bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Multi-fracs in horizontal well in Tumenskoe formations of Em-Egovskoe field Krasnoleninsky play Western Siberia
Authors: Platunov Andrey , Nikolaev Maxim , Leskin Fedor , Kaluder Zdenko , Masalkin Yuri , Davidenko Igor , Fedotov Vladimir , Murzinov Alexey
Published: October 2012

For the first time in horizons of Tumenskoe formations of Em-Egovskoe oilfield in Krasnoleninsky play of Western Siberia to achieve the maximum wellbore contact with heterogeneous multilayered formations the technology of multistage fracturing in horizontal well was used. It was a three staged fracturing job with use of coiled tubing to prepare well in between stages followed by well kick off and production start up.

Paper describes the experience of challenges overcoming during the different stages of horizontal well architecture, principles of equipment selection and fracturing design. This particular work was in 2010 and originated the first brief into the time of multifracturing horizontal wells of Tumenskoe formations in Em-Egovskoe field, Western Siberia. Multistage fracturing in horizontally drilled well is one of the effective technological solutions for Tumenskoe formations in Em-Egovskoe field. Remoteness and not yet confident knowledge of pay zones at current stage of described field wittingly made the preconditions for selecting the cost effective well design to suit the productivity of the well. That pilot multistage fracturing project presented itself as practical and reliable method to stimulate the production in horizontal well in Tumenskoe formations of Em-Egovskoe field Krasnoleninsky play. With more experience in further use of this technology will allow keeping this drilling and completion method as economically effective in field of this subject. This paper showed the problems occurred during the well drilling stage those also some affect on the followed completion and fracturing operations. Technological solutions have been offered based on study in this paper for future wells. As result of the analysis and gained experience the recommendations are made to ease the construction of well as for example to use the liner wellbore design. A number of recommendations are made for fracturing and coiled tubing design, preparation, equipment availability and technological processes.

Presented work preforms the hot topic of glimmering entry into massive multistage fracturing in formations of Bazhen-Abalak and Tumenskoe horizons in Western Siberia. The specifics of drilling and completion in horizontal wells are brought out based on described in paper geological conditions. Some trends and backgrounds were determined in study to achieve better efficiency in fracturing and coiled tubing operations for targeted formations.
Application of Active Temperature Logging at Oilfields of Russia
Authors: Sharafutdinov R. , Valiullin R. , Ramazanov A. , Fedotov V. , Sadretdinov A. , Zakirov M.
Published: October 2012

Nowadays in the process of investigating oil wells at the Russian oilfields there are still unsolved problems, such as evaluation of distinct production rates for separate layers in multi-layer system, diagramming the profile of the inflow from the layer in low rate wells, evaluation of the intervals of behind-the casing flows. In practice various methods are used to solve these problems. The most informative and widely used is temperature logging. A great amount of temperature logging is carried out at well completion, i.e. at a short-term fluid inflow from the beds due to operating compressor, swab, or jet pump. These processes are characterized by short time period of well operating and the presence of non-static thermal fields in the beds and well.

Recently, in Bashkir State University there has been done work in the use of artificial thermal field in well temperature logging, particularly, a thermal field made at inductive casing heat. In the report the results of theoretical, laboratory experiments are discussed, and the data of the first results of applying the new method, named ‘the method of active temperature logging’, to the fields of Bashkortostan, Tatarstan and Surgut region are given. The method presents investigation of transitional thermal fields created by local inductive heat of a metal casing after the well starting up. The main informative features are the value of temperature change, direction and velocity of the created "thermal mark". The second aim of the technology of inductive heat is heating of the bottom hole formation zone in order to both intensify oil production and control the efficiency of the processing.
The kinematic modeling for exploration of oil and gas prospects in fold-and-thrust belts
Authors: Gayduk V. V. , Kuksov S. V.
Published: October 2012

Intricately dislocated fold-thrust objects are the reserve of the geological exploration. Key problems for their preparation for the drilling are associated with poor quality of seismic material and ambiguity of the structural model. The structural kinematic modeling technology and geometric balancing make it possible to decrease the ambiguity of geological models and mitigate the risks of drilling under the circumstances. This Report covers the experience of kinematic structural modeling to solve the problems associated with the identification and preparation of exploratory prospects as well as for definition of the structural model of the deposits being developed.
Experience in Geology Study and 3D Modeling of Achimovka Formations of the Urengoy Field based on 3D Seismic Survey Data
Authors: Grechneva O. , Malygina O. , Ignatyev A. , Zakrevskiy K.
Published: October 2012

The Urengoi field (Novo-Urengoiskiy license area - NU LA) is used in this article as an example to review available knowledge on the Achimov deposits based on seismic, geological and field development data, as well as reservoir-scale geological simulation. A comprehensive approach is required for detailed characterization of the deposit structure to enable forecast of best prospects and differentiated treatment of individual areas of the field as development efforts are planned for the future.

