River and Stream Power Assessment Report Including Culvert and Bridge Vulnerability Analysis: Deerfield River Basin, Massachusetts and Vermont

This geomorphic assessment of Deerfield River in western Massachusetts and southern Vermont has been prepared by Milone & MacBroom, Inc. (MMI) on behalf of the University of Massachusetts as part of its Farms, Floods, and FGM project, funded by the United States Department of Agriculture – National Institute of Food and Agriculture National Integrated Water Quality Program(USDA – NIFA NIWQP) program. This project is a broad-based geomorphic assessment of the Deerfield River and its adjacent riparian corridor to define its characteristics, processes, and management issues. The river channel is used extensively for hydroelectric power generation and recreation, with agricultural land uses on the floodplains. This river assessment focuses upon temporal river processes and resulting features rather than the more common assessment of local cross section forms and characteristics that change after annual floods. The Deerfield River has been found to be remarkably stable with moderate specific stream power (SSP) except in highly contracted segments, and the few large floodplains are more prone to sediment deposition rather than dynamic migratory channels or avulsions. In contrast, several larger tributaries have steep gradients and narrow confined valleys that lead to high stream power and dramatic geomorphic changes during floods. Consequently, the anticipated hydrologic effects of climate change will be more acute along the tributaries than the main stem. The second part of this project included developing a Geographic Information System (GIS)-based model to compute specific stream power and using the results to help predict culvert and bridge vulnerability of failure. This vulnerability screening tool uses remote sensing data and a regression equation to predict hydrology and channel reach slope and a prediction of channel and structure condition that is compared to a field inventory of culverts. The purpose of the vulnerability screen analysis is to help identify the potential for channel and structural risk at culverts due to erosion, sedimentation, debris, and flooding. Vulnerable structures can then be ranked by priority for subsequent on-site investigation. River Assessment Methodology is based on a hydro-morphology approach and employs fluvial assessment of watershed valley and river channel characteristics, an analysis of the Active River Area, an assessment of the equilibrium state and adjustments, and culvert/ bridge vulnerability analyses throughout the Deerfield watershed in Vermont and Massachusetts (HUC 01080203)

Session A1- The Vermont culvert screening tools for aquatic organism passage and geomorphic compatibility

The Vermont Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC), Vermont Fish and Wildlife Department (FWD), and others have collected stream crossing structure data using the Bridge and Culvert Assessment in the Vermont Stream Geomorphic Assessment Protocols. A publicly accessible database currently contains information on 5,000 culverts. FWD uses information to identify structures that impact fish passage. DEC uses these data to evaluate culverts that increase flood and erosion risks. Towns can use this information to manage crossing structures. The AOP Coarse Screen characterizes passage by physical measures of the culvert and stream. These data are useful at the watershed and subwatershed scales to identify structures having the most impact. The AOP Retrofit Potential Screen identifies the likelihood of improving passage via structural culvert changes. this screening tool considers the biology of fish, and indicates the potential passability for strong, moderate, and weak swimmers. It is useful at the subwatershed and local catchment scales to target structures for further analysis and management. The AOP Habitat Connectivity Potential Screen indicates the habitat that would be reconnected if passage were improved. This screen is best applied at the subwatershed and local catchment scales to realize the potential gains in habitat due to changes at a structure or set of structures. The Vermont Culvert Geomorphic Compatibility Screening Tool is based on the disruption of natural sediment transport, hydrology, and channel form. Five variables (i.e., percent bank, full width, sediment and debris continuity, slope, approach angle, and bank erosion) generated from field data are used to represent the level of geomorphic compatibility between the structure and stream. When used together, the Vermont Culvert AOP Screening Tool and Geomorphic Compatibility Screening Tool offer a comprehensive view of how a culvert influences both the physical and biological aspects of a stream

Patient‐Reported Outcomes From a Two‐Year Head‐to‐Head Comparison of Subcutaneous Abatacept and Adalimumab for Rheumatoid Arthritis

Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/122413/1/acr22763_am.pdfhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/122413/2/acr22763.pd

Reductions in disease activity in the AMPLE trial: clinical response by baseline disease duration

