Comparison of Environmental Assessments of Two Proposed Harbor Expansions on the Mississippi River

The National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 requires federally funded projects to be evaluated for environmental impact to determine if a complete environmental impact statement must be prepared. Such an environmental assessment must also be included in any feasibility study for harbor enlargement and bank stabilization measures under the Water Resources Development Act. Population increases, coupled with economic growth from increased agricultural and industrial productivity, have resulted in increased Mississippi River barge transportation needs for Arkansas and Missouri. We report here two such environmental assessments of planned harbor expansions of the New Madrid County and Pemiscot County ports in the Missouri bootheel along the Mississippi River. We evaluated the environmental settings, presence of wetlands, and the presence of hazardous, toxic or radioactive wastes (HTRW) at the two sites. The results of these evaluations were used to determine the possible significant resources and impacts (including endangered species) associated with harbor expansion at the two sites. No significant HTRW were present or likely to be encountered during construction at either site. However, differences in 1) the environmental settings (open high banks vs. bottomland forest), 2) significant resources (historical accounts of least tern colonies at one site), and 3) presence of wetland habitat at one site may preclude or reduce the level of one or both harbor expansions. Careful consideration of possible environmental impacts may help guide the choice of sites for similar harbor expansions in Arkansas

Biomass Dynamics of Tipula (Insecta: Diptera) in Forested Streams of the Interior Highlands, Arkansas

Abundance patterns of aquatic macroinvertebrates that utilize coarse particulate organic matter as a food source are important indicators of non--point source pollution associated with silviculture activities. This group, referred to as shredders, typically decreases in abundance as its food source—primarily leaves—is removed from the ecosystem. We tested whether larval biomass of the crane fly Tipula, a common member of the group, was an effective estimator of shredder abundance. Additionally, we used regression analysis to test whether the length to dry mass relationship of Tipula differed among geographic regions, between seasons, and between years. Results did not indicate significant differences in the relationship among these variables. Thus, we concluded that a general length to dry mass relationship was appropriate for Tipula in streams of the Interior Highlands. Our results were similar to those reported from North Carolina and Virginia. Tipula biomass was positively correlated with the total richness of the macroinvertebrate assemblage, a common measurement of stream quality, but was not correlated with the numerical abundance of the shredder functional feeding group. Thus, we concluded that Tipula biomass would not be an effective surrogate for whole assemblage metrics in biological assessments

Physicochemical Characteristics and Macroinvertebrate Assemblages of Riffles Upstream and Downstream of a Streambank Impacted by Unrestricted Cattle Access

Riparian zones are important contributors to stream ecosystem health. Alteration of such areas can change stream structure and function, resulting in modified productivity and hydrologic patterns. We studied two riffle sites on the South Fork of the Spring River in Fulton County, AR upstream and downstream of a streambank ostensibly degraded by unrestricted cattle access. The two sites were measured for differences in physical habitat (including bank width, stream velocity, depth, substrate composition, and embeddedness), chemical characteristics (including dissolved oxygen, pH, conductivity, turbidity and total suspended solids) and biological characteristics (including benthic macroinvertebrate community composition, similarity, and standing crop). Measurements were conducted quarterly for one year. We found embeddedness, total suspended solids and turbidity to be significantly higher downstream of the cattle access area. Community metrics were similar for both sites; however, macroinvertebrate standing crop was lower downstream. These results suggest moderate differences in stream productivity downstream of the cattle access site. Future work will evaluate whether reduced cattle access and streambank stabilization efforts result in improvements in water quality and density of macroinvertebrates

Measurement of associated Z plus charm production in proton-proton collisions at root s=8TeV

A study of the associated production of a Z boson and a charm quark jet (Z + c), and a comparison to production with a b quark jet (Z + b), in pp collisions at a centre-of-mass energy of 8 TeV are presented. The analysis uses a data sample corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 19.7 fb(-1), collected with the CMS detector at the CERN LHC. The Z boson candidates are identified through their decays into pairs of electrons or muons. Jets originating from heavy flavour quarks are identified using semileptonic decays of c or b flavoured hadrons and hadronic decays of charm hadrons. The measurements are performed in the kinematic region with two leptons with pT(l) > 20 GeV, vertical bar eta(l)vertical bar 25 GeV and vertical bar eta(jet)vertical bar Z + c + X) B(Z -> l(+)l(-)) = 8.8 +/- 0.5 (stat)+/- 0.6 (syst) pb. The ratio of the Z+c and Z+b production cross sections is measured to be sigma(pp -> Z+c+X)/sigma (pp -> Z+b+X) = 2.0 +/- 0.2 (stat)+/- 0.2 (syst). The Z+c production cross section and the cross section ratio are also measured as a function of the transverse momentum of theZ boson and of the heavy flavour jet. The measurements are compared with theoretical predictions.Peer reviewe

Measurement of the underlying event activity in inclusive Z boson production in proton-proton collisions at root s=13 TeV

