVCP to better understand spatial patterns of ambient PM 2.5 concentrations and issues related to environmental inequity in California and Colorado. The method is available in the R package DVCP. Supplementary materials accompanying this paper appear online. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper is an overview of SILLVR (Streaming Interlibrary Loan Video Resources), an innovative, collaborative pilot project that facilitates interlibrary loan (ILL) for streaming video. Conceived of by Auraria Library staff, SILLVR leverages partnerships with streaming video vendors and the Colorado Alliance for Research Libraries to enable library-to-library borrowing of streaming video media. This paper begins by briefly investigating the history and landscape of interlibrary loan, the loaning of electronic and "new" media, as well as how libraries collaboratively work towards increased ILL access and how this work supports equity. The second half of the paper details the creation of SILLVR, from its conception to the partnerships it has engendered and the workflows that will make it a reality. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Accurate estimation of the potential "upper limit" for extreme precipitation is critical for dam safety and water resources management, as dam failures pose significant risks to life and property. Methods used to estimate the theoretical upper limit of precipitation are often outdated and in need of updating. The rarity of extreme events means that old storms with limited observational data are often used to define the upper bound of precipitation. Observations of many important old storms are limited in spatial and temporal coverage, and sometimes of dubious quality. This reduces confidence in flood hazard assessments used in dam safety evaluations and leads to unknown or uncertain societal risk. This paper describes a method for generating and applying ensembles of high-resolution, state-of-the-art numerical model simulations of historical past extreme precipitation events to meet contemporary stakeholder needs. The method was designed as part of a research-to-application-focused partnership project to update state dam safety rules in Colorado and New Mexico. The results demonstrated multiple stakeholder and user benefits that were applied directly into storm analyses utilized for extreme rainfall estimation, and diagnostics were developed and ultimately used to update Colorado state dam safety rules, officially passed in January 2020. We discuss how what started as a prototype research foray to meet a specific user need may ultimately inform wider adoption of numerical simulations for water resources risk assessment, and how the historical event downscaling method performed offers near-term, implementable improvements to current dam safety flood risk estimates that can better serve society today. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background and Objectives: Lesbian, gay, bisexual, and questioning (LGBQ) youth are at greater risk of problematic alcohol use than their heterosexual peers, yet there is a dearth of research examining variability in alcohol use among youth that simultaneously accounts for sexual orientation and gender identity. This paper examines the relationship between alcohol use and intersecting identities of sexual orientation and gender while accounting for this population's disproportionate experiences of depression and dating and sexual violence. Methods: The study used a representative sample (n = 27,621) of high school students. Logistic regressions were used to determine if earlier age at first drink, 30‐day alcohol use, and binge drinking were significantly related to intersectional sexual orientation and gender identity. Secondary models added depression, dating violence, and sexual violence to analyses to determine if they explained any of the variance in alcohol use variables in LGBQ and transgender youth. Results: Transgender youth who identified as heterosexual or questioning their sexual orientation were at greatest risk for early initiation of alcohol use and binge drinking. These relationships between intersectional identity and alcohol use became nonsignificant when depression, dating violence, and sexual violence were added to the models. Conclusions and Scientific Significance: This is the first study to examine relationships between intersecting identities of sexual orientation and gender identity and alcohol use among youth. Risky alcohol use among transgender youth may be attributed to experiences of depression, dating violence, and sexual violence impacting these populations. Interventions should focus on reducing transgender youth exposure to violence. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A large number of bridges and structures in Colorado are supported by drilled caissons and shafts socketed in weak clay-bearing rocks (e.g., Denver blue claystone and Pierre shale). During the construction of caissons using the wet drilling technique, drilling fluid gets in direct contact with the bedrock, potentially causing their slaking and degradation and, thus, undermining the foundation capacity. This paper evaluates the effect of water infiltration on the axial capacity of caissons embedded in claystone. The methodology of this research combines laboratory testing and coupled finite-element analysis for unsaturated porous materials. A series of experiments were conducted to determine the hydraulic characteristics and the strength-suction relations of the claystone samples obtained from three sites near Denver, Colorado. These parameters were then used in numerical studies of wet drilled caissons subjected to different wetting times (i.e., the time interval between the completion of drilling and the placement of concrete). Adopting the coupled unsaturated flow and mechanical analysis in ABAQUS, a workflow was developed for modeling the full process of drilling, fluid infiltration, caisson construction, and in situ axial loadings. The results showed that among the three sites, the immediate caisson capacity reduction was the highest (≈19%) for the most permeable and water-sensitive formation. On the other hand, the capacity reduction was found to be negligible (≈0%) if the rock was relatively intact with low permeability, regardless of its strength-suction characteristics. Parametric studies also showed that bedrocks with a lower initial degree of saturation experience more rapid and significant strength reduction upon wetting. These results provide the basis to establish practical guidance to evaluate and minimize the impact of wetting time on caisson constructions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Reliable microstructure measurement of snow is a requirement