bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
N-Alkane Biosignatures in a High Arctic Mars Analogue Gossan Deposit
Authors: Aoid Hiba , Léveillé Richard , Douglas Peter , Lemelin Myriam , Williamson Marie-Claude
Published: October 2023

If past life ever existed on Mars, what are the multiple ways it could have been preserved in the Martian geological record? This crucial question is becoming especially relevant the more we uncover about the planet’s ancient wet history. Different acidic and sulfur rich analog environments have been proposed that are comparable to the alteration environments of iron oxides and sulfate minerals on Mars. However, some authors have hypothesized that these past Martian environments might have been cold and semi-dry, similar to polar regions on Earth. As part of the T-MARS team, we studied reactive gossans in the Canadian High Arctic, on Axel Heiberg Island, as an analog environment to similar deposits on Mars. We hypothesized that n-alkane lipids could potentially be an important form of molecular fossils entombed in varying mineral assemblages of sulphates, iron oxides, and phyllosilicates in Arctic gossans, because of their excellent preservation potential relative to most other forms of organic molecules. To determine the preservation potential of lipids in mineralogically varying acidic sulfur rich gossan deposits, this study extracted and quantified n-alkane biomarkers from three different Arctic gossans with gas chromatography–mass spectrometry (GC-MS). Total organic carbon, pH, and mineralogy were also determined. Organic matter was found to be very low in all samples (<1% wt.%). N-alkane analysis also revealed preserved even-over-odd distribution patterns in short chain n-alkanes, most likely from a microbial source, along with evidence for long-chain n-alkanes with odd-over-even distribution from higher plant sources. The presence of these unique chemical biosignatures in low organic, highly acidic, and sulfur rich Mars analog gossans of varying maturity provides evidence that sulfur deposits linked to paleo hydrothermal systems on Mars can be promising targets for preserved organic biosignatures, specifically lipid n-alkanes. The significant diversity in biosignature patterns across samples of varying mineralogy, pH, and oxidation levels within each gossan suggests that n-alkane preservation varies on a small scale in these environments. These factors alone do not definitively account for the variability of n-alkane concentrations and distributions in this study, and additional investigations of these and other influencing factors are needed to determine which specific targets to choose for biosignature search on Mars in future space missions. This exploratory study provides novel insights into the lipid biosignature content in high Arctic Mars analogue gossan deposits.
Microbial Community Dynamics in Base Mine Lake, the First End-Pit Lake in the Alberta Oil sands Industry
Authors: Smirnova Angela , Dunfield Peter , Furgason Chantel , Sheremet Andriy , Nwosu Felix , Dacks Joel
Published: October 2023

Oil extraction from bitumen in the Athabasca region of northeastern Alberta, comprises a large segment of the Canadian economy. However, the process of oil extraction from surface mined oil sands ores results in diverse environmental issues including disturbance of land areas and habitats for wildlife, as well as production of large volumes of fluid tailings containing many compounds of concern for the environment. Land reclamation strategies of most oilsands operations propose the construction of end-pit lakes (EPL) to contain and biodegrade tailings, eventually becoming integrated into local watersheds. We used 16S/18S rRNA gene amplicon and metagenome sequencing to monitor prokaryotic and eukaryotic communities in the first full-scale pilot EPL of the Canadian oilsands, Base Mine Lake (BML) Fig. 1, over 6 years from 2015-2021, and compared them with communities from two active tailings ponds, Mildred Lake Setting Basin (MLSB) and Southwest in-Pit (SWIP), as well as with communities from a more natural freshwater body, Beaver Creek Reservoir (BCR). Alpha diversity in BML is intermediate to diversities in active tailings ponds and a natural lake, although highly variable with time, depth, and season. Microbial communities in BML resemble neither freshwater lake nor active tailings communities, although a structural shift of either microbial community occurred every year, and 2021 was a year of the most profound effect. Moreover, metabolic functions in BML also shifted every year, with the most dramatic shift for photosynthesis-related genes. Temporal changes among protists identified in BML were characterized by enrichment of species designated as picophytoplankton: Cryptomonas, Mychonastes, Trebouxiophyceae, and Dinobryon, and among bacterial genera by enrichment of common freshwater lake species or bacterioplankton: Ca. Fonsibacter, Sporichthyaceae, Ca. Planktophila, Microbacteriaceae ML602J-51, Ilumatobacteraceae CL500-29 group. Network analysis identified a potential microbial consortium between newly enriched species of picophytoplankton and bacterioplankton. Heterotrophic bacteria with streamlined genomes may overcome auxotrophic limitations by scavenging metabolites and other compounds produced by phototrophs presumably via chemotaxis behaviour. We propose that the formation of the consortium might serve as a biomarker for reclamation process of an oil sands tailings pond.
Improving our Understanding of Environmental Stress Impacts and Responses of the Microbiome
Authors: Weisener Christopher
Published: October 2023

Over the course of this century, it will be important to identify cost effective/low maintenance solutions for treating contaminants in receiving watersheds. Adopting these strategies will involve a better understanding of what defines a “natural” environment compared to these contaminated sites. Traditional geochemical testing and standard microbial community analyses (e.g., DNA profiling) or using isolates can be limited with respect to their ability to infer real-time, active processes of bacterial communities. In recent years the application of genomics to identify the microbial microbiome in anthropogenic stressed conditions has advanced considerably. In many cases, the activity of microorganisms will directly impact the chemical conditions in both surface and subsurface water column and contaminated sediment environments controlling the fate of nutrients and contaminants alike. Questions arise such as:

What are the baselines or reference systems that can be used?

