Does ownership matter? The performance and efficiency of State Oil vs. Private Oil (1987–2006)

This paper investigates the existence of ownership effects in the global oil and gas industry, i.e. whether there are systematic performance and efficiency differentials between National Oil Companies (NOCs) and privately owned International Oil Companies (IOCs). After discussing key issues of comparing ‘State Oil’ and ‘Private Oil’, I summarise important trends emerging from the dataset, which covers 1001 firm observation years over the period 1987–2006. Using panel-data regression analysis it is shown that NOCs significantly underperform the private sector in terms of output efficiency and profitability. They also produce a significantly lower annual percentage of upstream reserves, although this may not be an indication of firm efficiency. Overall, this paper suggests that a political preference for State Oil usually comes at an economic cost.     

The influence of a corrosive wood-cutting environment on the mechanical properties of hardmetal tools

The influence of a corrosive wood-cutting environment on the strength of hardmetals and on their behaviour under static loading conditions has been investigated. Two commercial hardmetals were tested, which differed in hard phase composition. The results show exposure to this environment to have a highly detrimental influence on the strength of both hardmetals investigated, due to localised corrosive attack which results in the formation of stress raisers. The relative loss in strength as a function of corrosion time is the same for both hardmetals. However, the performance of the two grades differ significantly when a static load is applied in this corrosive environment: the strength of the WC-Co grade remains unaffected by the applied load, while the grade containing a mixed carbide phase exhibits stress corrosion cracking which results in a further reduction in strength.     

Predicting patterns of epicardial potentials during ventricularfibrillation

Ventricular fibrillation (VF) is a fatal cardiac arrhythmia, characterized by uncoordinated propagation of activation wavefronts in the ventricular myocardium. Short-term predictions of epicardial potential fields during VF in pigs were attempted using linear techniques, and prediction accuracy was measured at various stages during sustained episodes. VF was induced in five pigs via premature electrical stimulation. Unipolar electrograms were recorded from an epicardial array of 506 electrodes in a 22×23 array with 1-mm spacing. Optimal spatial basis functions (modes) and time-varying weighting coefficients were found using the Karhunen-Loeve decomposition. Linear autoregressive (AR) models incorporating the dynamics of only a few spatial modes led to predicted patterns that were qualitatively similar to observed patterns. Predictions were made 0.256 s into the future, based on 0.768 s of past data, over an area of approximately 5 cm² on the ventricular epicardium. The mean squared error of predictions varied from as much as 1.23 to as little as 0.14, normalized to the variance of the actual data. Inconsistency in long-term forecasts is partly due to the limitations of linear AR models. Changes in predictability, however, were consistent. Predictability varied inversely with spatial complexity, as measured by the mean squared error of a five-mode approximation. Predictability also increased significantly during the first minute of VF     

Beanspruchungsverhalten von PVD-CrN Beschichtungen auf Leichtmetallwerkstoffen

Behaviour of light metals with PVD-CrN coatings using different test methods The application of thin hard coatings on machining tools, e.g. drilling tools is state of the art. The increase of lifetime of coated Tools compared to uncoated tools is well known. [1]. In this context ?separation of functions”? is an often used phrase, by meaning the separation of functions of the volume and the surface of materials. Going one step forward, from the point of view of tribology or corrosion this means, you have ?only”? to protect the surface by using a ?good”? coating without looking at the material underneath. In the past the influence of substrate materials or the optimization of the system (substrate-coating) was not the main aim of PVD development. Looking at substrate and coating as a system is especially necessary, if the differences of the properties of substrate and coating are large (e.g. hard coating – light metals). This paper shows different aspect of the tribological and electrochemical characterization of PVD coated light metals (CrN coating).     

Influence of ethionine on the ultrastructural morphology of the porcine hepatocyte

In the present study the morphological alterations induced by ethionine poisoning in the porcine liver were examined by electron microscopy. It was found that the most prominent ultrastructural changes were: accumulation of fat drops in the cytoplasm, disappearance of polysomes, fragmentation and vesiculisation of the endoplasmic reticulum, altered glycogen distribution and mitochondrial swelling. These closely resembled the pathological changes found in rat parenchymal cells under the same circumstances. In addition, moreover fat deposits were found in the nucleoplasm. The microbodies showed an altered morphology.     

Multiple necking of tungsten fibers in a brass-tungsten composite

A model composite system, brass-tungsten, was used to study the effect of multiple necking of metal fibers, strain rate, and fiber surface condition on the ductility and deformation behavior of uniaxial metal matrix composites. Low volume percent (<20 vol pct) composites were made using brass (90 Cu-10 Zn) powders and tungsten wires. Tungsten wires contained in plastically deformed composites exhibited numerous necks per length of wire, with an average spacing between necks of 3 to 5 wire diameters. Composite ductility was shown to increase with decreasing multiple neck spacing and increasing percent reduction-in-area at the necks and was generally independent of strain rate. The multiple necking of tungsten wires in a brass matrix was found to result from local strain hardening of the brass matrix in the vicinity of each neck enabling the matrix to control composite deformation locally. Degrading the brass-tungsten interfacial bond by electropolishing the tungsten wires and coating them with graphite had no effect on the multiple necking phenomenon and composite ductility.