Risk analysis: Casing-while-Drilling (CwD) and modeling approach

In today's volatile economy and uncertain drilling environment, managers are encouraged to reduce well cost and time and have implemented Casing-while-Drilling (CwD) to improve operational excellence. Risk analysis is another valid tool that can be used to improve drilling operations. This paper discusses CwD as a new technology and how its benefits can be strengthened by including risk analysis as a complementary technique. A modeling approach is presented to demonstrate how risk analysis can be applied to CwD programs and to discuss the main concerns a well planner must address to achieve a successful drilling program. The integration of both CwD and risk analysis will add value to the overall excellence of the well operation. Very little work has been done on this integration, and the hope is that this approach will be a standard practice in the future.     

Personal identification using feature and score level fusion of palm- and fingerprints

The ever increasing demand of security has resulted in wide use of Biometric systems. Despite overcoming the traditional verification problems, the unimodal systems suffer from various challenges like intra class variation, noise in the sensor data etc, affecting the system performance. These problems are effectively handled by multimodal systems. In this paper, we present multimodal approach for palm- and fingerprints by feature level and score level fusions (sum and product rules). The proposed multi-modal systems are tested on a developed database consisting of 440 palm- and fingerprints each of 55 individuals. In feature level fusion, directional energy-based feature vectors of palm- and fingerprint identifiers are combined to form joint feature vector that is subsequently used to identify the individual using a distance classifier. In score level fusion, the matching scores of individual classifiers are fused by sum and product rules. Receiver operating characteristics curves are formed for unimodal and multimodal systems. Equal Error Rate (EER) of 0.538% for feature level fusion shows best performance compared to score level fusion of 0.6141 and 0.5482% of sum and product rules, respectively. Multimodal systems, however, significantly outperform unimodal palm- and fingerprints identifiers with EER of 2.822 and 2.553%, respectively.     

Photophysical Characterization of Insulin Denaturation and Aggregation at Hydrophobic Interfaces

The peak III/I ratio of pyrene monomer fluorescence was used to characterize surface-induced insulin denaturation and aggregation. An indicator of the hydrophobicity of pyrene's microenvironment, the IIM ratio can be used to study self-association of amphipathic molecules. In sodium lauryl sulfate (NaLS), the III/I ratio was 0.71 below the critical micelle concentration (CMC) and increased to 0.98 when the concentration was above the CMC. When insulin was placed in a polystyrene cuvet for 2 days at 37°C, the IWI ratio decreased from 0.84 to 0.78. The decrease in III/I ratio corresponds to surface-induced denaturation of insulin which exposed pyrene to a more polar environment. Increasing the duration of incubation for up to 12 days increased the III/I ratio to 1.06. Increased hydrophobicity of pyrene's environment correlates with the self-association of insulin. Once the aggregates reached a critical size, they began precipitating as was evident by an increase in the turbidity (absorbance at 600 nm) of solution. The results of this study support previous hypothesis that the aggregation and precipitation of insulin at hydrophobic interfaces is initiated by adsorption and surface-induced denaturation.     

Modulation of phosphatidylcholine biosynthesis by peroxisome proliferating fatty acid analogues

The modulation of phosphatidylcholine (PC) and phosphatidylethanolamine (PE) biosynthesis by sulfur-substituted fatty acid analogues has been investigated in rats. We have compared the effects of two non-β-oxidizable fatty acid analogues, 3-thiadicarboxylic acid and tetradecylthioacetic acid, which induce proliferation of peroxisomes, with those of the analogue tetradecylthiopropionic acid, which is a weak peroxisome proliferator. Repeated administration of 3-thiadicarboxylic acid for seven days resulted in increased hepatic concentrations of both PC and PE, but the PC/PE ratio was decreased. PC synthesis was increased, as evidenced by increased incorporation of [³H]choline into PC and an increased activity of cytidinetriphosphate (CTP): phosphocholine cytidylyltransferase. This was accompanied by a reduction in the pool sizes of choline and phosphocholine. TheS-adenosylmethione/S-adenosylhomocysteine ratio (AdoMet/AdoHcy) was marginally affected, indicating no increase in the rate of methylation of PE to PC. Administration of tetradecylthioacetic acid also resulted in increased hepatic phospholipid levels, increased AdoMet/AdoHcy ratios and in slightly elevated activity of CTP:phosphocholine cytidylyltransferase. The most striking effect observed after tetradecylthiopropionic acid treatment was the development of fatty liver. The activity of CTP:phosphocholine cytidylyltransferase and the incorporation of [³H]choline into PC was reduced compared to 3-thiadicarboxylic acid treatment. Although the rate of methylation of PE seemed to be increased at an elevated AdoMet/AdoHcy ratio, this resulted in only minor changes in the hepatic PC and PE levels, and the PC/PE ratio remained unchanged. Furthermore, the hepatic levels of choline and phosphocholine were reduced in these rats. The activities of the two enzymes competing for choline in the liver, choline kinase and choline dehydrogenase were changed in opposite directions, with the activity of choline kinase increasing approximately 1.5-fold. In addition, it was found that the level of homocysteine was elevated in the liver of tetradecylthiopropionic acid-treated rats. The possibility is discussed that this reflects a reduced flux of choline through the oxidative pathway in the liver. In tetradecylthiopropionic acid-treated rats, there seemed to be a coordinated regulation of the two pathways for PC biosynthesis, with an increase in the methylation of PE to PC and a reduced synthesisvia the CDPcholine pathway. The increase in PC observed in rats treated with 3-thiadicarboxylic acid and tetradecylthioacetic acid suggests that increased PC synthesis is linked to peroxisome proliferation.     