What indices can be used to study the long-term and short-term controls on the mobility, cycling, and bioavailability of toxic metals and organic contaminants?

What are the baselines or reference systems that can be used?

What indices can be used to study the long-term and short-term controls on the mobility, cycling, and bioavailability of toxic metals and organic contaminants?

In many cases the balance of chemical oxidizing and reducing components in water will control the development of chemical and nutrient gradients observed in either natural and/or applied systems (e.g., constructed wetlands or bioreactors). In these cases, biogeochemical systems will determine the direction and onset of specific metabolic pathways as defined by their favorable thermodynamic outcome, an issue for most bioremediators (i.e., microorganisms). Also, the degree of chemical alteration (toxicity or degradation products) can be directly linked to the proportion of their biological activity.

In this presentation, contrasting case studies highlighting natural (baseline) and anthropogenically impacted landscapes will be discussed. The focus will be on identifying and linking physicochemical processes to microbial community function using emerging omics for geochemical applications and ascertaining novel contaminant bioindicators.
Microbial community ecosystem network model for chemical energy transport
Authors: Seto Mayumi , Kondoh Michio
Published: October 2023

Microorganisms thriving in low-energy ecosystems have evolved diverse strategies to sustain life, including individual-level energy conservation, optimizing energy utilization through interspecies competition, and mutually beneficial interspecies syntrophy. This study introduces a novel community-level strategy to enhance energy efficiency. We employed an oxidation-reduction (redox) reaction network model to capture the intricate metabolic interactions within microbial communities. Our findings highlight the importance of microbial functional diversity in facilitating metabolic handoffs, leading to an improved energy utilization efficiency. Moreover, the mutualistic division of labor and the resulting complexity of redox pathways actively facilitate material cycling, thereby enhancing energy exploitation. These findings provide new insights into the potential of self-organized ecological interactions to develop efficient energy utilization strategies, with significant implications for the functioning and evolution of microbial ecosystems.
Organic Solvent Contamination in Groundwater Around Natural Gas Plants
Authors: Shevalier Maurice , Abercrombie Hugh
Published: October 2023

Alberta is a province that has vast deposits of natural gas. However, in its natural form it is considered sour in that it has impurities, i.e., it contains hydrogen sulphide (H2S), carbonyl sulfide (COS), carbon dioxide (CO2), mercaptans and organic sulphides. To enable the marketing of the natural gas these impurities must be removed using organic compounds and solvents. As a result of spills, leakage during processes, seepage from unlined storage ponds some of these solvents have contaminated groundwater around natural gas processing facilities.

Remediation of the organic solvents is a difficult problem. To achieve an understanding of the processes involved in their degradation, a hydrogeochemical assessment of a site can be done using existing data from the site to track the development of groundwater redox zones across the different hydrostratigraphic units (HSU). This is relevant because the oxidation is hypothesized to have contributed to the biodegradation of the compounds. The objective of this global assessment is to assign a groundwater redox zone for each sample, with special emphasis placed on defining the oxidative groundwater zone (OGZ) due to its relevance to biodegradation. Ideally, the oxic groundwater zone would be defined based on the concentration of molecular oxygen (i.e., dissolved ) in groundwater (McMahon and Chapelle 2008). However, molecular oxygen, normally measured as ‘dissolved oxygen’, was not routinely measured as a field parameter in this study and therefore was unavailable to define the OGZ.

The scheme adopted considers the concentrations of terminal electron acceptors (TEA) present in groundwater and measured in commonly measured parameters including oxygen, nitrate, and sulphate and dissolved metals (manganese and iron). These TEA's are consumed under progressively more reducing conditions after oxygen reduction is complete in the order: nitrate reduction, manganese reduction, iron reduction, sulphate reduction, and finally carbonate reduction (one form of methanogenesis). The results show that redox zonation is heterogeneously distributed across the site, both within and between HSUs. Multiple lines of hydrogeochemical evidence support buffered aerobic biodegradation at the site.
Microbial reduction of synthetic Biogenic Iron Oxides containing various amounts of Organic Carbon and Silica
Authors: Quintero Daniela , Fortin Danielle
Published: October 2023

