bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
An Integrated WAG Characterization Study for an Offshore Oilfield
Authors: Vieira Raphael A. M. , Cardoso Marco Antônio , Pizarro Jorge O. S.
Published: October 2019

Water-Alternating-Gas (WAG) injection is an enhanced recovery method that is being applied in some brazilian offshore oilfields as an alternative to combine effective pressure maintenance policies, flexible produced gas management strategies and increased recoveries. In this technology, gas plays the role of reducing residual oil saturation while water controls, by multiphase flow-in-porous-medium effects, gas adverse mobility.

In addition to the extra engineering tasks needed to design development plans and production facilities, an intense characterization programme should be put in practice in order to reduce risks, increase predictability and optimize WAG floods. Much more complex laboratory tests than the ones usually performed for continuous water/gas floods should be done, particularly to tackle multiphase flow in porous medium phenomena. The proper characterization, modeling and simulation of these effects are vital for a representative WAG design and evaluation.

This paper presents the results of a pragmatic and integrated laboratory characterization, modeling and simulation study for an offshore oilfield that was focused on relative permeability hysteresis effects.

Firstly, it summarizes the best relative permeability hysteresis model (Larsen & Skauge) available in most commercial reservoir simulators. Then, it describes a special laboratory WAG multiphase flow-in-porous-media characterization program, designed and executed to obtain the parameters of this hysteresis model. Experiments were done at reservoir conditions and with rock and fluids from an actual offshore field. Following, results of these tests were evaluated in light of Larsen & Skauge model, in order to confirm its validity. Finally, WAG simulations of a sector of the target field were performed to access the impacts of including or neglecting relative permeability hysteresis phenomena.

Conclusions of this work contribute to increase predictability and reduce uncertainties related to field-scale implementation of WAG technology. Knowledge acquired from this study promoted a better estimation of oil recovery, gas production and overriding. It also supports the design of subsea and topside equipment, which is critical in the offshore scenario.
Discovering Patterns within the Drilling Reports using Artificial Intelligence for Operation Monitoring
Authors: Colombo Danilo , Pedronette Daniel Carlos Guimarães , Guilherme Ivan Rizzo , Papa João Paulo , Ribeiro Luiz Carlos Felix , Sugi Afonso Luis Claudio , Presotto João Gabriel Camacho , Sousa Gustavo José
Published: October 2019

In well drilling activities, the execution of a sequence of operations defined in a well project is a central task. In order to provide proper monitoring, the operations executed during the drilling procedures are reported in Daily Drilling Reports (DDRs). Technologies capable of assisting the fulfillment of such reports represent valuable contributions. An approach using Machine Learning and Sequence Mining algorithms is proposed for predicting the next operation and classifying it based on textual descriptions.

Nowadays, artificial intelligence (AI) applications play a key role in digital transformation process and is a very broad area, with various branches. Machine Learning techniques provide systems the ability to automatically learn and improve from experience without explicit instructions. Sequence Mining can be broadly defined as the task of finding statistical relevant patterns between samples modeled in a sequence. In our approach, the operations reported in DDRs are analyzed by Sequence Mining algorithms for predicting the next operation, whereas Machine Learning methods are used for automatically classifying the operations according to predefined ontologies based on textual descriptions.

The proposed approach was experimentally validated using a real-world dataset composed of drilling reports with approximately 90K entries. Various sequence prediction algorithms are considered, more specifically: CPT+(Compact Prediction Tree+), DG (Dependency Graph), AKOM (All-k Order Markov), LZ78, PPM (Prediction by Partial Matching), and TDAG (Transitional Directed Acyclic Graph). For the classification tasks, approaches based on word embeddings and CRF (Conditional Random Fields) are exploited. Experimental results achieved high-accurate results, of 89% for the classification task. The promising results indicate that such strategies can be successfully exploited in the evaluated scenarios. Additionally, the positive results also encourage the investigation of its use in other oil and gas applications, since the reports organized through chronological order consists of a common scenario.

