bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
A Study Of The Effect Of Human Soul On External Objects : Between Copenhagen School And Mulla Sadra
Authors: Riahi Ali Arshad
Published: February 2016

Abstract : The theory of the effects of all human souls on external objects, from the viewpoint of Copenhagen School (in Quantum Physics), has made physicists deny the existence of two separate realms of the observer and the observed; they claim that causality is meaningless and profess that it is impossible to recognize the object. While, on the other hand, Mulla Ṣadra believes that the effect of soul on external objects is limited to the souls of prophets as well as saints and, barring evil eye or supplications, there is no such effect in others. In this article we argue that, based on Mulla Ṣadra’s teachings and philosophical doctrine, it is actually possible to generalize this effect to other human souls. Consequently, it is impossible to have an accurate recognition of the causes of events if causality is considered meaningless. In addition, it is feasible to have cognition about these causes of events through gnostic intuition.

Keywords : human soul, external objects, Copenhagen School, Mulla Ṣadra, unity, causality

 

Abstrak :  Teori tentang efek jiwa seluruh manusia terhadap objek-objek eksternal, dari sudut pandang Madzhab Copenhagen (dalam Fisika Kuantum), telah membuat para fisikawan mengingkari keterpisahan dua alam, yaitu subjek dan objek; berdasarkan keyakinan ini, mereka mengklaim bahwa [hukum] kausalitas menjadi gugur dan tidak berguna, dan mereka juga percaya bahwa mengetahui sepenuhnya objek adalah tidak mungkin. Sementara, di tempat lain, Mulla Ṣadra meyakini bahwa jiwa yang berefek terhadap objek-objek eksternal terbatas pada jiwa para nabi dan orang-orang suci. Ia juga meyakini bahwa tidak berefeknya jiwa-jiwa manusia biasa kecuali pada perbuatan-perbuatan seperti yang ia sebut sebagai ‘evil eye’ dan doa. Dalam artikel ini, kami berupaya membuktikan bahwa, berdasarkan ajaran dan doktrin filsafat Mulla Ṣadra, pengaruh (efek) jiwa manusia dapat digeneralisir. Dengan demikian tidak mungkin untuk mengetahui secara akurat sebab-sebab berbagai peristiwa dengan mengatakan bahwa hukum kausalitas adalah tidak berguna. Padahal, sebab-sebab segala sesuatu sangat mungkin diketahui melalui intuisi gnostis.

Kata-kata kunci : jiwa manusia, objek-objek eksternal, Madzhab Kopenhagen, Mulla Ṣadra, penyatuan, hukum kausalitas.
Maqāmāt Dalam Manthiq Al-Thayr Al-Attār
Authors: Ni`am Syamsun
Published: February 2016

Abstract : Attār is one to be accounted amongst the greatest sufi poets of Persia sufis in the history of Sufism who has notable contibution to the esoteric Islam (Sufism). He packed his mystical teachings in the form of poetry and verse, -to be more interactive and expressive- though his teachings are not different with his predecessors, particularly of those who inspired by the principle of mystical union; and Attār is among the Sufis who have managed to reach the highest peak in the mystical journey. According to Attār , there are seven valleys that must be passed by spiritual traveler (sālik) in his mystical journey, as mentioned in Manthiq al-Thayr. In this work he use the language of poetry to reveal the process of a servant to God through the stages (maqāmāt), and Attār  gives the parable maqāmāt is like a bird -burung flying looking for the king. Attār call maqāmāt is the term valleys, of which there are seven valleys.

Keywords : Maqāmāt, seven valleys, fanā’, divine love

Abstrak : Attar adalah salah satu sufi besar Persia yang pernah dikenal dalam sejarah tasawuf. Attār telah banyak memberikan kontribusi pemikirannya dalam khasanah keilmuan Islam esoteris (tasawuf). Ia mengemas ajaran tasawufnya dalam bentuk puisi dan syair, —sehingga tampak lebih menarik— meskipun ajaran-ajaran yang disampaikan kurang lebih sama dengan para sufi pendahulunya, terutama yang menganut paham mystical union; dan Attār adalah di antara sufi yang telah berhasil mencapai puncak tertinggi dalam perjalanan mistisnya itu. Menurut Attār, ada tujuh lembah yang harus dilalui sālik dalam menempuh perjalanan mistisnya, sebagaimana disebutkan dalam Manthiq al-Thayr. Dalam karyanya ini, Attār menggunakan bahasa puisi dan syair untuk mengungkap proses seorang hamba menuju Tuhan melalui tahapan-tahapan (Maqāmāt), dan Attār memberikan perumpamaan maqāmāt tersebut seperti burung-burung yang terbang mencari rajanya. Attār  menyebut maqāmāt tersebut dengan istilah lembah-lembah, yang jumlahnya ada tujuh lembah

Kata-kata Kunci: Maqāmāt, tujuh lembah, fanā’, cinta ilahi
Managed Pressure Drilling as Well Control in Deepwater GOM: Challenges to Current Modes of Thinking
Authors: Weems Matt , Moore Dennis , Leach Colin
Published: February 2016