Three geological bodies were distinguished at the Urengoi field (NU LA) in the Achimov formation each having its own turbidite fans simulated in the 3D reservoir model.
Development and Application of Small Esp'S for Efficient Development of Remaining Reserves in Poorly Drained Parts of Reservoirs of Samotlor Field
Authors: Akopyan B. , Svidersky S. , Liron E. , Prudnikov A. , Vetokhin E. , Martyushev D. , Khudyakov D. , Komarov O.
Published: October 2012

The article describes issues of achieving optimum underbalances while operating wells with small-diameter sidetracks and discusses approaches to developing small and very small sized electrical submersible pumps (ESP).

In the recent years, the sidetracking technology has been actively developed to reactivate flooded and damaged wells and to optimize the development system. It is sometimes difficult to implement the sidetracked well production potential due to small diameters of sidetracks (liners). The ESP running depth in such wells is limited with the production string sidetrack window location depth since standard pumps have bigger sizes than the sidetrack internal diameter, so they cannot be run to the design depth.

The article presents technical solutions that helped build unprecedented small-size ESP serviceable under complicated conditions as well as results of their pilot application in the Samotlor field being developed by TNK-BP.
Predictions of Cyclic Water Injection on Urnenskoe Oil Field
Authors: Rublev A. B. , Khuzeev Yu. A. , Ishimov I. A. , Fedorov K. M.
Published: October 2012

Cyclic water injection belongs to the group of EOR methods but the incremental recovery from its impact is poor and is comparable with accuracy of the total production measurement. So application of such treatment we call advanced waterflood.

Physical mechanism of oil recovery increase by cyclic water injection is a well-established phenomenon although the theory does not define the location of wells with periodical injection, amplitudes of injection variation and duration of cycles. In this paper the authors describe the framework of investigation for determination of the unknown parameters on the basis of streamline reservoir simulation.

The streamline calculation gives comprehensive visualization and quantitative description of the process and makes apparent the search of effective variant of the technology. The calculations were performed on the South-Usanovskoe formation of Urnenskoe oil field.
The Use of Block Permeability Fractured Reservoir Model for Engineering Horizontal Well Bores
Authors: Kiselev V. M. , Kinsfator A. R. , Antonenko A. A. , Chaskov A. V.
Published: October 2012

The permeability of fissured reservoirs is characterized by a pronounced spatial anisotropy, which must be taken into account during the field exploitation [1-10]. Data on the anisotropy permeability can greatly assist in the interpretation of the results of well interference testing and hydrodynamic studies.

Earlier, we introduced a new (bloc) permeability fissured reservoirs model [11–12]. The equation for the directional permeability as a function of spherical coordinates and the two constants, determined according to the distribution of the incidence angles and trending azimuths of fissures and linear dimensions of impermeable blocks was established. The principal difference between our model and the earlier one is that, firstly, statistical distribution of orientation and the linear dimensions of the blocks were taken into account. Secondly, we examined a system of hydrodynamically interconnected fissures.

According to geophysical studies of well bores, 3D seismic measurements and core analysis, a database of spatial orientation and size of the blocks much of the productive Riphean deposit of Yurubcheno-Tokhomskoye oil field were established. This data is used to identify the directional anisotropy of permeability. In addition to the previous studies, blocks, which cross-sections at the bottom was not square, but rectangular, was examined. The ratio of the rectangle bores were determined by the number of orthogonal fissures within the reservoir studied interval.

An algorithm for the calculation of the average directional permeability, which characterizes the flow of fluid to the horizontal bore, was established. Calculations have shown that this quantity depends strongly on the azimuth of the horizontal bore. If there will be a deviation from the optimum azimuth of the bore lines, even in the (5–10)0, flow of fluid to the bore may be reduced by more then ten percent. Another practically important result that follows from the calculations, is that the optimal direction of the horizontal bore must be oriented not perpendicular to the preferred fissure (as it is currently in the engineering of horizontal well bores), but at the angle other than 900. The value of this angle depends on the anisotropy of permeability and can be calculated.
Analysis of Multiple Fractured Horizontal Wells Application at Priobskoye field
Authors: Afanasyev I. S. , Timonov A. V. , Sudeev I. V. , Musabirov T. R. , Stepanov M. A. , Kolonskikh A. V. , Galeev R. R.
Published: October 2012

Analysis of opportunity of multiple fractured horizontal wells application in low-permeability zones of Priobskoye oil field is considered. Geological and engineering issues of area selection for horizontal wells drilling and features of multi-staged fracturing design are discussed. Brief description of completion technology applied is observed. Comparison between fractured horizontal wells and fractured vertical wells performance based on detailed flow simulation is presented.
Latest marine geophysical technologies for comprehensive study of natural hydrocarbon reservoirs and monitoring of production
Authors: Ampilov Yu. P. , Baturin D. G.
Published: October 2012

This paper presents three innovative technologies of PGS Company for marine geophysical studies: GeoStreamerGS™ is for marine seismic operations, EM for resistivity surveys in combination with seismic survey on the same vessel, and OptoSeis™ permanent reservoir monitoring during oil or gas production.