The main contribution to the oil and gas industry consists of using artificial intelligence strategies in tasks associated with DDRs, saving human efforts and improving operational efficiency. Although the Sequence Mining and Machine Learning algorithms have been extensively used in different applications, the novelty of our work consists in the use of such approaches on the tasks of extracting useful information from the DDRs.
Atlanta Field Development - Present and Future
Authors: Sergio Rocha Paulo , de Oliveira Goulart Roberto , Kawathekar Satyajeet , Dotta Raul
Published: October 2019

Heavy oil represents a significant portion of the remaining oil reserves and there are strong economic incentives within industry to develop technologies to profitably produce these oil reserves. The success of Early Production System phase (EPS) and Definitive System (DS) solutions for Atlanta Field development certainly presents a promising way forward to achieve a safe production of extra-heavy oil in deep waters.

As the Operator, Enauta made the farm-in of Atlanta Field in 2011. Atlanta is a heavy oil field with 14°API grade with viscosity equivalent of an oil with 12°API, a shallow reservoir around 800 meters below sea bed with low temperature of 40°C and water deep around 1,550 m. Heavy oils are often characterized by their high viscosities, stable emulsion formation tendency and low reservoir energy. These combined characteristics makes production, transportation and processing operations very challenging. Likewise, the Atlanta crude imposes enormous challenges for the characterization of the reservoir, drilling and completion, flow assurance from the wells to FPSO, topsides process ing (phase separation, heat and power generation methods) and cargo storage as well as offloading from the FPSO to tankers.

This paper describes EPS implementation and DS development to overcome these project challenges with the use of the best available technical solutions and approaches to keep production safe and profitable, focused on the specifics strategies to overcome flow assurance challenges, techniques employed for the fluid viscosity management and emulsion breaking, techniques to enhance phase separation, heat and power generation methods and fuel alternatives to optimize OPEX and various design features to reduce atmospheric emissions.

Production aspects will also be described from the solution adopted for the oil processing and offloading for the EPS FPSO as well as the DS "flex-FPSO" concept to enable oil production using alternative fuels, bearing in mind CAPEX/OPEX optimization, operational flexibility, robustness and ever tightening environmental regulations.

To ensure safe operations, different contingency plans have been implemented, like this innovative solution: a software developed and tested offshore to reliably predict the drift (SW-Drift) of the drilling ship for both forecast and real-time metocean data, to accurately determine the conditions under which a support vessel shall be aware in advance to avoid collision of the drilling ship caused by a possible blackout event.

The Atlanta Field development presents a successful real case to the Oil Industry to be considered in similar difficult oil and project conditions.
Gas to Wire as an Alternative to Natural Gas Monetization of the Pre-Salt Province in Brazil
Authors: Lima Mota de Lucas , Santos Baleeiro Diogo , Peixoto Cortez Breno
Published: October 2019

In a global context of an irreversible trend of decarbonization of the economy, natural gas plays a prominent role in the global commitment to reduce carbon indices, and its exploration will contribute to the transition of the world's electric and energy matrix. Brazil has enormous potential when it comes to natural gas, particularly in the pre-salt province, which is considered to be the largest oil discovery in the Southern Hemisphere in the last thirty years. If on the one hand, the pre-salt has a great potential for natural gas production, on the other, there are enormous technological and logistical challenges to enable the commercial use and monetization of this gas produced. In this context, the present work proposes to present a contribution to the study of the use of Gas to Wire (GTW) as a technological alternative for the use and monetization of the natural gas from pre-salt province. For that, a review of the specialized literature, including specific periodic data in O&G, and an economic evaluation of the use of GTW in the pre-salt province were carried out, comparing it with the concept of a GTW plant in an onshore environment. In an optimistic production scenario, and even with the expected expansion of the pre-salt gas flow line routes, the difference between the natural gas produced and the injected, burnt gas, used in the offshore site and outflow facilities, will be positive at 15 MMm3/day and will cause operators to seek alternatives for valuation of this resource, since if commercial use is not viable, operators will simply have to paralyze the development and production of their fields, whereas pre-salt natural gas is generally associated with oil. The GTW emerges an alternative technology for the utilization and monetization of natural gas across the inflexibility of gas production not associated with the pre-salt fields. The economic costs for deploying an offshore GTW system and the level of energy cost aiming the use of pre-salt natural gas were competitive accounting for 84% to 91% of the costs of generating a GTW plant in an onshore environment. The case study demonstrates that the concept of GTW can be economically viable, with limitations, such as technological alternative for the utilization and monetization of natural gas across the inflexibility of gas production not associated with the pre-salt fields.
Abandoned Well Monitoring System with Wet Christmas Tree
Authors: Eduardo Gonzales Panta Pedro , Campos Furtado Rafaela , Roberto Moreira José
Published: October 2019