Iron oxides formed in close association with bacteria are referred to as biogenic minerals (BIOS). Both the organic part of BIOS and the iron oxide particles affect the net surface charge of those iron-organic carbon aggregates and offer reactive sites that can immobilize many soluble contaminants (Warren and Haack 2001) making BIOS a contender in bioremediation technologies. However, before using BIOS in bioremediation, it is essential to understand the interactions of impurities such as organic matter and other minor components (including silica) (Dyer et al. 2010). This project involves the synthesis of Biogenic Iron Oxides (BIOS) using various silica contents and different soluble alginate concentrations (as an analogue for bacterial exopolysaccharides) close to natural environmental conditions. The mineralogical, chemical and physical composition of the synthesized samples was determined by X-Ray Diffraction (XRD), Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM), Field Emission Scanning Electron Microscopy (FESEM), Fourier-transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FTIR), and with a Malvern Zetasizer Nano instrument. The various samples (mainly ferrihydrite) were then reduced in the presence of Shewanella putrefaciens CN32, a well-known iron reducing bacterium. All microbial reduction experiments (see Table 1) with different types of BIOS were performed under anoxic conditions.

Results indicate that the ratio of organic matter and silica to Fe (III) in BIOS affects the reduction rate. It is proposed that alginate binds to iron oxide particles and protects them from reduction. However, samples in presence of high concentration of silica (i.e.,> 0.05) showed structural disorder which likely prevented nucleation of well ordered ferrihydrite, which in return increased their rate of reduction. In addition, higher reduction rates of ferrihydrite were reported at higher concentrations of silica in BIOS, even in the presence of alginate.
Viruses, Vesicles, and other Biological Nanoparticles: The Sub-cellular Biosphere of a Deeply Buried 2km-Deep, 20-Million-Year-Old Coalbed Community
Authors: Pan Donald , Ishii Shun’ichi , Hirai Miho , Ogawara Miyuki , Zhang Wenjing , Tasumi Eiji , Inagaki Fumio , Imachi Hiroyuki
Published: October 2023

Horizontal gene transfer is an important driver of adaptation and evolution in microorganisms. Transducing biological nanoparticles such as viral particles are believed to be key facilitators of horizontal gene transfer. In deep subseafloor sediments, energy can be highly limiting, supporting only extremely slow metabolisms. In such low-energy, isolated environments where communities may subsist for millions of years, the mechanisms of subsurface microbial adaptation and evolution remain a mystery. Virus particles have been found everywhere that life has been found, including deep subsurface environments. Although microorganisms are abundant and active in the Earth's subsurface, the role of viruses in shaping and influencing these slow-growing communities is only recently starting to be explored. Here, we analyzed the deeply buried microbial community from a lignite coalbed layer 2km below the seafloor offshore Shimokita, Japan (IODP Expedition 337) that had been buried for 20 million years. We harvested cells (>0.2µm) and biological nanoparticles (<0.2µm) from a bioreactor enrichment seeded by lignite core samples. We sequenced DNA from the cells and nanoparticles and subsequently analyzed the metagenomes. Within the nanoparticle metagenome, numerous complete novel virus genomes were reconstructed. Comparison of the virus genomes to the prokaryotic MAGs (metagenome assembled genomes) revealed that many of the virus genomes had been integrated prophage within bacterial genomes, suggesting the potential for virus-host interactions to occur in the deep subseafloor. Additionally, lysogeny may be an important survival mechanism for viruses in deeply buried, low-energy environments. Host genes were found to be packaged by viral particles, demonstrating the potential for specialized and general transduction by viruses. Not only viral particles, but there was also evidence that membrane vesicles and gene transfer agents may participate in transduction in this deep subsurface community. Horizontal gene transfer mediated by biological nanoparticles may be an important mechanism of adaptation for deep subsurface microbial communities and may provide insight into possible evolutionary processes shaping microbial communities in the deep subsurface. These results may also shed some light onto the nature of viral infection in the subsurface, potentially revealing insights about the long-term persistence of life under extreme energy limitation and how viruses may survive this over geological timescales.
Past and present: changes in the Odonata fauna of small lowland watercourses
Authors: Szanyi Kálmán , Grigorszky István , Szabó László , Dévai György
Published: October 2023

Small lowland watercourses, strongly exposed to anthropogenic activities and climate change, have received negligible odonatological attention. This study provides a revised checklist of three typical lowland small watercourses (Kállai-főfolyás, Konyári-Kálló and Ölyvös) within the Pannonian Lowland and presents the changes in their diversity over the past decades. Results revealed a significant biodiversity loss, with a 31.6% decline in Odonata fauna over the last 53 years. The upper and middle sections degraded the most, where the habitats have dried out or become intermittent. However, a diverse Odonata assemblage (1,277 individuals of 27 species) was observed at the 14 sampling sites of the three watercourses, containing protected and sensitive species (Somatochlora flavomaculata, Orthetrum brunneum, Aeshna isoceles, Libellula fulva). However, the low abundance of larval and exuvial forms (59 individuals of 13 species) suggests that the majority of the observed adults were developed in other watercourses. While recolonisation from nearby habitats is still possible, a parallel degradation of adjecent waterbodies could lead to an irreversible biodiversity loss.
Remarks on the genus Phymatodiscus Berlese, 1917, with the description of Phymatodiscidae fam. nov. and Bardizon eotvosi gen. nov., sp. nov. from Indonesia (Acari, Mesostigmata)
Authors: Kontschán Jenő , Ermilov Sergey G.
Published: October 2023

