基于最小偏移距分选的地震数据采集质量监控新方法——以沙特Berri工区三维项目为例

在海陆过渡带三维勘探项目的野外施工过程中,通常采用常规的线性动校正或直接核对炮点的方法来检查单炮是否发生偏移,但是,这种监控手段工作效率低下且监控质量得不到保证。介绍了一种基于最小偏移距分选的地震数据采集质量监控方法,基本原理是:将初至拉平,观察是否存在初至起跳异常,从而确定是否存在炮点偏移。在沙特Berri工区三维地震数据采集过程中,首先在放炮时采用GPS导航系统,在导航系统监控软件界面上监测炮点偏移情况,初步控制炮点误差;然后利用基于最小偏移距分选方法对地震数据采集质量进行监控,并对炮点和检波点偏移误差进行分析和检查。应用结果表明该方法能精确地检查炮点和检波点偏移情况,有效地提高了地震资料采集质量。     

Making Dubai: A Process in Crisis

The world financial crisis of 2009 brought the onward march of property development in Dubai to a standstill. Todd Reisz describes how the city's PR community responded to the predicament with a cathartic call for honesty and transparency. Reisz, however, questions the consultants' understanding of the Dubai Dream, which though built out of no more than images, is also constructed out of the hopes of the Arab world. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

How would real-time electricity pricing affect the Saudi power sector in the long-run?

This paper shows the effects of real-time electricity pricing (RTP) on the long-run marginal costs of power generation in Saudi Arabia. To do this, it links a multi-sector energy system model with a residential electricity use model. The energy system model contains an economic power dispatch optimization component. The residential framework embeds households, whose decisions are governed by microeconomic principles, in a physical building energy model. The analysis entails liberalizing fuel prices for the power utilities and setting the dynamic prices of electricity equal to the long-run marginal electricity supply costs. The electricity prices are solely offered to households. The key takeaways from this analysis are:

• •RTP, a form of dynamic electricity pricing, reduces the variability of the marginal costs for Saudi power utilities throughout the day.
• •Lowered capital spending by the Saudi power sector results from RTP and consequently lower power loads. Moreover, the curtailed investment in power plants would more than cover the costs of residential smart meter replacements.

     

Impacts of agricultural policy on irrigation water demand: a case study of Saudi Arabia

Saudi Arabia's groundwater resources have been heavily over-exploited to achieve food self-sufficiency. The country enacted a new agricultural policy that discourages the cultivation of wheat and encourages that of vegetables and fruits. This has produced significant reductions in irrigation water demand as well as food self-sufficiency. This paper reviews the performance of the Saudi agricultural sector and presents four scenarios forecasting the new policy's long-term impacts on the use of water for agriculture. The findings show that the new policy does not support sustainable utilization of groundwater resources. Additional policy modifications are needed to optimize the combination of import and domestic production of agricultural products based on a sustainable water utilization strategy.     

Thermodynamics of ionic-association in aqueous solutions of Ca and Mg organic salts using ion-selective electrode technique—I. Formates, acetates, propionates and butyrates

The divalent selective electrode together with high precision solid state, digital pH -mv -meter makes broader application of potentiometry in physical and inorganic chemistry a certainty. The above set-up is used to determine the stoichiometric constants, K, for Ca and Mg ions association with formates, acetates, propionates and butyrates at 25°, 35° and 45°C in aqueous media. The K-values were converted to infinite dilution K_A values were found to be 8.4 LM⁻¹, 10.4 LM⁻¹, 19.1 LM⁻¹ and 19.3 LM⁻¹ for calcium salts of formate, acetate, propionate and butyrate respectively. Also K_A values for Mg salts of formate, acetate, propionate and butyrate were found to be 7.8 LM⁻¹, 9.5 LM⁻¹, 13.1 LM⁻¹ and 13.1 LM⁻¹ respectively. Other thermodynamic parameters such as ΔG°, ΔH° and ΔS° are also obtained from the variation of K_A with temperature for each salt. The data are interpreted relative to each other on basis of pK_a of the corresponding organic acid. Their temperature behaviour is similar to those salts derived from strong acids such as sulphates, rather than weak acids.     