This paper approaches the challenges of temporarily abandoned well monitoring with wet christmas tree (WCT), analyzes the regulatory requirements, the Brazilian scenario and proposes a new methodology system to checking the two Well Safety Barriers (WSB) integrity as required by the ANP (Petroleum National Agency, the regulatory institution in Brazil) resolution nO46/2016. So, the system is compared with other monitoring alternatives, even economically, namely: using rigs or plugging and abandonment. A system is presented that allow the monitoring by means of WCT chamber pressurization or depressurization, hydrocarbons detection, leak measuring by control valves, measuring the WTC chambers pressure, collecting the probable hydrocarbons in a safety way and, and if required, actuating some WTC valves. The control valves and WTC chambers are accessed by the Vertical Connection Module (VCM) mandrel where a modified abandonment cap will be installed with a Control Module on the top. An isolation valve is installed in the Control Module, as a WSB redundancy. The monitoring system avoids the use of expensive intervention rigs and allow the indefinite postponement of plugging and abandonment, entailing sensible economic gains. In addition, the control module installation is made along with the abandonment cap, therefore, no additional cost is required. Another main issue is that the control module monitoring not entails significative impact in the time of well inspection routine. Besides fulfills the legal requirement, the monitoring system provides safety in operations and economic gains when compared to other alternatives. The proposed system patent has been deposited in Brazil. The economy and safety offered by the monitoring system doesn´t have similarities to the existing methodologies in the international market. However, it will be necessary a test prototype to develop.
Depth Imaging of Complex Geological Structures using the RTM Technique in Order to Reduce Exploration Costs
Authors: Xavier Mitchel Wagner
Published: October 2019

This work aims to perform a comparison of depth imaging results using values not commonly used for source and receiver intervals to prove that it is possible to obtain good results, in terms of the quality of seismic sections, with less data, which can significantly reduce petroleum exploration costs. Bidimensional acoustic modeling with a finite difference scheme was applied to a slice of the 3D SEG/EAGE Overthrust model to generate the synthetic seismograms. These seismograms were generated comparing 25 m for shot and receiver intervals, which is a common interval for a seismic acquisition process, with 200 m for shot and receiver intervals, which is not a common value. A reverse time migration (RTM) technique was applied to perform the depth migration of the generated pre-stack seismic data, and the migrated shots were stacked to create the seismic section. In addition, suggestions related to seismic illumination studies and visibility analyses are discussed to improve the results and to contribute to exploration and production (E&P) cost reduction. In these cases, the SEG/EAGE Salt Dome model and the Sigsbee model from the SMAART JV project were used to illustrate the discussion.
Innovative Gas Treatment Solutions for Offshore Systems
Authors: Touma Sílvia Lima , Vaz Juliana Casaccia , De Almeida Rego Frederico Carvalho , Barros Vinícius Airão , Do Nascimento Jailton Ferreira , Amaral Marcelo da Costa , De Miranda Costa Eduardo Conde , De Souza André Felipe Ferreira
Published: October 2019