Managed Pressure Drilling (MPD) has gained industry acceptance with surface BOP stacks where improved control of downhole pressure has been achieved. The industry is currently beginning to see implementation of MPD systems in deepwater environments where narrower drilling margins make improved pressure control even more important. Despite the evident need for such applications the industry has been slow to fully utilize MPD techniques in deepwater. The question this paper seeks to address is, "What is preventing us from employing the same MPD systems currently being used with surface stacks in a deepwater environment?" This question encourages challenging conventional modes of thinking in the industry concerning risks pertaining to risers and well control when utilizing MPD systems. This paper draws on some of the difficulties, thinking, and achievements when such a system was implemented for drilling a deepwater GOM well. MPD in deepwater involves new equipment, capabilities, and risks. Full utilization of MPD systems in a deepwater environment requires re-thinking several things including primary well control and the conditions to which the riser is exposed.
MPD Dynamic Influx Control Mitigates Conventional Well Control Pitfalls
Authors: Bacon William , Sugden Catherine , Brand Patrick , Gabaldon Oscar , Culen Martin
Published: February 2016

Managed Pressure Drilling (MPD) dynamic influx control techniques offer substantial advantages over conventional well control, including reduced influx size, and the ability to control and circulate an allowable influx without requiring conventional methods. With careful planning and execution, MPD dynamic influx control can yield considerable increases in safety and efficiency.

Many issues with conventional well control, particularly in deepwater operations, can be mitigated or even eliminated using dynamic influx control. Notably, conventional methods passively rely on the influx to increase wellbore pressure sufficiently to balance reservoir pressure, resulting in needlessly large influx volumes. In contrast, MPD methods quickly detect and actively apply pressure to control an influx in a fraction of the volume.

Furthermore, conventional influx removal methods are typically slow, leading to drawn out well control events with high likelihood of further complication, such as stuck pipe and secondary influxes. Conversely, using dynamic influx control, an allowable influx may be controlled and removed from the wellbore in a few hours, not days.

In this work, methods that address concerns with current well control practices through application of dynamic influx control are outlined. In addition, transient, multiphase simulation is used to demonstrate comparison between dynamic influx control and conventional well control, clearly quantifying potential benefits of adopting these new methods.
Evolution of the MPD Operations Matrix: The Influx Management Envelope
Authors: Culen M. S. , Brand P. R. , Bacon W. , Gabaldon O. R.
Published: February 2016

The MPD Operations Matrix was introduced in 2007 to serve as an operational guide for drilling MPD sections. The intent of the matrix is to balance operational, well, and equipment limitations with ‘acceptable’ influx volumes. The operations matrix has become the cornerstone of MPD projects worldwide, and is in fact a mandatory component of planned MPD wells in the Gulf of Mexico. In its current format, guideline for use of the matrix include developing criteria to categorize an influx such as its state, rate, duration, and size. Calculating these criteria and populating the matrix with them all can lead to some confusion, and many default to including only an influx size for simplicity, despite the fact that the other criteria can help in characterizing an influx further. Further, the acceptable influx size is most often limited to the detection capability of the MPD equipment, and not what the overall primary barrier envelope can handle.

In this paper, a method for calculating acceptable influx volumes is outlined, and the calculation algorithm is adapted to a software tool. The results are displayed graphically in an Influx Management Envelope. The Influx Management Envelope is an evolution of the tabular MPD Operations Matrix, and includes all of the same influx indicator and pressure criteria, but offers a simpler, straightforward operational interpretation of influx limits.

The effects of section depth, well geometry and hole size on influx volume limits will also be investigated, and development of a sample Influx Management Envelope is presented.
Loss of Circulation an Indication of Hydrocarbon Influx?
Authors: Vavik D. , Sangesland S. , Shayegh M.
Published: February 2016

Managed pressure drilling (MPD) techniques such as; constant bottomhole pressure (CBHP) and pressurized mud cap drilling (PMCD) have made it possible to drill challenging prospects that with conventional techniques are considered undrillable. Drilling in naturally fractured carbonates, highly permeable unconsolidated sands and/or cavernous/vugular formation, often leads to loss of circulation. The mud losses in these kinds of formations are however not normally caused by hydraulically induced fracturing due to excessive pressure. When these extreme loss zones are intersected, the more heavy drilling mud will fall to the bottom and exchange or swop places with the less dense formation fluids.

In some areas like the Gulf of Mexico, deep water outside Brazil and in the arctic climate of the Barents Sea in northern Norway, we can see these kinds of challenging formations in combination with deep and cold seawater. The drilling riser will act as a giant heat exchanger that will cool down the mud that is circulated. The objectives and scope of this paper have been to see what happens to the total active volume if relative cold mud swops place and starts to mix with a relative warm hydrocarbon gas deep down in the loss zone and/or in the wellbore annulus.