Quantitative study of food integrity climate in Belgian and Saudi Arabian food businesses in view of their organisational characteristics

Managing food integrity within a food business represents a novel dimension in food safety management. In this study, the prevailing food integrity climate of different food companies was analysed and compared across two distinct countries (Belgium and Saudi Arabia), and its relation with various organisational characteristics was examined. A quantitative questionnaire was filled up by the principal quality manager of forty-three food companies. Results show that the overall food integrity climate in the participating Saudi Arabian (n = 15) and Belgian food companies (n = 28) was estimated as medium–high. Scores varied substantially across the different participating food organisations, but only slightly between the two countries. The companies’ certification status was found statistically significantly related to a higher perceived food integrity climate, in particular for ISO 9000 as well as FSSC 22000 in both countries and IFS only in the Saudi Arabian sample. It was also demonstrated that the prevailing food integrity climate is associated with the company’s product type or sector, but only in the Belgian participating food companies, since Belgian quality managers employed in plant-based food companies estimated their food integrity climate higher than their counterparts in animal-based food companies. This horizontal comparative study, based on an intercontinental quantitative assessment of food integrity performance in food companies, contributes to enhance the understanding of food integrity in relation to specific organisational characteristics of food businesses, offering both theoretical and practical implications.     

Cost,footprint, and reliability implications of deploying hydrogen in off-grid electric vehicle charging stations: A GIS-assisted study for Riyadh,Saudi Arabia

For the first time, we quantify cost, footprint, and reliability implications of deploying hydrogen-based generation in off-grid electric vehicle charging stations (CS) using an optimization model coupled with a geographic information system (GIS) analysis for the city of Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. We also account for the challenges associated with wind energy deployment as a candidate generation technology within city centers. The analysis was restricted to carbon-free technologies: photovoltaics (PV), wind, battery, and hydrogen fuel-cells. At current prevailing technology costs, hydrogen can reduce the required footprint of off-grid CSs by 25% at a small incremental cost increase without impacting the charging reliability. By 2030, however, hydrogen will simultaneously provide the footprint and cost advantages. If we allow as little as 5% of the annual load to be unmet, the required footprint of the CS decreases by 60%. The levelized cost of energy values for the CS by 2030 can range between 0.13 and 0.20 $/kWh depending on learning-curve assumptions. The footprints calculated are then mapped to five land parcel categories in Riyadh: gas station, hospital, mall, school, and university. Incorporating hydrogen in CS design increases the number of parcels that could accommodate CSs by 15–45% via reducing the required PV array (i.e., footprint).     

Food safety organisations in Saudi Arabia – Organisational,historical and future analysis

Food safety organisations around the world are increasingly seeking to develop public policies to protect society, improve the economy, and ensure food safety and quality, by reducing the risks of food-borne illnesses, commercial adulteration, and food fraud. These risks present real threats to the food industry worldwide. The development of these organisations often revolves around reform of their systems, focussing on law, regulations, and improving the performance of enforcement officials. This article analyses the historical development of food safety organisations in Saudi Arabia, including the structures and functions of government and non-government organisations. It focuses on the official decisions contributing to public policy leading to the growth and expansion of these organisations, their roles and their functions. The Saudi Food and Drug Authority (SFDA), a central authority, has recently been established in order to unify enforcement and legislative roles in food safety previously carried out by different Saudi government organisations. Several current and future challenges to food safety in Saudi are identified and discussed.     

A cross‐cultural clustering study of similarities and dissimilarities based on concept words cheap,reliable, and high quality and their corresponding color associations

The world has undergone a techno‐cultural revolution during the last decades with the materialization of the “global village” and more; all having a profound impact on our culture. Quantitative analysis of these profound multidimensional changes needs cross‐cultural data, and scalable tools/techniques that can discover interesting nontrivial hidden relationships in large data sets. Subsequently, presenting these discovered relationships in an intuitive visual form to non‐IT domain experts. In this article, using proven data mining techniques, we perform cross‐cultural clustering of word‐color associations for 344 respondents from three cultures, that is, the United States, Pakistan, and Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. We consider the concept words cheap, reliable, and high quality along with colors liked and disliked for 10 colors. After statistical data validation one‐way cross‐cultural clustering was performed. High similarity of word‐based cluster association was discovered across the three cultures for negative and positive connotation words, and clear dissimilarity in clustering was discovered within each culture for color‐based cluster association; with possible explanations given. The universal consistent similarities in cross‐culture associations and the dissimilarities in local or intra‐culture associations could be useful for global brand decision making. In this article, we also do a technical comparison of the proposed technique with three traditional techniques used for such analysis, that is, hierarchical clustering, k‐means clustering and factor analysis; along with related comparison with principal component analysis and multidimensional scaling.     

沙特阿美公司质量管理体系研究及思考

随着越来越多的中国施工企业进入沙特高端市场,成为沙特阿美石油公司的承包商,企业质量管理能力的提升变得十分迫切。沙特阿美石油公司具有完善的质量管理体系,对工程质量要求十分严格。作者根据在沙特地面工程EPC项目工作的经验,对沙特阿美公司质量管理体系的构成、质量管理模式、质量控制运行方式等进行了阐述,并结合中国质量管理的现状,进行了对比和分析,提出了一些看法和建议。