Seismics is the major marine geophysical technique. Unfortunately, in the conventional modification its effectiveness does not exactly comply with the requirements of our time. Improvements in both the marine seismic itself, its resolution capacity and informativity, and involvement of other geophysical techniques are on the agenda today.

PGS heavily invests in development of emerging technologies. The results are not late in coming. In this paper we present three innovative technologies, which our company started to offer at the geophysical services market in the last two or three years. The direct analogues that are comparable to them in terms of effectiveness and informativity are not yet present in the market.
Stochastic uncertainty analysis in compositional simulation for giant gas-condensate field reservoir performance prediction
Authors: Descubes E. , Madatov R. , Graf T. , Ignatyev A. , Mukminov I. , Redikultsev S.
Published: October 2012

Progress in multi-parallel computers opened up new possibilities in reservoir modelling providing opportunities in compositional simulation to study in detail highly complex physical process that are extremely computational demanding. This is particularly true for probabilistic methods such as the uncertainty quantification and analysis. Experimental design, ED, concept supersedes the conventional deterministic uncertainty analysis and offers new efficient and system approaches to identify and assess the impact of the key geology and engineering risks in strategic reservoir engineering decisions. Use of response surfaces, Monte Carlo stochastic modelling is an alternative to numerous full-scale reservoir simulation and is employed in petroleum industry since long ago [Amudo et al. 2008]. However, although ED has been introduced to reduce computation, it is computational expensive especially in compositional simulation with many degrees of freedom in the uncertainty parameters.

This paper shows implementation of ED and the use of multi-parameter sensitivity analysis based on multidimensional Response Surfaces Models (RSM). The method was validated when key risks associated with development of a unique gas-condensate field in Yamal peninsular, Russia, were assessed. This reservoir is characterized by poor permeabilities in the range around 1.0 mD, abnormally high reservoir pressure and temperature (600 atm, up to 115 °C), high potential condensate content (potential C5+ content 280-380 g/m3) and the risk of a heavily compartmentalized some blocks of the field through faulting.

The numerous identified uncertainties impacting the development of the gas-condensate reservoir are difficult to address in a traditional reservoir study using deterministic methods and only a probabilistic approach would guarantee to assess the production and recovery potential in all aspects and, moreover, allows informed decisions to be made on the data acquisition – or in general the appraisal strategy – and the development.
The Analytical Basis for Accetability Appraisal of the High Pressure Air Injection for West Siberian Oil Fields
Authors: Evseeva M. Y. , Ushakova A. S. , Volokitin Y. E. , Brusilovsky A. I. , Shaymardanov M. M.
Published: October 2012

Presently, the problem of enhancing the efficiency of the oil recovery becomes of the high priority. The procedure described in this paper is the analytical basis for accetability appraisal of the high pressure air injection (HPAI) on the light oil fields for enhancing the oil recovery.

The objective of this paper is the physical basis of the HPAI method, i.e. the air injection into a light oil bearing formation and the in-situ oil oxidation under high temperatureres with production of combustion gases – carbon mono- and dioxides, hydrocarboneous gases.

For evaluation of the technological parameters and the applicability of the HPAI method on the West-Salymskoe oil field of the Salym Petroleum Development Company the results of experimental studies of oil properties, the efficiency of the oil displacement by the injected and the combustion gases and the oxidation kinetics were analysed. The phase behavior of the oil and gases under high temperature conditions was modeled using the developed PVT model based on the equation of state. The experimental results of the linear oil displacement by gaseous agents on the core (lab) scale were simulated. The relative permeabilities have been obtained as saturation functions. The kinetics of oil oxidation reactions obtained by calorithmetic experimenta on the light oil on core was also simulated on the linear models. The developed linear models are the basis for the transition to the 3D modeling of the HPAI method.
Estimating Flow Profile and Composition in Horizontal Wells While Draining the Oil Rim with a Massive Gas Cap
Authors: Semikin Dmitriy , Rakitin Mikhail , Malaniya Georgiy , Kolomytsev Leonid
Published: October 2012

The project presents the results of the production logging campaign performed in horizontal wells of the Korchagina oil gas-condensate field. FSI-MaxTrac tool was run for inflow profiling purposes. Obtained results allowed to: Assess the multiphase fluid dynamics along the wellboreIdentify the oil, gas and water inflow zonesAnalyze the presence of cross-flow behind casing and assess the swelling packers integrityPerform the completion effectiveness and horizontal drain productivity analysis.

This was the first time in this field when production logging was performed. Comprehensive analysis of OH logs and FSI data helped to better understand the reservoir nature and determine the source of gas.