PVT simulations and a study found that a net volume reduction will take place when the fluids are mixed, due to higher compressibility and lower specific heat capacity of the relative warm hydrocarbon gas compared to the mud. Equally important, the study also showed that there can be a risk of gas hydrates forming. If hydrates form it will result in an additional reduction of the volume. These volume reductions can be observed as loss of circulation or abnormal reduction in the active pit volume. Hydrocarbon gas influx caused by gravity-induced swop-out will be partly or completely concealed by the volume reduction taking place at the same time. Kick detection based on volume control (flow-in vs. flow-out) may therefore not work when drilling in naturally fractured or highly permeable formations, where influx caused by gravity-induced swop-out takes place.
Drilling Through Layers of Unstable Shale Formations and Depleted Sand Sequences, the Managed Pressure Drilling/Wellbore Strengthening Approach to Successfully Drill Offshore Development Wells: A Case History
Authors: Henry I. , Hernandez J. , Craig H. , Ngan A. , Arnone M. , Boutalbi S. , Harvey M.
Published: February 2016

Two hole sections (12-1/4″ x 14-3/4″ and 10-5/8″ x 12-1/4″) were planned to be drilled through sequences of unstable shale and depleted sand packages with no drilling windows, which are defined by the shale Wellbore Stability Gradient (WBSG) delimited by the "intact wellbore wall zero failure degree" and the depleted sand fracture gradient criteria. Historically, significant non-productive time (NPT) associated with wellbore instability and lost circulation had resulted in sidetracks and other costly remediation in both hole sections. The operator and the service provider have identified the Constant Bottomhole Pressure (CBHP) variant of Managed Pressure Drilling (MPD) and wellbore strengthening as the necessary technology approach to safely drill through both challenging hole sections. Dynamic and static wellbore strengthening were applied to increase the near wellbore stresses across the depleted sands to create a drilling window, whilst the MPD CBHP was used to mitigate bottom hole pressure fluctuations and cyclic stress across the shale packages.

The MPD well evaluated in this paper had just four hours of non-productive time related with downhole problems and wellbore stability, a minimal fraction when compared to the 980 hours lost in the previous conventional offset well. The MPD well did not require any back reaming operation, whereas the offset well in the area required 7 back-reaming events to get a good quality wellbore. A total of 533 hours were required to drill the 2 hole sections in MPD compared to the 2,410 hours required to drill the same sections conventionally in a previous offset well in the area.

This paper summarizes the key MPD planning, engineering, results obtained and lessons learned that delivered a successful campaign of producer wells.
Innovative Techniques for Unconventional Reservoirs: Managed Pressure Cementing Application in Western Argentina Shale Formations
Authors: Ficetti S. , Baggini Almagro S. P. , Aldana S. , Arismendi H. A.
Published: February 2016

The focus of the international oilfield industry is clearly increasing toward the development of unconventional plays worldwide, and this increased focus is evident in the development of local shale formations in the Neuquén basin. The emerging unconventional market in western Argentina constitutes most of the drilling operations in the region.

Well integrity is a key requirement for these projects that demand distinctive completions through massive hydraulic fracturing. Existing conditions within the field add major challenges to the overall well construction process, considering the high pore pressure and the ultranarrow operative window (i.e., tight pore-fracture margin) present along the production section. These conditions increase the demand for dynamic pressure management techniques.

Shale-targeted wells were cemented overbalanced at first; however, the failure rate was high, leading to annular pressure buildup (APB) problems requiring costly remediation. Some wells could not even reach total depth (TD) and were temporarily abandoned. Presently, most of the unconventional wells drilled in the area are cemented using a managed pressure cementing (MPC) technique, which has considerably improved the success rate. After defining critical anchor points, an engineering design methodology is proposed to adjust a dynamic backpressure profile to effectively control the formers.

Considering the APB rate as the evaluation criteria in place, this engineering approach has made cement placement in local unconventional wells more effective than ever before, increasing the success rate from approximately 67% in 2013 to nearly 95% in Q1-2015.
An Improved Thixotropic Barrier Fluid Used to Prevent the Commingling of Fluids While Tripping on Managed Pressure Drilling (MPD) Wells
Authors: Ramirez-Angulo Jessica Paola , Shumway William Water
Published: February 2016

The drilling fluid used for managed pressure drilling (MPD) operations is of a lower density than that required for normal overbalanced drilling. This means that the hydrostatic pressure from the drilling fluid is often lower than the formation pore pressure. Because of this, the drilling fluid is "at balance" or even "underbalanced" when static. A hydrostatic overbalance is required when tripping to avoid the influx of formation fluids, which may result in a kick. One common way the hydrostatic overbalance is accomplished is by using the mud cap method, where a high-density fluid is placed on top of the underbalanced drilling fluid, resulting in the desired total bottomhole hydrostatic pressure. The major shortcoming of the mud cap design is the risk of comingling of the mud cap with the lower-density drilling fluid beneath it.

An attempt to viscosify the high-density drilling fluid had been made to effectively address this shortcoming; however, several issues were encountered, including more difficult movement and storage of the tripping fluid, along with the risk of increasing the well's bottomhole pressure while pumping the large, viscous pill into place. A better solution to the comingling issue is to place a physical barrier between the two fluids to prevent their mixing. Although barrier pills have been used in the past, they were either limited by not being viscous enough to effectively separate the mud cap from the lower-density drilling fluid or failed as a result of routine drillsite contamination.