Libra Area has presented gas/oil ratio (GOR) and CO2 content higher than the typically found in other Pre-Salt fields. These characteristics can significantly increase the size and complexity of the gas processing plant (GPP), especially in gas export scenarios. More efficient gas treatment technologies and with the ability to handle high CO2 levels need to be developed to reduce footprint and weight, improving oil plant capacity. This paper presents two membrane technologies selected for evaluation: Carbon Molecular Sieve (CMS), a partnership with Shell focused on CO2 removal, and All Membrane Solution (AMSTM), a commercial Air Liquide solution that can optimize the GPP layout by replacing conventional processes used for contaminants removal. AMS aims to remove, not only CO2, but also other contaminants such as H2S, H2O, and heavy hydrocarbons. Both technologies promise to lower the CAPEX and OPEX while increasing the oil production capacity, leading to more economically attractive projects. The demonstrations will be carried out at Atalaia Experimental Nucleus (NEAT), which is a Petrobras’ center for gas technology assessment, located in Aracaju city, Brazil. Pilot-scale skids operating under Libra typical gas conditions will be used for technology assessment. CMS and AMS will be tested sequentially, the former expected to start in the second half of 2019 and the latter in the first half of 2020. For CMS technology, further tests on an industrial-scale prototype will still be needed afterwards, whereas for AMS, due to its higher technology readiness level (TRL), it is expected that it can be implemented just after the demonstration.
Parametric Assessment of the Buoy for Supporting Lines BSL Applied to Large FPSOs
Authors: Asgari Peyman , Fernandes Antonio Carlos , Sales Jr. Joel Sena , Thurler Ana Clara , Vilela Alexandre Mattar , Araujo Jairo Bastos
Published: October 2019

An innovative Oil Loading Terminal (OLT) system was recently developed to attend FPSOs (Floating, Production, Storage and Offloading) units up to 250.000 barrels/ day of oil production and operating in deep waters. This OLT allows offloading operations from the FPSOs onto Very Large Crude Carriers (VLCC) shuttle tankers moored in a Single Point Mooring Buoy type usually called CALM Buoy. The heart of this OLT concept is a tether anchored subsurface buoy - named BSL (Buoy for Supporting Lines) - application to support the submerged Oil Offloading Lines OOL segments between the FPSO and CALM Buoy. The BSL presence de-couples the motions of the two floating bodies. As a result, the OOLs loads and fatigue efforts also decrease on all connections. The fact is the submerged BSL will decrease the wave's impact on the design. It is important to recognize that all components are field proven and installable as described in [4]. The scope of this paper is to evaluate some different arrangement of the OLT submerged components to assess the level of influence of each one.

This work will perform a parametric assessment of the main geometric and inertial characteristics of each component seeking consequences on the static and dynamic tensions in hot spots and the fatigue life on the main components. The first aspect to watch is related to the relative and total horizontal distances between the FPSO, BSL and CALM Buoy. The other is the depth of the BSL, followed by the floater length in both branches of the flexible lines. Geometries were tested in Santos basin, Brazil (2200m water depth). For each case an economic quantification is performed, since the best economic result may not coincide with the best tension and fatigue life.

The proposed OLT should allow the employment of conventional tankers, either Suezmaxes or VLCCs, connected onto the FPSO via a CB and a BSL plus OOLs, by placing the largest fraction of the OOLs weight supported by the FPSO and BSL. The sections of the OOLs between the BSL and the FPSO can be of either steel or flexible; or even a combination of both.

The use of BSL conception for the Brazilian offshore pre-salt area is in fact a reliable, safe and robust system when compared with the FPSO tandem offloading or the complementary Ship-to-Ship oil transfers.
Predictive Data Mining Techniques for Economic Evaluation of Unconventional Resources: The Tight Gas of Argentina
Authors: Cervantes Bravo Reynaldo José , Jimenez Nieves Edgar , Arcaya Arhuata Ludmer
Published: October 2019

Tight gas reservoir has potential to provide a significant contribution to meet the global energy demand. Unconventional resource plays and in particular tight gas reservoir are generally characterized by lower geologic risk but higher commercial risk. For that reason, a precise understanding of the potential range can lead to the commercial success; this weighs on the economic evaluation process.