Phymatodiscidaefam. nov. is diagnosed, with Phymatodiscus as the type genus. A new genus, Bardizongen. nov., with Bardizon eotvosisp. nov. (from Indonesia) as the type species, is erected to accommodate the Phymatodiscus species with an eye-like dorsal depression. Six Phymatodiscus species are reclassified as Bardizon: B. aokii (Hiramatsu, 1985), comb. nov., B. haradai (Hiramatsu, 1985), comb. nov., B. oculatus (Hirschmann, 1977), comb. nov., B. kuni (Kontschán & Starý, 2011), comb. nov., B. insolitus (Kontschán & Ripka, 2016), comb. nov., and B. malayicus (Kontschán & Starý, 2012), comb. nov. The new species differs from the previously described congeners in the sculptural pattern, the shapes of the dorsal and ventral setae, and the sculptural pattern of the sternal shield of the male and the genital shield of the female. A list of all known phymatodiscid species is presented. Phymatodiscus titanicus (Berlese, 1905) is moved to the genus Bostocktrachys: B. titanicus (Berlese, 1905), comb. nov. (family Trachyuropodidae).
Retinal Detachments in Pediatric Patients With X-Linked Retinoschisis: Characteristics and Surgical Outcomes
Authors: Sengillo Jesse D. , Al-Khersan Hasenin , Rohowetz Landon , Shoji Marissa K. , Robles-Holmes Hailey , Cruz Natasha Ferreira Santos da , Negron Catherin I. , Yannuzzi Nicolas A. , Patel Nimesh A. , Berrocal Audina M.
Published: October 2023

Background and Objective:

Retinal detachments (RDs) are a complication of X-linked retinoschisis (XLRS) with a poor prognosis. This study aims to report outcomes of XLRS-RD repair in pediatric patients.

Materials and Methods:

The study is a retrospective analysis of pediatric patients undergoing vitreoretinal surgery for XLRS-RDs from 2000 to 2022.

Results:

Nine patients (11 eyes) met inclusion criteria. All patients were boys, with a mean age of 8 years. Most RDs arose inferiorly (64%). Seven (64%) detachments were macula-involving. Seven (64%) detachments were repaired with combined scleral buckling and vitrectomy, two (18%) detachments were repaired with vitrectomy alone, one (9%) detachment underwent a primary scleral buckling procedure, and one (9%) asymptomatic detachment with a pigment demarcation line was observed. Silicone oil was used in eight of nine (89%) eyes undergoing vitrectomy. Final visual acuity was 20/200 or better in eight (73%) eyes. One eye that underwent surgical intervention remained unattached at follow-up.

Conclusion:

Surgical repair in patients with XLRSRDs was associated with successful reattachment, although visual prognosis varied.

[
Ophthalmic Surg Lasers Imaging Retina
2023;54:574–579.]
Neovascular Age-Related Macular Degeneration in a Predominantly Black Population
Authors: Yousuf Salman J. , Ma Jiali , Nelson Luke , Chen Michelle , Weldeslase Terhas A. , Akinyemi Oluwasegun A.
Published: October 2023

Background and Objective:

We intend to study the characteristics and outcomes of an understudied patient population with neovascular age-related macular degeneration (nAMD).

Patients and Methods:

This retrospective study evaluated presenting features and outcomes in a predominantly Black patient population with nAMD. A multivariate regression explored baseline characteristics predictive of 1-year vision.

Results:

Sixty-three eyes were included. The median (interquartile range) baseline vision was 20/300 (20/80 to counting fingers). Patients' baseline optical coherence tomography findings showed a mean central subfield thickness of 336 µm; 80% (
n
= 35) and 41% (
n
= 18) had fluid and central scarring, respectively. The primary predictor for vision at year-one was baseline vision (
P
= 0.03, 95% CI: 0.04 to 0.91). All of those who gained ≥ 3 lines of vision lacked central scarring at baseline.

Conclusion:

Further studies are needed to investigate how to improve earlier detection and treatment of nAMD in this patient population.

[
Ophthalmic Surg Lasers Imaging Retina
2023;54:580–584.]
Burnout syndrome among healthcare professionals in the Fako division, Cameroon: Impact of physical activity and sleep quality
Authors: Lele Elysée Claude Bika , Ndongo Jerson Mekoulou , Ashu-akoh Ako Vera , Ahmadou  , Guyot Jessica , Ngalagou Pierre Tchienrg Moueleu , Bongue Bienvenu , Tendongfor Nicholas , Ayina Clarisse Noel Ayina , Tanga Marie Yvonne Lobe , Mandengue Samuel Honoré , Ndemba Peguy Brice Assomo
Published: October 2023

Objectives

Burnout syndrome (BOS) is an affection mostly resulting from chronic job-related stress. Many studies have identified job-related and non-job-related factors associated with BOS. Our aim of this study was to assess the level of BOS in private and public hospital healthcare providers in Fako division, Cameroon and evaluate the impact of physical activity and sleep quality (SQ).