An improved barrier pill was developed to offer superior performance in fluid separation as well as to simplify tripping in MPD operations. The new pill involves novel synthetic materials, rheology engineering, and extensive testing. This fluid exhibits a very high degree of thixotropy, far beyond conventional clay or polymer suspensions. When the barrier is static, the progressive gel develops exceptional strength capable of resisting pressure and buoyancy forces. The shear-thinning behavior ensures that agitation and flow make the mixture mobile and pumpable. Shear-thinning properties permit placement of the pill as well as the passage of pipe, coiled tubing, and wireline through the resultant gel without hindrance. With a relatively short coverage interval, the gel can be broken without generating high ECD values. The improved barrier pill will maintain separation and prevent comingling of muds with different densities. Lab testing has shown that the pill works with a variety of fluid system, resists contamination, and is able to maintain integrity with a density differential greater than 6 lb/gal.

The developments of this improved barrier fluid are the subjects of this paper.
Production Optimization of Foam Assisted Lift (FAL) Wells and Evaluation of Good and Bad Practices to Ensure Maximum Production
Authors: Uddin M. Farooq , Tayyab Imran , Koondhar Nadeem H. , Ahmed Qazi Ismail , Soomro Aijaz Ali
Published: February 2016

Throughout the production life of a gas well its reservoir pressure declines and well becomes prone to liquid loading. The stationary liquid column in the wellbore exerts back pressure on the formation resulting in decrease or sometimes ceases the production. The overall outcome of this phenomenon is reduced recovery factor resulting in loss of reserves.

Increasing Liquid Gas Ratio (LGR), decreasing gas rates and velocities with decreasing reservoir pressure are the main factors contributing in liquid loading. Various methods have been used in the industry to de-liquefy gas wells and maintain production rates. One method to de-liq a gas well is down hole soap injection through 1/4" or 3/8" capillary string to reduce the effective density and surface tension of the produced liquids. This method is cheap and effective, no external source of energy is needed since it utilizes reservoir energy. Injected soap or foam must be selected according to the reservoir characteristics.

This paper shares the case studies of different wells having depleted reservoir pressures and liquid loading tendency. Foam Assisted Lift (FAL) was implemented on these wells as a de-liq technique, detailed study was carried out to observe their production behaviors and economic benefits from FAL. This work also incorporates the good and bad practices to ensure FAL is effectively de-liquefying a gas well to maximize production.

The different practices proposed in this study can be used as an analogy to ascertain soap injection is performing in the best way to attain incremental production from depleted gas wells with liquid loading problems.
Study of Asphaltene Precipitation during CO2 Injection in Light Oil Reservoirs
Authors: Ali Muhammad , Dahraj Naeem Ul. , Haider Syed Afraz
Published: February 2016

CO2 injection is considered as one of the successful methods used for enhanced oil recovery (EOR) in oil fields to recover residual oil. It increases mobility and reduces viscosity and interfacial tension. Asphaltene precipitation and deposition phenomena appear in petroleum reservoirs due to change in temperature, pressure, and liquid phase compositions; either during the primary production or enhanced oil recovery processes. Asphaltene precipitation might occur due to CO2 injection in light oil (>30° API) reservoirs which may cause blockage of production system, decrease in permeability, wellbore plugging and change in porosity. Experimental data concludes high asphaltenes precipitation and lower asphaltene solubility in light oils. Hence severe damage to formation can happed sue to asphaltene precipitation, in some cases the loss might be irreversible. This paper furnishes the investigation of asphaltene precipitation caused by CO2 injection. In this regards interaction between asphaltene and formation, precipitation quantity under different injection flow rates of CO2 at the constant injection pressure have been investigated. Results conclude that there is direct proportionality between asphaltene precipitation and amount of injected gas in the core sample, whereas inverse proportionality between asphaltene precipitation and increased injection flow rate of the gas at constant injection pressure.
Method to Optimally Produce Wells Having Salt Precipitation Issues
Authors: Soomro Aijaz Ali , Hadi Abdul , Awase Azar , Koondhar Nadeem Hussain , Ahmed Noor
Published: February 2016

A common problem that occurs in low producing gas wells is the salt precipitation in the near wellbore region or within the wellbore. These salts are generally formed by the changes in pressure but mainly temperature affect the solubility. Salts formation cause additional pressure drop resulting in production impairment and may even result in abandonment of wells. Salt problems occur over a very limited range of producing conditions and are generally seen in mature, depleted gas fields. This paper presents a proactive approach to prevent salt scaling in low pressure gas wells in United Energy Pakistan Limited concession areas.

Early prediction of salt precipitation is vital to optimally produce the well; this depends on individual wellbore pressure & temperature profiles and production chemistry. The paper discusses the diagnostic approach using produced water chemistry, WGR history and Nodal Analysis to predict the optimum bottom-hole pressure to avoid salt precipitation from produced water.

A number of wells in our concession area had severe salt build-up issue and sharp decline in production was observed. Different methods like wellbore cleanout using coiled tubing, mechanical slickline tools and re-perforations to remove salt plugging were implemented but they proved to be short lived resulting high cost, increased intervention frequency and uneconomical gas production from the wells.