Objectives: To evaluate clinical response by baseline disease duration using 2-year data from the AMPLE trial. Methods: Patients were randomised to subcutaneous abatacept 125 mg weekly or adalimumab 40 mg biweekly, with background methotrexate. As part of a post hoc analysis, the achievement of validated definitions of remission (Clinical Disease Activity Index (CDAI) ≤2.8, Simplified Disease Activity Index (SDAI) ≤3.3, Routine Assessment of Patient Index Data 3 (RAPID3) ≤3.0, Boolean score ≤1), low disease activity (CDAI \u3c10, SDAI \u3c11, RAPID3 ≤6.0), Health Assessment Questionnaire-Disability Index response and American College of Rheumatology responses were evaluated by baseline disease duration (≤6 vs \u3e6 months). Disease Activity Score 28 (C-reactive protein) \u3c2.6 or ≤3.2 and radiographic non-progression in patients achieving remission were also evaluated. Results: A total of 646 patients were randomised and treated (abatacept, n=318; adalimumab, n=328). In both treatment groups, comparable responses were achieved in patients with early rheumatoid arthritis (≤6 months) and in those with later disease (\u3e6 months) across multiple clinical measures Conclusions: Abatacept or adalimumab with background methotrexate were associated with similar onset and sustainability of response over 2 years. Patients treated early or later in the disease course achieved comparable clinical responses

Formation of antihydrogen in antiproton - positron collision

A quantum mechanical approach is proposed for the formation of antihydrogen in the ground and excited states (2s, 2p) via the mechanism of three body recombination (TBR) inside a trapped plasma of anti proton and positron or in the collision between the two beams of them. Variations of the differential (DCS) as well as the total (TCS) formation cross sections are studied as a function of the incident energies of both the active and the spectator positrons. Significantly large cross sections are found at very low incident energies in the TBR process as compared to other processes leading to antihydrogen. The present formation cross section decreases with increasing positron energy (temperature) but no simple power law could be predicted for it covering the entire energy range, corroborating the experimental findings qualitatively. The formation cross sections are found to be much higher for unequal energies of the two positrons than for equal energies, as expected physically.Comment: 14 pages, 13 figure

An assessment of the measurement of the Lense-Thirring effect in the Earth gravity field, in reply to: ``On the measurement of the Lense-Thirring effect using the nodes of the LAGEOS satellites, in reply to ``On the reliability of the so far performed tests for measuring the Lense-Thirring effect with the LAGEOS satellites'' by L. Iorio,'' by I. Ciufolini and E. Pavlis

In this paper we reply to recent claims by Ciufolini and Pavlis about certain aspects of the measurement of the general relativistic Lense-Thirring effect in the gravitational field of the Earth. I) The proposal by such authors of using the existing satellites endowed with some active mechanism of compensation of the non-gravitational perturbations as an alternative strategy to improve the currently ongoing Lense-Thirring tests is unfeasible because of the impact of the uncancelled even zonal harmonics of the geopotential and of some time-dependent tidal perturbations. II) It is shown that their criticisms about the possibility of using the existing altimeter Jason-1 and laser-ranged Ajisai satellites are groundless.III) Ciufolini and Pavlis also claimed that we would have explicitly proposed to use the mean anomaly of the LAGEOS satellites in order to improve the accuracy of the Lense-Thirrring tests. We prove that it is false. In regard to the mean anomaly of the LAGEOS satellites, Ciufolini himself did use such an orbital element in some previously published tests. About the latest test performed with the LAGEOS satellites, IV) we discuss the cross-coupling between the inclination errors and the first even zonal harmonic as another possible source of systematic error affecting it with an additional 9% bias. V) Finally, we stress the weak points of the claims about the origin of the two-nodes LAGEOS-LAGEOS II combination used in that test.Comment: LaTex2e, 22 pages, no figures, no tables. To appear in Planetary and Space Science. Reference Ries et al. 2003a added and properly cite

Restricted feedback control of one-dimensional maps

Dynamical control of biological systems is often restricted by the practical constraint of unidirectional parameter perturbations. We show that such a restriction introduces surprising complexity to the stability of one-dimensional map systems and can actually improve controllability. We present experimental cardiac control results that support these analyses. Finally, we develop new control algorithms that exploit the structure of the restricted-control stability zones to automatically adapt the control feedback parameter and thereby achieve improved robustness to noise and drifting system parameters.Comment: 29 pages, 9 embedded figure