Electrochemistry of chlorogenic acid: experimental and theoretical studies

Cyclic voltammetry, chronoamperometry and rotating disk electrode voltammetry as well as quantum chemical methods, are used for electrochemical study of chlorogenic acid, as an important biological molecule. The standard formal potential, diffusion coefficient, and heterogeneous electron transfer rate constant of chlorogenic acid in aqueous solution are investigated. Acidic dissociation constant of chlorogenic acid is also obtained. Quantum mechanical calculations on oxidation of chlorogenic acid in aqueous solution, using density functional theory are presented. The change of Gibbs free energy and entropy of oxidation of chlorogenic acid are calculated using thermochemistry calculations. The calculations in aqueous solution are carried out with the use of polarizable continuum solvation method. Theoretical standard electrode potential of chlorogenic acid is achieved to be 0.580 V versus standard calomel electrode (SCE) which is in agreement with the experimental value of 0.617 V obtained experimentally in this work. The difference is consistent with the values we previously reported for other quinone derivatives.     

Laser-Induced Calcite—Aragonite Transition

High-pressure phases of CaCO₃, namely aragonite, calcite II, and possibly calcite III, were synthesized in air by exposing 10- to 20-μm-size particles of CaCO₃ (calcite I phase) to a CO₂ laser radiation at short pulse lengths (≤0.1 ms). The process, therefore, has the same effect as exposing the particles to at least several hundred megapascals pressure. Processing at higher pulse lengths resulted in the decomposition of CaCO₃ to CaO and CO₂. The extent of decomposition increased with increasing pulse length.     

Enhanced cyclooxygenase-2 gene expression in alcoholic liver disease in the rat

BACKGROUND & AIMS: Inflammatory stimuli and lipid peroxidation up-regulate cyclooxygenase (COX)-2. This study evaluated the relationship between inflammatory mediators, COX expression, and pathological changes in experimental alcoholic liver disease. METHODS: Rats (5 per group) were fed ethanol and a diet containing saturated fat, corn oil, or fish oil by intragastric infusion. Dextrose isocalorically replaced ethanol in controls. In the first set of experiments, whole livers were analyzed. In the second set of experiments, Kupffer cells, endothelial cells, and hepatocytes were isolated from rats in each group. Pathological analyses and measurements of lipid peroxidation, tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-alpha, COX-1 and COX-2 messenger RNA (mRNA), endotoxin, and liver and plasma thromboxane were performed. RESULTS: Increased expression of COX-2 mRNA was detected in the livers of rats showing necroinflammatory changes. The Kupffer cell was the cell primarily responsible for the increase in COX-2 mRNA level. Increased expression of COX-2 was associated with increased levels of endotoxin, TNF-alpha mRNA, lipid peroxidation, and synthesis of thromboxane. COX-1 mRNA was decreased in Kupffer cells in rats with the most severe liver injury. CONCLUSIONS: Up-regulation of COX-2 in alcoholic liver injury occurred in the presence of proinflammatory stimuli and resulted in increased synthesis of inflammatory and vasoactive eicosanoids. Down-regulation of COX-1 may result in decreased synthesis of cytoprotective eicosanoids and additionally exacerbate liver injury.     

New Zealand immunisation schedule history

The first formal immunisation schedule for the delivery of triple (DTP) vaccine was drawn up in November 1960. Since 1960 there have been many changes to the immunisation schedule, with a further change proposed for 1996. These changes have been in response to new vaccine development and better understanding of vaccine immunology. Further changes are certain.     

新型直流侧级联光伏逆变系统的研究与分析

新型直流侧级联的光伏逆变系统拓扑结构由多路单相全桥变换器与其连接的直流侧电容组成,直流侧电容串联能减少逆变桥电压。该拓扑结构使得MOSFET这种开关器件得到更广泛的应用。使用该拓扑结构可减小主电路的电流,同时由于使用了MOSFET,电路中的开关损耗减少了很多,因此降低了线路损耗。更为重要的是,通过对级联逆变器使用载波移相SPWM方式,降低了系统的工作频率,从而直接有效地降低了开关器件的损耗。最终通过仿真验证了该拓扑结构的有效性,研究结果表明多路直流侧级联光伏逆变系统具有较优越的谐波抑制能力,其直流电压控制简单。     

Magnetic Fe3O4@ polydopamine biopolymer: Synthesis,characterization and fabrication of promising nanocomposite

In this work, Functional Fe₃O₄@ polydopamine nanocomposite (Fe₃O₄@PDA) with magnetic response and special surface area were successfully assembled utilizing the strong coordination interactions between these two versatile materials. The morphology and size, crystal structure, specific saturation magnetization, chemical structure, and thermal properties were characterized by transmission electron microscopy (TEM), X‐ray diffraction (XRD), vibration magnetometer (VSM), point of zero charge (pH_pzc), Fourier infrared (FT‐IR) and thermogravimetric analysis (TGA). The self‐polymerization of dopamine could be completed within 3 days, and Fe₃O₄ nanoparticles were embedded into PDA polymer. TGA results showed that PDA content of nanocomposite can be up to 51.7 wt% and also showed a significant decrease in the decomposition temperature of PDA from 530 to 270°C in the presence of the Fe₃O₄ nanoparticles. Through TGA analysis the coating thickness was estimated to be about 0.86 nm that it is well coincident with the measured values using TEM images and XRD analysis. At room temperature by vibrating sample magnetometer (VSM), Fe₃O₄ and Fe₃O₄@PDA exhibit superparamagnetic behavior with a saturation moment of 57.87 and 44.7 emu/g, respectively. Furthermore, PZC value reduced for Fe₃O₄@PDA compared with Fe₃O₄ nanoparticles and fell from 6.7 to 3.04. J. VINYL ADDIT. TECHNOL., 25:41–47, 2019. © 2018 Society of Plastics Engineers