This paper presents a measurement of the underlying event activity in proton-proton collisions at a center-of-mass energy of 13TeV, performed using inclusive Z boson production events collected with the CMS experiment at the LHC. The analyzed data correspond to an integrated luminosity of 2.1 fb(-1). The underlying event activity is quantified in terms of the charged particle multiplicity, as well as of the scalar sum of the charged particles' transverse momenta in different topological regions defined with respect to the Z boson direction. The distributions are unfolded to the stable particle level and compared with predictions from various Monte Carlo event generators, as well as with similar CDF and CMS measurements at center-of-mass energies of 1.96 and 7TeV respectively.Peer reviewe

Measurement of differential cross sections in the kinematic angular variable phi* for inclusive Z boson production in pp collisions at root s=8 TeV

Measurements of differential cross sections d sigma/d phi* and double-differential cross sections d(2)sigma/ld phi*d/y/ for inclusive Z boson production are presented using the dielectron and dimuon final states. The kinematic observable phi* correlates with the dilepton transverse momentum but has better resolution, and y is the dilepton rapidity. The analysis is based on data collected with the CMS experiment at a centre-of-mass energy of 8 TeV corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 19.7 fb(-1). The normalised cross section (1/sigma) d sigma/d phi*, within the fiducial kinematic region, is measured with a precision of better than 0.5% for phi* <1. The measurements are compared to theoretical predictions and they agree, typically, within few percent.Peer reviewe

The CMS Phase-1 pixel detector upgrade

The CMS detector at the CERN LHC features a silicon pixel detector as its innermost subdetector. The original CMS pixel detector has been replaced with an upgraded pixel system (CMS Phase-1 pixel detector) in the extended year-end technical stop of the LHC in 2016/2017. The upgraded CMS pixel detector is designed to cope with the higher instantaneous luminosities that have been achieved by the LHC after the upgrades to the accelerator during the first long shutdown in 2013–2014. Compared to the original pixel detector, the upgraded detector has a better tracking performance and lower mass with four barrel layers and three endcap disks on each side to provide hit coverage up to an absolute value of pseudorapidity of 2.5. This paper describes the design and construction of the CMS Phase-1 pixel detector as well as its performance from commissioning to early operation in collision data-taking.Peer reviewe

Search for stop and higgsino production using diphoton Higgs boson decays

Results are presented of a search for a "natural" supersymmetry scenario with gauge mediated symmetry breaking. It is assumed that only the supersymmetric partners of the top-quark (stop) and the Higgs boson (higgsino) are accessible. Events are examined in which there are two photons forming a Higgs boson candidate, and at least two b-quark jets. In 19.7 inverse femtobarns of proton-proton collision data at sqrt(s) = 8 TeV, recorded in the CMS experiment, no evidence of a signal is found and lower limits at the 95% confidence level are set, excluding the stop mass below 360 to 410 GeV, depending on the higgsino mass

Severe early onset preeclampsia: short and long term clinical, psychosocial and biochemical aspects

Preeclampsia is a pregnancy specific disorder commonly defined as de novo hypertension and proteinuria after 20 weeks gestational age. It occurs in approximately 3-5% of pregnancies and it is still a major cause of both foetal and maternal morbidity and mortality worldwide1. As extensive research has not yet elucidated the aetiology of preeclampsia, there are no rational preventive or therapeutic interventions available. The only rational treatment is delivery, which benefits the mother but is not in the interest of the foetus, if remote from term. Early onset preeclampsia (<32 weeks’ gestational age) occurs in less than 1% of pregnancies. It is, however often associated with maternal morbidity as the risk of progression to severe maternal disease is inversely related with gestational age at onset2. Resulting prematurity is therefore the main cause of neonatal mortality and morbidity in patients with severe preeclampsia3. Although the discussion is ongoing, perinatal survival is suggested to be increased in patients with preterm preeclampsia by expectant, non-interventional management. This temporising treatment option to lengthen pregnancy includes the use of antihypertensive medication to control hypertension, magnesium sulphate to prevent eclampsia and corticosteroids to enhance foetal lung maturity4. With optimal maternal haemodynamic status and reassuring foetal condition this results on average in an extension of 2 weeks. Prolongation of these pregnancies is a great challenge for clinicians to balance between potential maternal risks on one the eve hand and possible foetal benefits on the other. Clinical controversies regarding prolongation of preterm preeclamptic pregnancies still exist – also taking into account that preeclampsia is the leading cause of maternal mortality in the Netherlands5 - a debate which is even more pronounced in very preterm pregnancies with questionable foetal viability6-9. Do maternal risks of prolongation of these very early pregnancies outweigh the chances of neonatal survival? Counselling of women with very early onset preeclampsia not only comprises of knowledge of the outcome of those particular pregnancies, but also knowledge of outcomes of future pregnancies of these women is of major clinical importance. This thesis opens with a review of the literature on identifiable risk factors of preeclampsia