In order to mitigate the salt build-up issues, the wells were produced at the optimum bottomhole pressures simulated through nodal analysis, for the given well conditions & produced fluid chemistry, to avoid salt precipitation in the wellbore. The implementation resulted in decelerated salt precipitation from produced water resulting stabilized production, reduced well interventions frequency and improved production economics.
Pressure Transient Testing and Fluid Profiling using Wireline Formation Tester Helps Optimizing Completion Strategies: Pakistan Tal Block Case Study
Authors: Abbas Asad , Kakar Abdul Malik , Farooq Umar , Ahmed Jawad , Samir Magdy , Mughal Haroon , Bari Abdul , Khalid Arsalan , Zubair Talha , Dar Usman
Published: February 2016

Well testing is very challenging especially in northern parts of Pakistan, as there are complex lithologies and multiple formations encountered in a single well. These formations include both fractured carbonates and sandstones. In addition, lower matrix porosities make it more difficult and time consuming as it can take several weeks to months to test multiple formations individually using a casedhole drillstem test (DST). These tests impact the overall well cost due to the extended rig time required and production loss. Extended buildups are a huge concern that must be kept in consideration due to the high rig-time requirement.

This paper describes the application of a wireline formation tester (WFT) for interval pressure transient testing (IPTT), which is also referred to as a mini-DST, to estimate flow regimes and reservoir properties along with vertical pressure profiling, fluid identification, and sampling. This technique was applied at two of the exploratory wells in TAL block. There, WFT was deployed with a single probe and straddle packers to achieve the desired results across four potential reservoirs. Vertical pressure profiles across the prospective formations were acquired using the single probe; this was followed by a mini-DST using straddle packers to test zone by zone for fluid type, collect samples, and record pressure buildups. Real-time pressure derivatives were monitored to optimize the buildup time at each station depth. This integrated IPTT gave necessary reservoir information in a very short span of time. It saved significant amount of time and costs, especially rig costs and entire well testing cost giving valuable information for completion strategy.
A New EOR Scheme for Thin Heavy Oil Reservoirs – Gas Pressure Cycling
Authors: Hutchence K. , Huang S.
Published: February 2016

It has been observed that an infill horizontal production well was much more productive after system re-pressuring by water than before. This has led to the simulation development of a proposed new enhanced oil recovery scheme. The idea behind the pressure cycling scheme is to restore the reservoir's primary production conditions and to exploit them efficiently through the use of infill horizontal production wells. Primary production conditions are restored with good conformance by injecting produced gas, and then water, so as to re-saturate the reservoir oil by the time water injection raises pressure to around original reservoir pressure. The production phase of the cycle then follows. This process can be repeated several times (until it reaches the economic limit) while maintaining useful rates and amounts of production even in quite thin reservoirs (5 m).
Case Study Comparison of Planned vs. Actual Drilling Results Successful Mapping & Characterization of a Horizontal Injector Well in the Lower Halfway Sand Oil Reservoir, AEC West's Grande Prairie Halfway V Reservoir, Alberta (72-5W6)
Authors: Mottahedeh R.
Published: February 2016

Pre-Drill and Post-Drill results of the horizontal injector well at location 3-3-72-5W6M have been evaluated and compared. A 3D earth model has, rapidly and successfully, detailed a map of the reservoir for horizontal drilling.

The designed trajectory was closely followed, resulting in a successful well with early cleanup oil flow rates prior to injection test of 89 m3/d (600 BOPD) and a stable water injection rate of 230 m3/d (1450 BWPD).

The prediction capability of the 3D mapping and characterization provides a viable method for reducing risk while optimizing well placement.
Calcium removal by softening of water affects biofilm formation on PVC, glass and membrane surfaces
Authors: Hijnen W. A. M. , Schultz F. , Harmsen D. J. H. , Brouwer-Hanzens A. H. , van der Wielen P. W. J. J. , Cornelissen E. R.
Published: February 2016

Literature data on the effect of calcium on biofilm structures induced a preliminary study. The effect of calcium removal by water softening (<1.0 mg Ca2+.L−1) under real-world drinking water conditions on biofilm formation was studied in a pilot plant with reverse osmosis (RO) membranes and in a laboratory-scale biofilm production unit (BPU) with plasticized polyvinyl chloride (PVC-P) and glass as substratum. The results showed a halving of the exponential biofouling rate in the RO membrane and also a halving of the exponential carbohydrate (CH) production rate in the biofilm on PVC-P and glass in the BPU by softening of the water. In PVC-P biofilms, softening did not affect adenosine tri-phosphate (ATP) production and bacterial species composition (terminal restriction fragment length polymorphism analysis). At low substrate concentrations in glass and RO membrane biofilms softening reduced significantly ATP and CH production and changed the species composition on the membrane. The importance of the two hypothesized physical or physiological mechanisms as causes for the observed Ca2+ effect on biofilm formation and the effect of Ca2+ concentration on those, needs further studies.
A new efficient RLF-like algorithm for the vertex coloring problem
Authors: Adegbindin Mourchid , Hertz Alain , Bellaïche Martine
Published: February 2016