Methods

The study was carried out in five randomly selected hospitals in Fako Division over a three-month period. Consenting doctors, nurses and laboratory technicians were recruited using consecutive sampling methods. Sociodemographic and professional characteristics were collected using a structured questionnaire. BOS was assessed using the Maslach Burnout Inventory Human Services Survey (MBI-HSS). Sleep quality (SQ) and physical activity (PA) were assessed using the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI) and Global Physical Activity Questionnaire (GPAQ) respectively. Odd ratios and 95% confidence intervals were calculated and a statistical significance was set for p-value < 0.05.

Results

The mean age was 32 ± 6 years and 70.9% female. BOS prevalence was 66.3% with 71.4% in females and 53.9% in males (p = 0.002). Of the 232 participants with BOS, 65.7%, 52% and 53.7% had moderate to high emotional exhaustion, depersonalization and decreased personal accomplishment, respectively. Moderate to high PA as well as poor SQ were not significantly associated with BOS while longer sleep duration (>8 h) was associated with a greater odd of BOS.

Conclusions

The prevalence of BOS was high among healthcare professionals. While PA showed no protective effects, high sleep duration could increase its risk.
Studying in Online Environment: Students' Attitude Towards Online Open Electives in Karnataka
Authors: Thomas Juby , Achutha Menon Vishnnu
Published: October 2023

With the increasing popularity of the online environment, universities and colleges have started offering open online elective courses to provide students with a wide range of options to choose from. However, the success of these courses largely depends on the students attitudes toward them. The current study aimed to investigate the attitudes of undergraduate and postgraduate students toward online open electives in Karnataka. The sample consisted of 393 students chosen through purposive sampling and employed MOCA (Measure of Online Communication Attitude), developed by Ledbetter in 2009. The study revealed that students reported higher levels of apprehension and self-disclosure when compared to other domains, with social connection, ease, and miscommunication following suit. Males were observed to have higher levels of self-disclosure and social connection when compared to females. Apprehension was found to be more prevalent among students under 20 years old, whereas miscommunication, social connection, and ease were more prevalent among those between 23 and 25 years of age. Students from rural areas tended to exhibit higher levels of self-disclosure, apprehension, and miscommunication compared to their urban counterparts. Government college students reported higher levels of apprehension, while self-disclosure, social connection, and ease were higher among students studying in unaided colleges. Miscommunication was found to be more common among humanities and social science students, while science students reported higher levels of social connection and ease. The results of the study will help understand the factors that influence students’ attitudes towards online open electives and provide insights into how universities and colleges can improve the design and delivery of these courses to enhance students’ learning experiences.
Teaching Effect Evaluation of Flipped Classroom in Engineering Management Colleges
Authors: Jia Jia , Yang Jingjing , Xue Li
Published: October 2023

Adapting traditional classroom teaching methods to students’ personalized learning styles and needs can be challenging, resulting in passive learning, low teaching quality, and insufficient support for students’ learning and development. The flipped classroom teaching model integrates information technology (IT) into education, enriches teaching approaches, and emphasizes a student-oriented concept. The flipped classroom can help students deeply understand the content by building upon shallow learning guided by effective teaching strategies. In turn, it facilitates the development of higher-order thinking skills and promotes students’ physical and mental well-being. In this study, five engineering management colleges in Henan Province, China, were surveyed using a questionnaire distributed during the fall semester of 2022–2023. The factors influencing the teaching effect of the flipped classroom were analyzed using a multivariate ordered logit model. Results demonstrated that the questionnaire had a reliability coefficient of 0.844, a KMO value of 0.788, and a Bartlett sphericity test with a corresponding P value of less than 0.01. Several factors, including gender (P = 0.054), self-study ability (P = 0.064), campus network (P = 0.000), teaching resources (P = 0.085), and classroom interaction (P = 0.036), significantly influence the teaching effect of the flipped classroom. The findings of this study provide valuable insights for enriching the teaching management theory of the flipped classroom, helping teachers enhance their management abilities in implementing the flipped classroom, and facilitating convenient teaching and learning experiences for both teachers and students in information technology.
A Study of the Impact of the Application of Digital Technology-Integrated Entrepreneurship Education on Entrepreneurship and Entrepreneurial Performance
Authors: Hsieh Hsin-Ming , Maritz Alex
Published: October 2023