Production data obtained with FSI technology allowed the client to optimize well flowing regimes; to determine the main directions for future downhole operations, workover procedures and bottomhole zone treatment in order to reduce the inflow of free gas.
Chemical and Analytical Work in Support of West Salym Field Enhanced Oil Recovery Project (ASP)
Authors: Volokitin Y. , Sakhibgareev R. , Shaymardanov M. , Nurieva O.
Published: October 2012

Salym Petroleum Development (SPD) oil company is a joint venture between Shell and JSC Gazprom Neft. SPD currently holds three license areas in the south of Khanty-Mansiysk Autonomous Okrug. So far the company has concentrated its efforts on further exploration and development of ‘traditional deposits’: from early production at the Upper Salym filed to commissioning state-of-the-art central oil production facility at the large West Salym field and the satellite Vadelyp field.

At the early stage of field development the company started to research ‘non-traditional’ hydrocarbon resources. One group of these resources is immobile oil remaining in flooded reservoir after the waterflood target oil recovery factor had been achieved; another group of resources is Bazhenov Formation oil. These resources are not currently developed actively because of the combination of technological risks and current macroeconomic conditions in Russia. However, the study of analogous fields shows that the industry practice has successful solutions for both groups of the problems and non-traditional resources with the characteristics presented at the Salym group of oil fields are in fact successfully developed elsewhere (after elimination of technical risks through analytic work and field tests).

The work on the enhanced oil recovery project began with the high-level assessment of various technologies in 2007. In 2010 a more detailed study of potential technologies was carried out including high pressure air injection and low salinity waterflooding.

As a result of screening an EOR method of flooding with the solution of chemicals – Alkaline-Surfactant-Polymer – was chosen. Initial stages of the project comprised lab tests, core experiments and field tests. From these tests, an estimate of potential oil recovery factor increase of 15 % – 20% (of STOIIP) was confirmed. In 2011 the ASP project reached maturity when the next stage would be implementation of the pilot project activities. Currently the work is on the way to design the flooding pattern and surface processing facilities with expected ASP oil production in 2014-2015.

In the beginning the article gives a short overview of the history and status of the project. After that it describes the stages of analytical work in Russian laboratories to find, optimize and test various types of Russian surfactants. This work was carried out under the guidance of the operator (Salym Petroleum) with the engagement of specialists from Shell and Gazprom Neft research centres. As a result lab samples of anionic surfactant showed satisfactory results during core flood experiments.

Finally it is worth mentioning that one of the results of the work was the establishment of methodological and experimental framework on the basis of Russian contractors and laboratories which made it possible to asses, within the short period of time, a large number of chemicals used on the Russian market for EOR activities.
Use of Fiberglass Equipment in Petroleum Production
Authors: Gavrilyuk Y. A. , Perevoshchikov D. O. , Shlyapnikov Y. V. , Agafonov A. A.
Published: October 2012

One of the main tasks set in the course of oil and gas field development is the search of efficient technologies to increase the Mean-Time Between Failures (MTBF) period of downhole equipment. In this paper you will read about use of fiberglass equipment in producing wells, as well as about the criteria for well selection for this technology and review of its performance. Physical differences between fiberglass and metal allow increasing equipment service life significantly. The results of introduction of such equipment show high economic effect.
Application of sector modeling technology for giant reservoir simulations
Authors: Dzyuba V. I. , Litvinenko Yu. V. , Bogachev K. Yu. , Migrasimov A. R. , Semenko A. E. , Khachaturova E. A. , Eydinov D. A.
Published: October 2012

Currently, to build models for dynamic simulations of large oil and gas fields, engineers have to upscale the original geological grid not to exceed limits set but by computer memory size, CPU performance, and by the capabilities of standard commercial software packages. As a result, the upscaled model often has a rather low level of detalization. Since upscaling inevitably generates additional simulation errors, the resulting simulation model can solve only a limited number of practical tasks. The coarsened models are typically used for strategic tasks – to find an appropriate field development system, understand fluid and gas migration processes, and plan future production for this field.

Such upscaled models are rarely used for planning of risky, high cost and practically important tactical and operational tasks of field development management and production monitoring. It's ironic that oil and gas companies invest large sums of money on detalization of the reservoir geological description, and then have to drop this information in the process of hydrodynamic simulations. Engineers often call this paradox a "simulation scale problem". Since computer hardware performance increases exponentially in time, it is the technological level of software that becomes the main limitation factor.

If one could build a coherent "hardware+software" solution to resolve flow dynamics in porous media for geological grids with tens and hundreds of millions of blocks without upscaling, the problem could be solved.

In this article, the technology for constructing and effective handling of giant field models by application of sector modeling and advanced parallel algorithms is discussed. The important role of modern computer hardware architecture - especially processors and RAM designs is emphasized.

The authors discuss practical aspects concerning model dimensions, simulation model calculation speed for the whole field model or for any of its parts, choice of optimal model cut into sections, and boundary condition setting methods.