The cutting-edge method "Technical Datamining" (DM), use artificial intelligence, statists, and algorithm of learning machines to accomplish new knowledge of clustering and predictive types. Neural networks-DM are computational models that have been used in different research fields with outstanding results. Thus, models of temporal series are pursued to develop to achieve reliable estimations of the main economic indexes: NPV, IRR, Payout and investment performance in the high-risk Oil & Gas portfolios, in particular economic evaluation of unconventional/Tight Gas resources, which is our concern. Neural networks learn from experience and errors: when more wells of the investment's portfolios are added, the experience will improve.

The process of knowledge improvement begins with the extraction, transformation and loading data to the collection of the resultant model and its analysis. This involves an exhaustive work with the exploration and evaluation with the behavior of independent variables (Capex, Opex, Reserves, Gas Price and Time), the outliers, the normalization, variability and the distributions. Furthermore, it is vital to maintain a complex and extensive training of the neural network model with different parameters and iterations, using the previous experience's expert. Our study has 4 years and a monthly seasonality for processing the data in the search to optimize decision making.

The model application will be developed in the sectoral block of the Lajas Formation of the Neuquén Basin, with six wells in production, the GOIS value above 3000 MMm3 and the current recover factor estimated in 19 %. In addition to this, are expected the incorporation of new wells to the block to increase the recovery factor above 35 % and thus improve the return on investment (NPV / Investment). Finally, the construction of neural network model will provide predictive values more precisely through a time series using 80 % focusing on tasks for training and 20% for testing, with minor errors of 5 %.

Extracting hidden knowledge or information not trivial of dataset to be used in making decision. Discovery of unknown models [1][2] in order to discover meaningful patterns and rules [3].
A Study of Helicopter Landing Behavior on Small Ships
Authors: Tuttle Roy M.
Published: October 2019

The Navy LAMPS (Light Airborne Multipurpose System) mission requires operation of the helicopter from the small landing platform of nonaviation ships in moderately high seas. The problem of landing the helicopter in this environment is explored here in the context of the development
and substantiation program for the landing gear of the SH‐ 2F, LAMPS MK‐I, helicopter. The discussion covers the dynamic landing analysis program employed, the program of instrumented landings conducted on level and sloped ground, the correlation
of analysis and experiment in these landings and the application of the analysis to landings on moving decks. The influence of various parameters peculiar to these landings is shown.
Validity and reliability study of the Turkish version of SACRAH (Score for Assessment and quantification of Chronic Rheumatic Affections of the Hands)
Authors: Tore N.G. , Sari F. , Tuna Z. , Varan O. , Babaoglu H. , Goker B. , Oskay D.
Published: October 2019

Rheumatic diseases cause deformities in the hands and affect daily living activities. Therefore, assessment of hand disabilities is important in rheumatic disease. The aim of this study was to test the validity and reliability of the Turkish version of the A Score For Assessment and Quantification of Chronic Rheumatic Affections of the Hands (SACRAH). A translation and back-translation of the SACRAH were performed, according to the Beaton guidelines. Patients who were between 18-65 years old, who were literate in Turkish, who had rheumatic disease diagnosis and whose hands were affected, were included in the study. Patients who were using a splint during daytime were excluded from the study. They completed the Turkish version of Disabilities of the Arm, Shoulder and Hand Questionnaire (DASH-T) once and the final version of the SACRAH Questionnaire twice with a 7 days’ interval. The internal consistency (Cronbach’s α) and reliability (test-retest reliability) of the questionnaire were assessed. Besides, correlations between SACRAH and DASH-T scores were analyzed using the Spearman correlation coefficient. One hundred and twenty patients participated in the study. The Turkish version of the SACRAH met set criteria of reliability and validity. Internal consistency was excellent (Cronbach’s α=0.88) and test-retest reliability were very good (r=0.73). SACRAH showed a positive and statistically significant correlation with DASH-T scores (r=0.83, p<0.001). Our results show that the Turkish version of the SACRAH has excellent test-retest reliability and validity. As a result of this study we determined that SACRAH is a valid and reliable instrument for assessing functional status and subjective manual function in Turkish-speaking patients.
Prevalence of low back pain and its effect on health-related quality of life in 409 scholar adolescents from the Veneto region
Authors: Galozzi P. , Maghini I. , Bakdounes L. , Ferlito E. , Lazzari V. , Ermani M. , Chia M. , Gatti D. , Masiero S. , Punzi L.
Published: October 2019