The Recursive Largest First (RLF) algorithm is one of the most popular greedy
heuristics for the vertex coloring problem. It sequentially builds color
classes on the basis of greedy choices. In particular, the first vertex
placed in a color class C is one with a maximum number of uncolored
neighbors, and the next vertices placed in C are chosen so that they have as
many uncolored neighbors which cannot be placed in C. These greedy choices
can have a significant impact on the performance of the algorithm, which
explains why we propose alternative selection rules. Computational
experiments on 63 difficult DIMACS instances show that the resulting new
RLF-like algorithm, when compared with the standard RLF, allows to obtain a
reduction of more than 50% of the gap between the number of colors used and
the best known upper bound on the chromatic number. The new greedy algorithm
even competes with basic metaheuristics for the vertex coloring problem.
The Effectiveness of Study-Abroad on Second Language Learning: A Meta-Analysis
Authors: Yang Jin-Suk
Published: February 2016

This study synthesizes the methods and findings of published research investigating second language (L2) learners’ linguistic development in study-abroad (SA) contexts. Some studies have demonstrated that SA participation is beneficial to learners’ L2 development, whereas others have not supported such a relationship. The first phase of this meta-analysis analyzed the methodological features of 66 studies, while the second synthesized 11 quantitative studies comparing L2 linguistic gains between SA and at home (AH) learners. Results from the comparisons indicate that SA learners outperform AH learners and that short-term SA is more effective than long-term SA in terms of L2 linguistic development. Along with outlining potential concerns about conducting meta-analyses on SA research, I conclude this article with suggestions for future research directions.
Turks Who Saved Armenians: Righteous Muslims during the Armenian Genocide
Authors: Shirinian George N.
Published: February 2016

During the Armenian Genocide, Turks, Kurds, Arabs, and other Muslims were both perpetrators and beneficiaries of the deportations and killing—but they also saved non-Muslims. This study documents and analyzes the ways in which Armenians were rescued and the various motives of the rescuers. Unlike previous studies, which are based solely on survivor oral histories or anecdotal family material, this paper also utilizes missionary reports, published survivor memoirs, German consular reports, archival sources, and other material. It discusses the concept of Righteous among the Nations and it explores the application of this idea to the context of the Armenian Genocide. Wider recognition of the phenomenon of Turks who saved Armenians can facilitate dialogue between Armenians and Turks today, many of whom tend to view each other as enemies.
Abraham Geiger's Conception of a Jewish Theology as Institution
Authors: Veltri Giuseppe
Published: February 2016

The article focuses on the theological study of teachers and rabbis as suggested by the philologist, theologian, and rabbi Abraham Geiger. It explores the nineteenth-century intent to give a grounded education to whoever was seriously interested in Jewish religion, history, and literature. While Leopold Zunz, the so-called father of the Wissenschaft des Judentums, saw the integration of “Jewish studies,” or “the emancipation,” Abraham Geiger's predominant interest was the theological education of teachers and rabbis in a future institution capable of pledging scientific contents and critical method.
Introducing Islamic Theological Studies at German Universities: Secular Expectations and Epistemic Rearrangements
Authors: Agai Bekim
Published: February 2016

The academic discipline of Islamic theological studies is a latecomer to Germany. When the German Council of Science and Humanities published its “Recommendations on the Advancement of Theologies and Sciences Concerned with Religions at German Universities” in 2010, it included a recommendation to establish Islamic theological studies, on par with Christian theologies, at German universities. In this blueprint for the speedy introduction of this new discipline, certain expectations at the scientific and social levels were expressed. The introduction of the discipline into German universities is an interesting interplay of state, science, and religion within a secular setting and has to be understood in the context of recent developments to integrate citizens of Muslim belief as Muslims into German society at large. These recommendations also affected the academic field. Discussions took place within the established Orientalist discipline of Islamic studies (Islamwissenschaft) regarding the feasibility of another academic discipline studying Islam from a scientific perspective. Representatives of the new Islamic theological studies responded to the critique and tried to explain communalities and differences between the old and the new subject. One distinction made in the discussions was a proclaimed difference between an insider's and outsider's point of view. In this article I will describe the context of the establishment of Islamic theological studies, give an insight into the debates, and explain why the assumption that there is a difference between an insider's and outsider's perspective is misleading.
Design and Performance of Well-Performing Railway Transitions
Authors: Stark Timothy D. , Wilk Stephen T. , Rose Jerry G.
Published: February 2016

This paper presents a review of railroad track transition behavior, causes of undesirable transition performance, and designs that have exhibited desirable transition performance as determined by field measurements. The first focus of the paper is a review of common factors that lead to transition geometry deviations. These deviations involve the inherent problem of a train passing from an earthen and ballasted approach to a nearly rigid bridge structure. The differential movement between the earthen approach and bridge usually results in increased dynamic loads. These increased dynamic loads can be avoided if all transient and permanent displacements between the approach and bridge deck are balanced by reducing ballast and subgrade settlements in the approach and decreasing the stiffness of the bridge. Two well-performing bridge transitions were monitored by using noninvasive accelerometers to illustrate design techniques that can balance transition differential movements and thus reduce dynamic loads. Other design techniques and ballast remedial measures are discussed because of their relevance to reducing ballast settlement in the approach.
Risk-Based Optimization of Rail Defect Inspection Frequency for Petroleum Crude Oil Transportation
Authors: Liu Xiang , Dick C. Tyler
Published: February 2016