Technology application results are demonstrated for one of the world's biggest oil fields, with a geological model size of about 43 million grid blocks. The authors show that when the whole field is divided into a certain number of sector models, the sum of their calculation times may be substantially smaller than the full model calculation time. At the same time, if boundary conditions are included in simulations of subdomains, the spread in values of calculated production rates can be as small as 1%. The approach described in this paper appears to be efficient for history matching of large hydrodynamic models. It helps to reduce the time to completion for the project, and avoid the unnecessary modeling precision degradation caused by grid upscaling.
Capabilities of High-Resolution Seismic Surveys in Water Areas for Geological Engineering Applications
Authors: Shmatkov A. A. , Tokarev M. Yu. , Buryak S. V.
Published: October 2012

Today there are a number of challenges related to construction and operation of engineering structures in water areas, especially in shallow regions. This primarily includes installation of platforms for exploratory and production drilling in sea shelf areas, underwater piping work, and construction of engineering structures. Shallow water areas are the most dynamic zones affected by quick sedimentation and active transportation of upper sediments, which can be a hazard to the already constructed structures (for example, in the form of such phenomena as landslides and sand waves). In addition, high-resolution seismic surveys in water areas allow addressing various tasks related to environmental monitoring and comprehensive water area status tracking.

There are four groups of geological engineering tasks addressed by high-resolution seismic surveys: 1) obtaining information about the geological section and geometry of geological structures, 2) obtaining information about area distribution of sediment properties, 3) determining physical properties of sediments, and 4) solving geodynamic tasks.

Currently the vast majority of seismic engineering surveys in water areas are carried out using either single-channel (1D) or multi-channel (2D) profiling. At the same time, three-dimensional (3D) exploration systems that offer a number of advantages have been used in petroleum geophysics for quite a while. Nevertheless, such systems are utilized for geological engineering applications only in isolated cases. This is mostly due to the need to solve certain hardware-related and methodological problems during field work and subsequent data processing.

Seismic data from the near-surface sections are complicated by typical seismic and geological conditions: small acoustic contrast between sediments under bottom as compared to the water and bottom boundary, high seismic energy absorption in bottom sediments, and considerable alteration of sediment properties with depth. Surveys in shallow water areas bring problems associated with multiple waves in target seismic trace times, re-reflection of useful signals from the bottom and the water-air surface etc.
Positive Comparison of LWD Data Acquired With and Without Chemical Radioactive Sources in the Vankor field, Russia, Paves the Way for Radioisotope-Free Formation Evaluation
Authors: Majidi A. , Plyuta A. , Alexandrova A. , Bourg L. , Reichel N. J. , Malyasov V. , Zhadan G.
Published: October 2012

Safety issues, tightening of environmental regulations, and efficiency are among many reasons the petroleum industry has long searched for a way to acquire standard formation evaluation measurements without the use of chemical radioactive sources.

Pulsed neutron generator (PNG) technology provides electronically controlled pulses of neutrons. This radioisotope-free source of high-energy neutrons has been in use for decades in wireline-conveyed logging tools for various commonly used measurements such as neutron porosity, spectroscopy, and thermal neutron capture cross section (sigma). For several years, a ruggedized PNG technology that performs under the harsh shock and vibration conditions of an LWD tool operation has allowed these measurements to be made while drilling. Recent developments have extended the suite of measurements to include a radioisotope-free bulk density measurement. In conjunction with the other PNG-related formation measurements, this makes it possible to perform comprehensive formation evaluation without chemical radioactive sources.

The sourceless neutron-gamma density (SNGD) measurement is initiated by neutrons, in contrast to the standard gamma-gamma-density (GGD) measurement. The high-energy neutrons from the PNG experience inelastic collisions with the atomic nuclei of atoms surrounding the tool. The gamma rays emitted as the nuclei return to the ground state create a distributed gamma ray source in the formation. These gamma rays then experience Compton scattering in the same way as gamma rays emitted from the chemical radioactive source used for the standard GGD measurement. The count rate of detected gamma rays at a gamma-ray detector at a distance from the PNG is proportional to the electron density of formation, which is then transformed to bulk density in the standard manner.

This study compares the new sourceless neutron-gamma density measurement with the traditional source-based bulk density measurement, both of which were acquired in the same well in the Vankor field, Siberia, Russia. Conditions encountered include oil, gas, shale, bad hole, and coal-bearing intervals. A comparison of the final petrophysical analysis derived from the traditional source-based density and the new sourceless SNGD measurement is also made. Our evaluation indicates a positive comparison between density recorded using a chemical radioactive source and neutron-gamma density recorded using a PNG without a chemical radioactive source.
The Emerging Third Stage of the AIDS Epidemic: The Low-Risk Heterosexual
Authors: Kennedy Robert E. , Fulton Robert
Published: October 2012