for microwave radiative transfer model validation. Snow specific surface area (SSA) can be measured using stereological methods, in which snow samples are cast in the field and photographed in the laboratory. Processing stereology photographs manually by counting intersections of test cycloids with air–ice boundaries reduces the problems in binary segmentation. This paper is a case study to evaluate the repeatability of the manually stereology interpretation by two independent research groups. We further assessed how uncertainty in snow SSA influences simulated brightness temperature (TB) driven by the Microwave Emission Model of Layered Snowpacks (MEMLS), and how stereology compares to Near Infrared (NIR) camera and hand lens. Data was obtained from two alpine snow profiles from Steamboat Springs, Colorado. Results showed that stereological SSA values measured by two groups are highly consistent, and the ground radiometer measured TB at 19 and 37 GHz was successfully predicted (RMSE<3.8 K); simulations using NIR SSA and hand-lens geometric grain size (Dg) measurements have larger errors. This conclusion was not sensitive to uncertainty in the free parameters of TB modeling. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper explores the rhetoric of the Fort restaurant, located in Morrison, Colorado. The Fort conveys a rhetorical phenomenon I refer to as "frontier authenticity rhetoric" and embodies the rhetorical characteristics of a museum to (re)present a historical 1833 fur trading post, the Old Bent Fort. Using components of the frontier myth, authenticity, commodification, and Whiteness theory, I conduct an archival and spatial analysis of memory and material culture of the Fort's rhetoric. I argue the Fort's frontier authenticity rhetoric maintains collective memories of settler colonialism through origin seeking, essentialized frontier metaphors of an "ideal" American identity, and flawed senses of multicultural hospitality undercut by Whiteness. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As populations and economies expand in regions with changing climates, demand for water can quickly grow beyond what natural supply can sustain. This paper proposes to mitigate shortages, such as those that occur along the Lower South Platte River in northeastern Colorado, via a three-step approach: (1) create flow data scenarios, which represent a wide array of hydroclimatic outcomes; (2) use an existing simulation model to process these scenarios in order to locate excess supply and unmet demand both spatially and temporally; and (3) minimize the cost of alleviating identified shortages using a new, multiperiod, two-stage stochastic programming model, which determines reservoir location, size, type, and operation over a 50-year time horizon. Results indicate that demand associated with historical and seasonally shifted scenarios can be satisfied, and unmet demand associated with more challenging reduced-mean runoff scenarios can be mitigated substantially. Furthermore, multiple smaller reservoirs are preferred over a single large reservoir to hedge against these uncertainties. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To fulfill digital preservation goals, many institutions use high-end scanners for in-house scanning of historical print and oversize materials. However, high-end scanner prices do not fit in many small institutions' budgets. As digital single-lens reflex (DSLR) camera technologies advance and camera prices drop quickly, a budget photography studio can help to achieve institutions' preservation goals. This paper compares images delivered by a high-end overhead scanner and a consumer-level DSLR camera, discusses pros and cons of using each method, demonstrates how to set up a cost-efficient shooting studio, and presents a budget estimate for a studio. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

After the sudden transition to remote instruction in the spring 2020 semester due to the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, physics lab instructors rapidly began to prepare for hybrid and/or fully remote instruction for the fall 2020 semester. In this paper, an asynchronous introductory physics lab course structure implemented at Saint Vincent College, a four-year liberal arts college, in the fall 2020 semester is described. Feedback on the students' experience with the asynchronous format is summarized from student course evaluations. Results from the Colorado Learning Attitudes about Science Survey for Experimental Physics are used to evaluate how the course affected student attitudes toward experimental physics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A new automated method to retrieve charge layer polarity from flashes, named Chargepol, is presented in this paper. Using data from the NASA Lightning Mapping Array (LMA) deployed during the Remote sensing of Electrification, Lightning, And Mesoscale/microscale Processes with Adaptive Ground Observations (RELAMPAGO) field campaign in Cordoba, Argentina, from November 2018 to April 2019, this method estimates the polarity of vertical charge distributions and their altitudes and thicknesses (or vertical depth) using the very‐high frequency (VHF) source emissions detected by LMAs. When this method is applied to LMA data for extended periods of time, it is capable of inferring a storm's bulk electrical charge structure throughout its life cycle. This method reliably predicted the polarity of charge within which lightning flashes propagated and was validated in comparison to methods that require manual assignment of polarities via visual inspection of VHF lightning sources. Examples of normal and anomalous charge structures retrieved using Chargepol for storms in Central Argentina during RELAMPAGO are presented for the first time. Application of Chargepol to five months of LMA data in Central Argentina and several locations in the United States allowed for the characterization of the charge structure in these regions and for a reliable comparison using the same methodology. About 13.3% of Cordoba thunderstorms were defined by an anomalous charge structure, slightly higher than in Oklahoma (12.5%) and West Texas (11.1%), higher than Alabama (7.3%), and considerably lower than in Colorado (82.6%). Some of the Cordoba anomalous thunderstorms presented enhanced low‐level positive charge, a feature rarely if ever observed in Colorado thunderstorms. Key Points: A new automated method to estimate the polarity, altitude, and vertical depth of charge layers from flashes is presentedThunderstorm charge structures in Central Argentina are characterized from months of Lightning Mapping Array (LMA) data, with 13.3% anomalous charge structureCordoba anomalously charged thunderstorms