The rapid expansion of production of North American petroleum crude oil from shale has led to a significant increase in rail transport of crude oil. Broken rails are frequent causes of train accidents. Ultrasonic rail defect inspection is widely used to prevent train accidents caused by broken rails, thereby reducing the hazardous materials transportation risk. This paper describes a new methodology to estimate unit-train crude oil transportation risk by the frequency of location-specific rail defect inspection. The risk model was used to develop a Pareto optimization model that determines the frequency of segment-specific rail defect inspection to reduce the total-route risk in a cost-effective manner. A numerical case study was developed to illustrate the application of the risk analysis and optimization models. This research is intended to provide new methods and information to assist the railroad industry in optimizing investment in infrastructure improvement, thereby mitigating the risk of rail transport of crude oil and other hazardous materials.
Finite Element Analysis of the Effects of Bolt Condition on Bolted Rail Joint Stresses
Authors: Zhu Kaijun , Edwards J. Riley , Qian Yu , Andrawes Bassem
Published: February 2016

The rail joint is typically considered to be one of the weakest locations in the track superstructure. Defects and failures—including bolt hole cracks, head–web cracking or separation, broken or missing bolts, and joint bar cracking—have been found to start at rail joints and the area surrounding these joints. The initiation and propagation of these defects are primarily attributable to the discontinuities of both geometric and mechanical properties in the rail joint area and the high-impact loads induced by the discontinuities. Loosened or missing rail joint bolts can decrease the overall stiffness at the joint. A loosened rail joint can also accelerate certain types of defects, such as cracking around the bolt hole and the head–web fillet area (the upper fillet area) close to the rail end. These cracks present both economical and safety concerns as they can significantly reduce the service life of the rail or joint bar and even lead to breaks in the rail. However, the effect of bolt condition on stress propagation around bolted rail joints is not thoroughly understood. This study investigated the effects of bolt loading and missing-bolt configurations on the stress distribution at the bolt hole and the upper fillet area under static loading conditions. A comprehensive parametric analysis was performed with finite element modeling. Preliminary results showed that when bolt loading increased, the rail vertical displacement and stresses on the rail upper fillet decreased, but the stresses on bolt holes increased. The two center bolts, which were closest to the rail end, were the most sensitive bolts in terms of variation in stresses in response to changes in bolting and torqueing.
Safety Evaluation of Seven of the Earliest Diverging Diamond Interchanges Installed in the United States
Authors: Hummer Joseph E. , Cunningham Christopher M. , Srinivasan Raghavan , Warchol Shannon , Claros Boris , Edara Praveen , Sun Carlos
Published: February 2016

Diverging diamond interchanges (DDIs) are increasingly popular because they provide improved traffic operations and cost savings. On the basis of theory, DDIs should be safer than conventional diamonds, but previous empirical safety studies have been limited. The objectives of this work were, therefore, to conduct a broader safety evaluation of DDIs and to recommend a crash modification factor (CMF) for the conversion of a conventional diamond to a DDI. The team analyzed seven of the earliest DDIs in the United States. Four were in Missouri and other sites were in Kentucky, New York, and Tennessee. The team collected more than 28 site years of crash and other data before intersection conversion and more than 19 site years of data after their conversion. The primary analysis was before and after with comparison sites to account for trends and potential simultaneous event biases. The results showed that crashes were reduced at most of the sites, and the team recommended a CMF of 0.67, meaning that installation of a DDI to replace a diamond should reduce all crashes by 33%. The reduction in injury crashes was even larger, with the team recommending a CMF of 0.59. Other analyses indicated that DDI installation should mean a substantial reduction of angle and turning crashes, with some reduction in rear-end crashes as well, although rear-end crashes will still be the dominant crash types after DDI installation. Clearly, DDIs offer potential safety benefits, and agencies should consider them strongly as replacements for conventional diamonds.
Road User Behaviors at Pedestrian Hybrid Beacons
Authors: Fitzpatrick Kay , Pratt Michael P.
Published: February 2016

The pedestrian hybrid beacon (PHB) has shown great potential in improving safety and driver yielding; however, questions have been asked about actual driver and pedestrian behavior. A data set reflecting more than 78 h of video data recorded at 20 locations included 1,979 pedestrians crossing during 1,149 PHB actuations. For the 20 sites, driver yielding to pedestrians averaged 96%. For the majority of the pedestrians who left during the dark indication (124 of 1,979, which was 6%), the roadway volume was such that the pedestrian was able to find sufficient gaps (fewer than four vehicles/min/lane for the majority of these crossings). Overall, 91% of the pedestrians pushed the pushbutton. A greater number of pedestrians activated the device on a road with a posted speed limit of 45 mph compared with roads with a posted speed limit of 40 mph or less. When the equivalent hourly volume was 1,500 vehicles/h or more, the percentage of pedestrians activating the PHB was always 92% or more. The conflict rate was found to be higher for noncompliant pedestrians than for compliant pedestrians. More conflicts occurred at locations with nearby bus stops or driveways.
A bottom-up search algorithm for size-constrained partitioning of modules to generate configurations in modular robots
Authors: Dutta Ayan , Dasgupta Prithviraj , Nelson Carl
Published: February 2016