Using Centers for Disease Control (CDC) data on 420,148 adults with AIDS reported before January 1995, this article documents that certain low-risk categories of heterosexuals with AIDS (1) were likely to have been underreported by the CDC before 1993; (2) were newly emerging in the early 1990s, having had more than half of their total cases diagnosed in 1993 and 1994; (3) were growing in number by 76 percent to 92 percent per year in early 1993; and (4) between 1988 and 1996 had increased their proportion among all AIDS cases reported annually by eight times for women and by thirteen times for men. The authors propose that a third stage of the AIDS epidemic emerged among adults in the early 1990s. The first stage consisted of members of the three original high-risk groups of the 1980s (men who had had male-male sex, IV-drug users, and blood or blood-product recipients). The heterosexual, non-IV-drug-using sex partners of these individuals made up the second stage. The newly emerging third stage is composed of (1) the low-risk heterosexual sex partners of second-stage persons and (2) low-risk people who were subsequently infected with HIV through heterosexual sex with third-stage persons (third- to third-stage sexual transmission).
Illness, Medicine, and Spirituality: Native American Healing Practices among Apache, Sioux, and Navajo
Authors: Cox Gerry R.
Published: October 2012

Traditional Native American health care practices are presented. An examination of why people are ill, healing practices, and the contrast with scientific medicine are discussed. The use of humor, forms of group support and communication, management of fear and stress, and ceremonies are analyzed. The practices of the Apache, Sioux, and Navajo are described. Spirituality forms the basis of Native American healing practices.
Grief Counseling: Six Essential Conditions for Supporting Grief Work
Authors: de Mönnink Herman J.
Published: October 2012

Life-cycle losses related to growing up, getting old, and dying (as well as divorce, amputation, illness, handicaps, migration, etc.) cause one to grieve in response to a particular loss. Grief work is defined as a conscious, active, and tangible process of letting go. Six conditions for grief work are identified, described, and located in three domains. The first domain of universality conditions includes diagnostics and self-care. The second domain of individuality conditions includes existential work and a multimethod approach. The third domain of sociality conditions includes family, social network, and culture and normalizing grief. Setting these six conditions is described as a joint responsibility of the griever (self-care), griever's environment (social care), and professionals (professional care). This article focuses on tasks of the professional in setting the six conditions for supporting grief work. Pitfalls in each area are identified. The case of Mr. Johnson illustrates each of the six conditions.
A Mother's Perspective on Chronic Childhood Illness: Parenting a Child with Cystic Fibrosis
Authors: Funk Maureen , Seem John
Published: October 2012

This article includes a personal narrative about the first author's experience surrounding the diagnosis of her youngest child with cystic fibrosis, a fatal genetic disease. Sociological research on chronic illness is analyzed in the light of lived experience. Through personal sharing, the reader is invited to develop a greater depth of understanding of the coping experience of a mother and her family who are caring for a child with a life-threatening chronic illness.
“Don't Say That!” Educators, Crisis Plans, and “Magical Thinking”
Authors: Stevenson Robert G.
Published: October 2012

In every New Jersey public school, there are bimonthly fire drills. Most schools will never have a need to use this drill, but they do practice. They may be joined in these drills by other community leaders. However, when one compares this proactive approach with the reactive approach to issues of death and grief, it is hard to understand the difference. A lack of crisis response plans related to death and grief in the school community and the unwillingness of many administrators and board members to develop such plans is difficult to comprehend. School systems seem reluctant to discuss possible responses to crises until after such events have taken place. This article discusses this apparent contradiction and includes results of a survey of administrators, teachers, and parents concerning the role of schools in crisis response.
The Healing Power of Rituals
Authors: Weeks O. Duane
Published: October 2012

People are social animals; we are reared in families; we bond with others in school, business, and other social organizations; we work with others, play with others, and grow with others; we marry, bear children, and die. Because we are social beings, we employ rituals to mark important events such as baptism, bar mitzvah, and marriage. And we have funerary rituals that help us when we experience death. This article explores death rituals for both the dying and their survivors. Rituals are categorized as predeath, immediate postdeath, and long-term postdeath and are identified, described, and evaluated.
Casuistry—Past and Present: A Search Engine for the Resolution of Ethical Dilemmas in Health Care
Authors: Freeman Stephen J.
Published: October 2012

Ethical dilemmas within any system are created when moral principles are cited for opposing actions with neither side presenting the obvious right course to follow. Principle-driven decision making has its obvious limitations. Casuistry presents an alternative system for making ethical decisions. Principles in this approach are neither ignored nor discarded; rather they serve as general statements describing human behavior, out of which come “paradigm cases” illustrating the most manifest breaches of the general principle for the casuist. Scrutiny of a series of cases from the simplest most parsimonious to the most complex is undertaken to resolve the doubt inherent in ethical dilemmas; reasonable expectations are discovered in subsequent cases, driving the search until resolution is reached. The casuist sets out to join unique individual cases with general principles without discounting the validity of either, all the while determining how exactly to act in a particular situation.
Caregiving for Elders with Alzheimer's in China
Authors: Li Yushi Boni , Lemke Debra
Published: October 2012