Under the condition of a perfect digital technology environment, teachers receive richer teaching resources to enhance their teaching ability, improve their teaching quality, and enrich their teaching content. Teachers teaching with computers could enhance students’ learning motivation, reinforce peer cooperation, train students’ autonomy, and enhance students’ subject learning ability. Delivering vivid sounds and pictures through multimedia- assisted teaching could induce students’ learning interests and further promote learning effectiveness. Using an experimental design model for the experimental research, 206 college students in Taiwan Province, as the experimental objects, are preceded by the 16-week (total 48 hours) digital technology-integrated entrepreneurship education experiment. Research findings show the following: 1. Teachers, according to students’ learning satisfaction, check students’ learning effectiveness to ensure teaching quality and timely modify teaching styles to better match students’ learning needs. The benign interaction could largely assist in the improvement of the entire educational environment. 2. The application of digital technology in integrated entrepreneurship education reveals significantly positive effects on entrepreneurship and entrepreneurial performance. According to the results of the proposed discussions, it is expected to acquire more information about entrepreneurship education and its relevance in order to provide entrepreneurship education and the related promotion units and people with practice directions and suggestions for practicable and proper entrepreneurship education in order to effectively implement the ideal and objective of entrepreneurship education.
Virtual Reality and Augmented Reality for Immersive Learning: A Framework of Education Environment Design
Authors: Yang Biqin
Published: October 2023

The technologies of virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR) have developed fast in recent years and have been applied in various scenarios, including the field of education. Now educators attempt to make use of these new technologies to create an immersive learning environment (ILE) for students, in the hopes of helping them improve learning efficiency and quality. Currently, available research on the design and optimization of ILE focus on how to introduce teaching content into the 3D environment and improve user experience, while a series of problems are still pending for solutions, such as how to arrange the layout in multi-dimensional space, how to optimize the vision in immersive environment based on edge strategy, and how to improve image quality using panoramic-view specific-region super-resolution (PSS) algorithms that use non-local feature fusion. In view of these matters, this study proposed a novel method for the design and optimization of an ILE. At first, problems of how to create a visual layout of network topology in the ILE, how to arrange the layout based on the advantages of different-dimensional spaces in scenes, and how to carry out visual optimization combined with the edge strategy were discussed in detail. Then, a new PSS algorithm that utilizes non-local feature fusion was proposed, and the functioning of the multi-scale non-local feature fusion module and the specific structure of the high-solution network were introduced in detail. The findings of this study could provide useful theoretical evidences and practical guidance for the design and optimization of ILE, giving new possibilities for improving the effect of ILE and enhancing user experience.
Classification and Retrieval of Multimedia Audio Learning Resources
Authors: Zhang Wenwen
Published: October 2023

With the development of the Internet and new media, multimedia and audio learning resources have been widely used in teaching and learning. However, their classification and retrieval have become important and urgent issues to be addressed. This study conducted in-depth research on the classification system, construction, and retrieval of multimedia audio learning resources, with the aim of solving several problems with existing research methods, such as timeconsuming manual labeling, inconsistent labeling, and traditional retrieval methods neglecting the correlation between audio and metadata. First, a classification model of audio learning resources was constructed. It processed single-mode data from audios and annotated texts and further abstracted the single-mode information into high-level feature vectors. Then the complementarity between multi-modalities was used to fuse the abstract features or decisionmaking results and eliminate information redundancy between modalities, thereby learning a better feature representation of multimedia audio learning resources. Second, a retrieval method for the resources based on self-similarity matrix filtering was proposed, which aimed to improve the accuracy and efficiency of retrieval. This study provides a new theoretical and practical perspective for classifying and retrieving multimedia audio learning resources.
Sorciérologie et (de la) hantise : de Cathy à PJ
Authors: Viguier Emma
Published: October 2023

J’ai toujours considéré Kate Bush comme mon Hécate et PJ Harvey comme ma Circé…, fantasmées. De l’une à l’autre, ce sont des magiciennes et des sorcières que je souhaiterais considérer, ou plutôt leur devenir, dans une « expérience de recherche » qui prend ces femmes-artistes comme matières à œuvrer, à penser. Il me plaît alors de les relier à l’aune de la sorciérologie et de la hantise – voire d’une sorciérologie de la hantise. À travers elles et leur appétence à l’obscur, au magique, à la transgression, au secret, j’aimerais dessiner un chemin où la création, le texte, le son, le corps, la voix, l’image, la présence, mais aussi la liberté, la résistance, l’empowerment, forment une praxis féminine, sans concession, où les sortilèges opèrent.
Subsea Chemical Injection Pump. an Intensive Qualification Program
Authors: Esquiva I. , Rondon M. , Garcia F. , Thorkildsen B. , Folkner S. , Borosch D.
Published: October 2023

The objective of this research and development program is to qualify for 3000 mWD the chemical injection pump, one of the main key components of the subsea chemical storage and injection station (SCS&I). The development of the SCS&I system responds to the need to develop oil and gas reservoirs at deeper water depths and further distances from host or from shore and to reduce CAPEX and GHG released associated.

Indeed, one of the high CAPEX of a subsea project and a weak point during operation is the umbilical chemical lines. Storing the chemicals close to the wells will reduce the umbilical cross section and cost and avoid plugging of those lines. The development of the SCS&I is an enabler for "all electrical" simplified architecture, reducing both costs and GHG emissions. This qualification is a first for a high dosage chemical pump under subsea environmental conditions.