We consider the problem of partitioning a set of modules for efficient and dynamic shape or configuration generation in modular robotic systems, where the size of any configuration formed by the modules is constrained by a maximum, user-provided value denoted by [Formula: see text]. The objective is to determine the best partition of the module set that gives the highest utility to the modules. This problem is non-trivial as the set of partitions that needs to be explored grows exponentially with the number of modules and an exhaustive search in the space of partitions makes the problem intractable. To address this problem, we propose a branch and bound based search algorithm, called bottomUpCSGSearch, which is able to intelligently prune the unpromising search space and find the best partition of the modules in a reasonable amount of time. We have provided analytical results related to the completeness, anytime nature and time complexity of our proposed algorithm. Our experimental results show that our proposed algorithm performs better in terms of number of nodes explored (up to [Formula: see text] times fewer nodes explored) and the time required to find the best partition (improvement up to the order of [Formula: see text]) than existing comparable algorithms. We have simulated with different number of modules and different values of maximum coalition size of a modular self-reconfigurable robot (MSR) called ModRED, and, shown that our algorithm takes nominal time to find the best solution.
Mitigation of the adverse effects of soil salinity in rice using exogenous proline and organic manure
Authors: Dhar Sukanta , Kibria Mohammad Golam , Rahman M Mazibur , Hoque Md Anamul
Published: February 2016

Salinity causes cellular damage and limits crop productivity. Accumulation of organic compound is one of the major adaptive mechanisms for salinity tolerance in plants. The main objective of the present study was to mitigate the adverse effects of soil salinity in rice through organic amendments like proline and organic manure. The field experiments were conducted at the farmers field of Batiaghata upazilla under Khulna district with aman rice. The soil was silty clay loam having pH 7.2, EC 6.6 dS/m, CEC 26 meq/100 g soil and organic matter 0.84%. Rice variety BR 23 was used as a test crop. There were 15 treatment combinations with different doses of proline and organic manures. Recommended doses of N, P, K, S and Zn fertilizers were applied to all the experimental plots. Proline was applied as foliar spray at seedling and/or vegetative stages. Organic manures were added to soils during final land preparation. The experiments were laid out in a randomized complete block design with three replications. Significant reductions in growth and yield of rice were observed under saline conditions. Application of both proline and organic manures significantly increased growth, yield contributing characters, and grain and straw yields of rice under salinity conditions. There were no significant variations in growth and yield of rice due to use of different doses of proline and organic manure. Increased nutrient uptake and K+/Na+ ratio were observed in rice due to proline as well as organic manure application under saline conditions. The present study suggests that exogenous proline or organic manure confers tolerance to salinity in rice by increasing K+/Na+ ratio and nutrient uptake.Asian J. Med. Biol. Res. December 2015, 1(3): 478-486
Effect of nitrogenous fertilizer on yield of mungbean [Vignaradiata (L.) Wilczek] in Patuakhali district of Bangladesh
Authors: Hossen Md Mosarref , Hussain ASM Iqbal , Zabir Abdullah Al , Biswas Md Jamil Hossain , Islam Md Rakibul
Published: February 2016

An experiment was conducted at the research field of the Horticulture Research Center at Labukhali, Patuakhali during the period from January to March 2014 to find out the most suitable BARI mungbean variety and optimum rates of N concerning higher seed yield under the regional condition of Patuakhali (AEZ13). Two BARI mungbean varieties namely BARI mung5 (V1) and BARI mung6 (V2) and five levels of N fertilizer including control viz. 0 kg N ha1 (N0), 30 kg N ha1 (N30), 45 kg N ha1 (N45), 60 kg N ha1 (N60), and 75 kg N ha1 (N75) were used for the present study as level factor A and B, respectively. In case of variety, BARI mung6 produced significantly longest pod (7.56 cm), maximum pods (9.14) plant1, maximum seeds (9.14) pod1, higher weight of 100seed (4.48 g), highest seed weight (4.33 g plant1) and highest seed yield (1.56 t ha1) than BARI mung5 at harvest. In case of N fertilizer, longest pod (7.96 cm), maximum pods plant1 (10.45), maximum seeds pod1 (9.70), higher weight of 100seed (4.52 g), higher weight of seed (5.73 g plant1) and greater seed yield (1.85 t ha1) were also obtained in 45 kg N ha1 compare other N levels. The BARI mung6 × 45 kg N ha1 for seed yield was found under the regional condition of Patuakhali (AEZ-13).Asian J. Med. Biol. Res. December 2015, 1(3): 508-517