As is true in much of the developed world, the older population of China is rapidly increasing. This presents many unique problems for Chinese society. Of all diseases associated with aging, Alzheimer's disease is the most stressful for the family. This stress on the family will in turn present problems for society. The purpose of this study is to explore the dynamics of caregiving for Alzheimer's patients in China. The investigators have completed a study with primary caregivers of Alzheimer's patients in and around Beijing, Jinan, and Baoding in the fall of 1997. The questionnaire focused on the stress that such a long-term illness causes in the household. Questions were designed to measure which family member provides primary and supplemental care as well as the nature of the care.
Chromium (VI) removal from aqueous solutions by purolite base anion-exchange resins with gel structure
Authors: Balan Catalin , Volf Irina , Bilba Doina
Published: October 2012

The removal of Cr (VI) from aqueous solution using two strong base anionic
resins with gel structure, Purolite A-400 (styrene-divinylbenzene matrix)
and Purolite A-850 (acrylic matrix) was investigated in batch technique. The
sorption efficiency was determined as a function of phases contact time,
solution pH, resin dose, temperature and initial Cr (VI) concentration. The
percentage of Cr (VI) removed reaches maximum values (up to 99 %) in the pH
range 4 - 5.3 under a resin dose of 6 g/L and of Cr (VI) concentration up to
100 mg/L. An increase in temperature has a positive effect on the Cr (VI)
sorption process. The equilibrium sorption data were fitted with the
Freundlich, Langmuir and Dubinin-Radushkevich isotherm models, using both
linear and nonlinear regression method. The Langmuir model very well
verifies the experimental data and gives the maximum sorption capacity of
120.55 mg Cr (VI)/g and 95.82 mg Cr (VI)/g for A-400 and A-850 resins,
respectively. The thermodynamic study and mean free energy of sorption
values calculated using Dubinin-Radushkevich equation indicated the sorption
is a chemical endothermic process. The kinetic data were well described by
pseudo-second order kinetic equation and the sorption process is controlled
by external (film) diffusion and intraparticle diffusion.
Estimation of isatin in spiked plasma samples using high performance liquid chromatography
Authors: Alothman Zeid , Siddiqui Masoom , Wabaidur Saikh
Published: October 2012

An isocratic analytical method based on liquid chromatographic determination
with UV detection is described for the determination of isatin in spiked
plasma and in its synthetic mixture. The separation of the isatin was
achieved on betasil C-8 column using mobile phase consisting of a binary
mixture of acetonitrile and buffer (Na2CO3 + NaHCO3). Linearity, accuracy and
precision were found to be acceptable over the concentration range (5 - 150
mg/L). LOD and LOQ were found to be 1.09 mg/L and 3.3 mg/L, respectively. The
developed LC method with UV-visible detection offers simplicity, selectivity,
precision and accuracy. It produces a symmetric peak shape and reasonable
retention time. No interference has been observed with the excipients found
in the drug formulation. Forced degradation studies were also conducted on
the isatin samples and the results shows that the newly developed method is
able to determine the content of isatin in presence of its degradation
products. The proposed method when applied to the determination of isatin in
spiked plasma samples produced a recovery ranging from 96.0%-98.2%.
Ontological model of legal norms for creating and using legislation
Authors: Gostojic Stevan , Milosavljevic Branko , Konjovic Zora
Published: October 2012

This paper presents a formal model of legal norms modeled in OWL. It is
intended for semiautomatic drafting and semantic retrieval and browsing of
legislation. Most existing solutions model legal norms by formal logic, rules
or ontologies. Nevertheless, they were not in-tended as a basis for drafting,
retrieval and browsing of legislation. The proposed model formally defines
legal norms using their elements and elements of legal relations they
regulate. The duality between the con-tent and the form of legislation is
exploited by connecting it to the XML model of legislation based on the CEN
MetaLex specification. Those models are verified by applying them to the
norms contained in an existing piece of legislation and by developing a
prototype application for semantic browsing of legislation that is based on
the models.
Ant colony optimization algorithm with pheromone correction strategy for the minimum connected dominating set problem
Authors: Jovanovic Raka , Tuba Milan
Published: October 2012

In this paper an ant colony optimization (ACO) algorithm for the minimum
connected dominating set problem (MCDSP) is presented. The MCDSP become
increasingly important in recent years due to its applicability to the mobile
ad hoc networks (MANETs) and sensor grids. We have implemented a one-step ACO
algorithm based on a known simple greedy algorithm that has a significant
drawback of being easily trapped in local optima. We have shown that by
adding a pheromone correction strategy and dedicating special attention to
the initial condition of the ACO algorithm this negative effect can be
avoided. Using this approach it is possible to achieve good results without
using the complex two-step ACO algorithm previously developed. We have tested
our method on standard benchmark data and shown that it is competitive to the
existing algorithms.
Validation of schema mappings with nested queries
Authors: Rull Guillem , Farré Carles , Teniente Ernest , Urpí Toni
Published: October 2012