have a distinct charge altitude distribution when compared to those in Colorado [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Extreme changes in weather across the globe are substantially responsible to incite calamities like drought. While we cannot control weather, it is a harsh reality that we cannot stop droughts. However, the consequent detriments can discerningly be reduced to a tolerable limit by developing long term rational planning. To attain this objective, probability models are imperative as they measure and analyze the variation in the random phenomena in an orderly way and help to collect useful information leading toward meaningful predictions. In this paper, an explicit distribution based on the convolution of stochastic variables is derived from the Bivariate Affine-Linear Exponential (BALE) distribution to model the interarrival time of drought. The proposed model follows the trend of the observed drought data of the Colorado Drainage Basin in the USA that provides the rationale for its reliable forecasting. The return periods are also estimated for the interarrival time of drought to obtain important inferences for future planning. Finally, some quantiles associated with this model are provided, which are useful to predict changes in the interarrival times of droughts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Implementation researchers are increasingly using economic evaluation to explore the benefits produced by implementing evidence-based practices (EBPs) in healthcare settings. However, the findings of typical economic evaluations (e.g., based on clinical trials) are rarely sufficient to inform decisions about how health service organizations and policymakers should finance investments in EBPs. This paper describes how economic evaluations can be translated into policy and practice through complementary research on financing strategies that support EBP implementation and sustainment.Main Body: We provide an overview of EBP implementation financing, which outlines key financing and health service delivery system stakeholders and their points of decision-making. We then illustrate how economic evaluations have informed decisions about EBP implementation and sustainment with three case examples: (1) use of Pay-for-Success financing to implement multisystemic therapy in underserved areas of Colorado, USA, based in part on the strength of evidence from economic evaluations; (2) an alternative payment model to sustain evidence-based oncology care, developed by the US Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services through simulations of economic impact; and (3) use of a recently developed fiscal mapping process to collaboratively match financing strategies and needs during a pragmatic clinical trial for a newly adapted family support intervention for opioid use disorder.Conclusions: EBP financing strategies can help overcome cost-related barriers to implementing and sustaining EBPs by translating economic evaluation results into policy and practice. We present a research agenda to advance understanding of financing strategies in five key areas raised by our case examples: (1) maximize the relevance of economic evaluations for real-world EBP implementation; (2) study ongoing changes in financing systems as part of economic evaluations; (3) identify the conditions under which a given financing strategy is most beneficial; (4) explore the use and impacts of financing strategies across pre-implementation, active implementation, and sustainment phases; and (5) advance research efforts through strong partnerships with stakeholder groups while attending to issues of power imbalance and transparency. Attention to these research areas will develop a robust body of scholarship around EBP financing strategies and, ultimately, enable greater public health impacts of EBPs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Identify types of food packaging used in school nutrition programs and competing priorities, barriers, and facilitators for sustainable packaging waste use and recovery. Qualitative interviews (n = 20) and structured kitchen observations were conducted. Data were collected from 3 school districts in Northern Colorado. Three nutrition program directors, 14 kitchen managers, and 3 sustainability staff. Barriers and facilitators for sustainable food packaging waste practices among school nutrition programs. Interviews were recorded and transcribed, followed by inductive content analysis to identify themes. Commonly used food packaging included cardboard, aluminum, paper, plastic, and styrofoam. Four competing priorities were identified as impacting school nutrition programs' ability to reduce or recover food packaging: serving line speed, labor, food quality, and cost. One key barrier was that school staff had difficulty understanding the total system impact of their food packaging use and recovery decisions. Food packaging is commonly used in school nutrition programs, and participants felt that its use offered key benefits, such as facilitating faster serving lines. More research is needed to quantify the direct and indirect impacts of packaging waste reduction and recovery in school nutrition programs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Most transportation agencies employ low-cost surface treatments and light pavement rehabilitation as affordable maintenance strategies on Low-volume roads (LVRs). Yet, decisions about these treatments are made based primarily on local experience and can differ significantly in different management regions. Therefore, the effectiveness of different treatments should be documented. In the state of Colorado, specific maintenance policies are implemented on the pavement management of LVRs due to limited funding. In 2018, a regional survey of practice was conducted to collect information on managing LVRs in Colorado. The objective is to identify efficient pavement management systems for the benefit of implementation and guidance nationwide. This paper summarises the main results of the survey and provides a comprehensive discussion of key issues related to managing LVRs. The optimisation strategies and target levels were proposed, and a case study was optimised as part of a multi-year maintenance planning. As a result of this study, transportation agencies can determine future budget needs, funding allocations and treatment policy in order to demonstrate the best possible use of pavement management resources on LVRs. It also provides useful guidelines for LVRs practitioners who understand the importance of promoting the education of considering effective maintenance practices and funding for roads in the lower management levels. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]