The HAMPRO® 70V injection pump from Hammelmann was selected as the most promising pump for marinization and qualification for 3000 mWD. Its big advantage is that the contact between the oil used for lubrication and cooling of the pump and motor is separated from the chemical pumped fluid by sealed bellows. The other advantage is that its duty allows the injection of high rate, batch injected chemical products like methanol, and at the same time its design allows reducing the piston diameters and stroke giving the flexibility to inject low dosage chemical products.

The pump has been modified for its marinization. For installation subsea, it is capital to ensure its robustness regarding the high external pressure and discharge pressure, but also reliability of the chemically exposed parts, the pump and motor rotating parts and the impact of lubricant performance, the reliability of the electrical components and finally the impact of transient behaviors on the pressure compensation system.

To assure all these aspects, a complete R&D qualification program has been launched. This program includes short term batch operation with high flow rate and high differential pressure, long term continuous operation with low or high differential pressure and finally, transient operation with large variation in differential pressure but also different strokes imposed to the pump. The program is to be completed with a hyperbaric performance test and specific endurance tests performed to ensure the bellows robustness.

For endurance testing, the pumps have already been running for more than 2000 hours. This paper will describe the main findings and support the qualification required for subsea use.
Perturbative-Integro-Differential Solution for Permeability Hysteresis Modeling with Transient Compaction Effects Caused by Pores Collapse and Reservoir Depletion
Authors: Fernandes Fernando Bastos , Braga Arthur M. B. , Soares Antônio C. , Rezende Fernando H. G.
Published: October 2023

The impact of the mechanical formation damage in the production curve caused by the unsteady-state permeability hysteresis in pressure-sensitive reservoirs has an important role in oilfield developments. Hence, the petroleum industry has continuously sought new analytical approaches to provide adequate well-reservoir performance management and surveillance. This work proposes a new unsteady-state two-dimensional (2-D) analytical solution for modeling the oil flow in a permeability hysteretic pressure-dependent reservoir during alternating loading/unloading cycles. The nonlinear hydraulic diffusivity equation (NHDE) is perturbed through a first-order asymptotic series expansion. The reservoir engineering literature shows that this first-order expansion represents satisfactory the magnitude of the nonlinear phenomena regarding pressure-sensitive rock and fluid properties. A new hysteretic deviation factor is presented for flow (drawdown) and buildup periods. The model calibration is performed by a porous media numerical oil flow simulator named CMG IMEX, which is broadly used in formation evaluation and reservoir engineering literature. The results presented high accuracy for the drawdown and buildup of hysteretic and non-hysteretic cases. The practical uses of the model developed in this work are related to identifying flow regimes and hysteresis responses in pressure-sensitive reservoirs, estimating buildup pressure, and oil flow rates specification to prevent severe hysteretic behavior and history matching during reservoir surveillance.
Making Available High Resolution UT Technology for Subsea Wall Thickness Scans
Authors: Oliveira Nathan , Rincon Pedro , Chittenden Paul , Kenny Stuart , Monnerat Marcio
Published: October 2023

High resolution thickness mapping is a widely accepted method for fitness for service inspection and provides a permanent and quantitative record for remaining life assessment and through periodic campaigns can be used for comparative analysis.

Subsea infrastructure introduces many challenges for inspection delivery and although robotic systems have been readily accepted, traditional methods of ultrasonic thickness reading is not possible through a large range of subsea coatings.

In 2017, a major Oil Company started a collaboration with a subsea inspection service specialist to investigate the plausibility of Acoustic Resonance Technology (ART) on its insulated pipeline inventory. Having recognized the potential impact this technology could have in the subsea integrity process, the company supported the commercialization of this technology with the subsea service provider in 2020 and since then the method has continued to evolve.

Nowadays in 2023, acoustic resonance technology is becoming rapidly recognized for the first-choice method for insulated and coated piping for subsea infrastructure. It provides fully quantitative information, is radiation free and can collect large areas of data points extremely quickly.

The paper will explain the timeline of technology evolution from initial concept, lab tests and successful field trials. It will describe the method that was applied, how the signal processing and software algorithms determine resonance as a wall thickness and provide practical examples of the benefits of this method. It will talk about the different coatings that are typical for subsea applications and describe how the new acoustic resonance technology can eliminate the requirement to remove this coating or deploy a less productive and sometimes challenging radiographic method.
ECA of Girth Welds for Deepwater HPHT Flowline with Lateral Buckle Mitigation
Authors: Bai Q. , Brunner M. S. , Tainsh J. , Wang L.
Published: October 2023

An Engineering Critical Assessment (ECA) for reeled subsea high-pressure and high-temperature (HPHT) flowlines includes fatigue and fracture assessments of the girth welds for the reeling, installation, and in-service phases. The in-service ECA phase requires input from an in-place assessment of the flowline under different loads. The fracture loads are often provided in terms of longitudinal peak strain to minimize inaccuracies due to different tensile properties used in the in-place and fracture assessments. Typically, a stress-strain curve with higher yield strength and ultimate tensile strength is used in the ECA (even under load control), so using strain to transfer loads from an in-place analysis model to ECA guarantees conservatism. However, applying an incorrect strain definition, such as the total strain (sum of elastic, plastic, and thermal strains) instead of the total mechanical strain (sum of elastic and plastic strains) as per industry standards, can result in incorrect flaw acceptance criteria.