With the emergence of the Web and the wide use of XML for representing data,
the ability to map not only flat relational but also nested data has become
crucial. The design of schema mappings is a semi-automatic process. A human
designer is needed to guide the process, choose among mapping candidates, and
successively refine the mapping. The designer needs a way to figure out
whether the mapping is what was intended. Our approach to mapping validation
allows the designer to check whether the mapping satisfies certain desirable
properties. In this paper, we focus on the validation of mappings between
nested relational schemas, in which the mapping assertions are either
inclusions or equalities of nested queries. We focus on the nested relational
setting since most XML?s Document Type Definitions (DTDs) can be represented
in this model. We perform the validation by reasoning on the schemas and
mapping definition. We take into account the integrity constraints defined on
both the source and target schema. We consider constraints and mapping?s
queries which may contain arithmetic comparisons and negations. This class of
mapping scenarios is significantly more expressive than the ones addressed by
previous work on nested relational mapping validation. We encode the given
mapping scenario into a single flat database schema, so we can take advantage
of our previous work on validating flat relational mappings, and reformulate
each desirable property check as a query satisfiability problem.
Application of fascia of the temporal muscle and cartilage of the auricular tragus in myringoplasty in children
Authors: Baljosevic Ivan , Milovanovic Jovica , Subarevic Vladan , Novkovic Mladen , Stankovic Katarina
Published: October 2012

Introduction. Perforation of the tympanic membrane in children may be the
cause of recurrent middle ear infection and loss of hearing. Objective. The
aim of this study was to analyze the application of different reconstructive
materials in surgical technique myringoplasty. Methods. We performed 88
myringoplasties due to auricular tragus perforation in 76 children (aged 4 to
16 years, mean 11.9 years) from July 2001 to July 2009. Age, gender, size and
the site of perforation, status of the contra lateral ear, underlying cause
of the perforations, surgical technique, preoperative and postoperative
hearing levels and postoperative complications were recorded and analyzed. In
performing myringoplasty we used fascia of the temporal muscle and cartilage
of the auricular tragus. Results. In 43 (48%) patients we used fascia of the
temporal muscle and in 45 (52%) cartilage of the auricular tragus. Graft
success was defined as an intact eardrum at 12 months postoperatively and
improvement in the perception of air-bone gap of 10 dB, which we recorded in
73 (83%) cases. Re-perforations were recorded in 12 (13%) patients, of whom
in 8 (18.6%) cases we used the temporal fascia and in 4 (9.3%) cases a tragal
cartilage. Retraction of the tympanic membrane was recorded in 3 (4%) cases
with the temporal fascia. Conclusion. Myringoplasty is a reasonably
successful method with good functional results in pediatric patients. Risk
factors of surgical failure are young age, the size of auricular tragus
perforation and pathological conditions of the contra lateral ear. The tragal
cartilage gives better results in cases with bilateral perforations because
the possibility of retractions and re-perforations is lower. Relatively small
number of patients is probably the reason that, except for young age,
differences between the two groups did not reach the level of statistical
significance.
Analysis of soft tissue thickness in persons with malocclusions of class II division 1 and class II division 2
Authors: Tanic Tatjana , Blazej Zorica , Mitic Vladimir
Published: October 2012

Introduction. Different malocclusions indicate different thickness of facial
soft tissue. Objective. The aim of the study was to establish the differences
in the thickness of facial soft tissue profile in persons with dentoskeletal
Class II/1 and II/2 relationship. Methods. In the study we used cephalometric
rendgenograms profile analysis of 60 patients aged 12-18 years of the Dental
Clinic in Nis who had not previously undergone orthodontical treatment.
According to the dentoskeletal jaws relations the patients were divided into
two groups with Class II division 1 and Class II class division 2. In all of
them the standard dentoskeletal profile analysis by Steiner and soft tissue
profile analysis by Burston was done. The obtained findings were
statistically analyzed and the comparison between the studied groups was
performed. Results. The results indicated the following: in the patients with
Class II/1 relationship there was a significantly thinner upper lip (t=5.741;
p<0.0001), thinner upper lip sulcus (t=3.858; p<0.001) and significantly
thinner lower lip (t=2.009; p<0.05) in relation to the patients with Class
II/2. Compensatory effect in the Class II/1 patients was more distinctive in
females, as their soft tissue profiles were thicker. In Class II/2 patients
this relationship was in favor of males. Conclusion. The facial soft tissue
profile indicated significant differences in the thickness dependant on the
type of malocclusion and gender. Because of their great variability and a
significant participation in the formation of the profile, while planning
orthodontic therapy, it is necessary to pay them full attention, with
obligatory analysis of the dentoskeletal profile.