Low back pain (LBP) is a common condition with profound effects on well-being. We aimed to define the prevalence and the characteristics of LBP and to investigate its impact on the quality of life (QoL) of 409 students (265 females and 144 males), all high-school adolescents from the Veneto region. LBP was measured with a structured, self-report questionnaire, while the SF-36 questionnaire was used to measure physical and mental QoL. 253 students (61.3%) reported one or more episodes of LBP, with female predominance. Adolescents with LBP treated with drugs and rehabilitation cares have significantly poor belief in pain resolution (p=0.005), but more belief in a prevention program (p=0.006) than the others. After adjustment for sex, a significant association between the SF-36 dimension of vitality and the presence of LBP in males was observed. All SF-36 domains except mental health were significantly higher in females with LBP. Our study conﬁrmed that LBP is frequent in Italian scholar adolescents and has an impact on QoL. Strategies for reducing the effects of LBP on QoL should be an important purpose for clinicians and health policy makers.
A university’s response to people with disabilities in Worcester, Western Cape
Authors: Müller Jana V. , Ned Lieketseng , Boshoff Hananja
Published: October 2019

Background: The call for institutions of higher education to foster interaction with communities and ensure training is responsive to the needs of communities is well documented. In 2011, Stellenbosch University collaborated with the Worcester community to identify the needs of people with disabilities within the community. How the university was engaging with these identified needs through student training still needed to be determined.Objectives: This study describes the engagement process of reciprocity and responsivity in aligning needs identified by persons with disability to four undergraduate allied health student training programmes in Worcester, Western Cape.Method: A single case study using the participatory action research appraisal methods explored how undergraduate student service learning was responding to 21 needs previously identified in 2011 alongside persons with disability allowing for comprehensive feedback and a collaborative and coordinated response.Results: Students’ service learning activities addressed 14 of the 21 needs. Further collaborative dialogue resulted in re-grouping the needs into six themes accompanied by a planned collaborative response by both community and student learning to address all 21 needs previously identified.Conclusion: Undergraduate students’ service learning in communities has the potential to meet community identified needs especially when participatory action research strategies are implemented. Reciprocity exists when university and community co-engage to construct, reflect and adjust responsive service learning. This has the potential to create a collaborative environment and process in which trust, accountability, inclusion and communication is possible between the university and the community.
A critical study of Acts 6:1–3 and its implications for political restructuring in Nigeria
Authors: Ngele Omaka K. , Peters Prince E.
Published: October 2019