For an HPHT flowline with lateral buckling (LB), the thermal strain along the line is influenced by the temperature distribution. Where axial displacement is restricted, this thermal strain will induce axial forces, and thus mechanical strains and stresses. Different patterns of mechanical strains may be induced, depending on the boundary conditions. It is difficult to clearly explain the relationship between thermal strain and mechanical strain for a flowline with lateral buckling. To demonstrate this relationship, a simplified one-dimensional flowline under different boundary conditions and frictional resistances is first studied, followed by a finite element (FE) analysis of a flowline with a sleeper under lateral buckling, to show the relationship between stresses and various strains.

The analysis results show that the longitudinal mechanical strain is induced by the thermal strain when restricting the pipeline movement by means of boundary conditions, i.e., frictional resistance between the flowline and seabed, or other externally applied loads. The effect of the thermal strain is already captured in the mechanical strain, so does not need to be added again before converting the longitudinal strain into the longitudinal stress for use in an ECA.

To summarize, this paper demonstrates by means of practical ECA and other examples that the longitudinal mechanical strain should be converted into the longitudinal stress when accounting for in-service fracture events in the ECA. Instead of the longitudinal total (elastic plus plastic plus thermal) strain provided by FEA software, the longitudinal mechanical strain (elastic plus plastic) should be used in the fracture assessment, which is part of an in-place ECA. Adding thermal strain into the mechanical strain again before converting to stress will lead to incorrect results and can lead to unnecessary weld cut-outs and repairs.
Pore Size Distribution from Nuclear Magnetic Resonance: A Comparison Between LWD and Wireline Estimations
Authors: Salazar J. P. , Borri J.
Published: October 2023

Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR) experiments measure the response of the hydrogen nuclei after perturbed by an external magnetic field. This response consists in the relaxation of the total hydrogen magnetization, which is related with the exponential decay occurring in each pore size. Usually, the Laplace Inverse Transform is used to transform this time decay to a T2 distribution, which represents how is the relaxation inside the pore space and is commonly used in the oil and gas industry to get important petrophysical rock properties, such as total and effective porosity, fluid distribution and rock permeability. The estimation of these rock properties is independent of lithology.

The mentioned relaxation of the magnetization occurs for three different mechanisms: interaction of the hydrogen nucleus with the pore surface, interaction between the hydrogen nucleus between them and diffusion in a magnetic field gradient. The biggest contribution to the relaxation in porous media is due to interaction with the pore surface. For this reason, the T2 distribution can be related with the pore size distribution inside the rock.

This paper presents the results of calculating the pore size distribution from NMR data obtained through Logging While Drilling (LWD) and wireline technologies. It is shown the complete workflow, including the saturation calculation used to extract the hydrocarbon and/or filtrate signals from the T2 distribution. A comparison between both results is performed, showing similarities and differences of both procedures.
Offshore Exploration in the Argentine Sea
Authors: Arismendi S. M. , Bolatti N. D. , Coenes V. E. , Astengo D. M. , Peirotti E. M. , Kress P. R.
Published: October 2023

The Argentine Sea is one of the largest and less explored regions of the planet. It has a potential of billions of barrels of oil to be investigated. The country's great challenge is to verify and develop this potential in the framework of narrow transitions to alternative energies and decarbonization. For unlocking this hydrocarbon potential, a Play Analysis methodology was applied to the entire Argentinian margin. The large volume of resources detected (+30.000 MBOE) is now being associated with scientific evidence related to the opening of the south Atlantic and recent discoveries on the conjugate south African margin. Besides, a series of actions such as intensive 2D seismic acquisition in deep waters, oceanographic surveys, and the extension of the limit of the continental platform, allowed the country to launch in 2019 its first exploration bidding round since the 1960's. The bidding round was a success in terms of Major energy companies’ interest and investment, ending with the granting of 18 exploration permits. Commitments assumed by companies in these exploration areas are mainly the acquisition of seismic data during a first exploration period. Then, a drill or drop decision must be made to pass to a second period. However, recent changes in Regulations for environmental permits, together with a greater social environmental awareness, led YPF as the National Oil Company, to develop diffusion activities to get the social license to operate. One of the requirements that new regulations introduced, are mandatory public hearings to find out the opinion of the society for each offshore activity. In the first offshore public hearing, only 3% of participants supported the activity but, after strong diffusion effort, the following public hearing registered a 63% of approval. This new context shows that environmental and social demands are a new challenge for the offshore oil & gas activities within the framework of energy transitions and carbon neutrality. It is a priority to respond the concerns of society and demonstrate that the activity could fit in the transition while generating and developing jobs, industries, technical and scientific knowledge, and favorably impacting the economic and social fabric of the country.