Assessment of Natural Stream Sites for Hydroelectric Dams in the Pacific Northwest Region

This pilot study presents a methodology for modeling project characteristics using a development model of a stream obstructing dam. The model is applied to all individual stream reaches in hydrologic region 17, which encompasses nearly all of Idaho, Oregon, and Washington. Project site characteristics produced by the modeling technique include: capacity potential, principal dam dimensions, number of required auxiliary dams, total extent of the constructed impoundment boundary, and the surface area of the resulting reservoir. Aggregated capacity potential values for the region are presented in capacity categories including total, that at existing dams, within federal and environmentally sensitive exclusion zones, and the balance which is consider available for greenfield development within the limits of the study. Distributions of site characteristics for small hydropower sites are presented and discussed. These sites are screened to identify candidate small hydropower sites and distributions of the site characteristics of this site population are presented and discussed. Recommendations are made for upgrading the methodology and extensions to make the results more accessible and available on a larger scale

Twist exome capture allows for lower average sequence coverage in clinical exome sequencing

Background Exome and genome sequencing are the predominant techniques in the diagnosis and research of genetic disorders. Sufficient, uniform and reproducible/consistent sequence coverage is a main determinant for the sensitivity to detect single-nucleotide (SNVs) and copy number variants (CNVs). Here we compared the ability to obtain comprehensive exome coverage for recent exome capture kits and genome sequencing techniques. Results We compared three different widely used enrichment kits (Agilent SureSelect Human All Exon V5, Agilent SureSelect Human All Exon V7 and Twist Bioscience) as well as short-read and long-read WGS. We show that the Twist exome capture significantly improves complete coverage and coverage uniformity across coding regions compared to other exome capture kits. Twist performance is comparable to that of both short- and long-read whole genome sequencing. Additionally, we show that even at a reduced average coverage of 70× there is only minimal loss in sensitivity for SNV and CNV detection. Conclusion We conclude that exome sequencing with Twist represents a significant improvement and could be performed at lower sequence coverage compared to other exome capture techniques

Assessment of Natural Stream Sites for Hydroelectric Dams in the Pacific Northwest Region

This pilot study presents a methodology for modeling project characteristics using a development model of a stream obstructing dam. The model is applied to all individual stream reaches in hydrologic region 17, which encompasses nearly all of Idaho, Oregon, and Washington. Project site characteristics produced by the modeling technique include: capacity potential, principal dam dimensions, number of required auxiliary dams, total extent of the constructed impoundment boundary, and the surface area of the resulting reservoir. Aggregated capacity potential values for the region are presented in capacity categories including total, that at existing dams, within federal and environmentally sensitive exclusion zones, and the balance which is consider available for greenfield development within the limits of the study. Distributions of site characteristics for small hydropower sites are presented and discussed. These sites are screened to identify candidate small hydropower sites and distributions of the site characteristics of this site population are presented and discussed. Recommendations are made for upgrading the methodology and extensions to make the results more accessible and available on a larger scale