The nascent church in Jerusalem represented in Acts 6 verses 1–3 was promptly challenged by the problem of inequity and lack of fair play among the various stakeholders and such disaffection reached a situation of murmur and open agitation. This challenge to the apostles was a threat to the consolidation of the already established Christian community in Jerusalem and its spread to the whole world. Something must be done to arrest the situation or the Church runs the risk of disintegration. Having some moral lessons drawn from the pericope at the back of the mind, one notices that recently there has been a clamour by the different geopolitical groups in Nigeria to restructure the Nigerian political system. The clamour is based on the failed position of post-war federalism to give all parts of Nigeria’s pluralistic society a fair and equal representation which hitherto was meant to stop Nigeria from another civil war or the cry for cessation by one region or another. The church, as an impartial umpire in the art of politics, should, in the midst of the turmoil, serve as the conscience of the masses, pressing hard to the actualisation of the demands of the masses. The study, through historical-critical method of biblical scholarship with Form criticism, analysed that situation of agitation to inequality and gross misrepresentation in the book of Acts 6:1–3, pressing to offer vital lessons to Nigeria in her quest for political restructuring. It concluded by finding out that Nigeria’s pluralistic nature, when restructured, should be a catalyst for global vision attainment and sustainable development.
Neurodevelopment at 11 months after starting antiretroviral therapy within 3 weeks of life
Authors: Laughton Barbara , Naidoo Shalena , Dobbels Els F.M.T. , Boivin Michael J. , Janse van Rensburg Anita , Glashoff Richard H. , Van Zyl Gert U. , Kruger Mariana , Cotton Mark F.
Published: October 2019

Background: Antiretroviral therapy (ART) started between 7 and 12 weeks of age improves neurodevelopmental outcomes in HIV-infected (HIV+) infants, but the impact of even earlier initiation is not yet described.Objective:  We assessed the early neurodevelopment of HIV+ infants who started ART within 21 days of life. Methods: Participants were enrolled from the public sector birth HIV-diagnosis program. Inclusion criteria included: birth weight 2000g, infant commencing ART 6 weeks and no infant Cytomegalovirus disease. ART included Zidovudine/Lamivudine/Nevirapine for the first 2 weeks, the latter then replaced by Lopinavir/Ritonavir. Once body weight 3kg and gestational age 44 weeks, Abacavir replaced Zidovudine. The Griffiths Mental Development Scales (GMDS) were administered at 10-12 months.Results: Of 29 infants assessed, 23 (79%) were girls. Mean birth weight was 3002 ± 501g. Twenty-four mothers (83%) received ART during pregnancy. Seven (24%) infants were diagnosed HIV+ within 48 hours of birth. Median [IQR] viral load (VL) at diagnosis was 3904 [259;16922] copies/ml, age starting ART was 6.0 [3;10] days and age at VL suppression was 19.1 [15; 36] weeks. At the GMDS assessment nine (31%) participants had detectable VL and 26 (90%) had WHO clinical stage I disease. GMDS was performed at a mean age of 11.5±0.8 months. Mean quotients were within the average range: Global Griffiths score was 103.6±10.9 and mean quotients on the subscales ranged from lowest 95.9±13.4 for Locomotor to highest 112.8±11.3 for Hearing-and-language.Conclusion: Preliminary findings in this small group suggest that early neurodevelopmental scores are within the normal range in infants with perinatal HIV-infection who started ART at a median of 6 days.
Prevalence and Clinicopathological Significance of MET Overexpression and Gene Amplification in Patients with Gallbladder Carcinoma
Authors: Kim Yeseul , Bang Seong Sik , Jee Seungyun , Park Sungeon , Shin Su-Jin , Jang Kiseok
Published: October 2019

PurposeMesenchymal epithelial transition (MET) is a proto-oncogene that encodes a heterodimeric transmembrane receptor tyrosine kinase for the hepatocyte growth factor. Aberrant MET signaling has been described in several solid tumors—especially non-small cell lung cancer— and is associated with tumor progression and adverse prognosis. As MET is a potential therapeutic target, information regarding its prevalence and clinicopathological relevance is crucial.Materials and MethodsWe investigated MET expression and gene amplification in 113 gallbladder cancers using tissue microarray. Immunohistochemistry was used to evaluate MET overexpression, and silver/fluorescence in situ hybridization (ISH) was used to assess gene copy number.ResultsMET overexpression was found in 37 cases of gallbladder carcinoma (39.8%), and gene amplification was present in 17 cases (18.3%). MET protein expression did not correlate with MET amplification. MET amplification was significantly associated with aggressive clinicopathological features, including high histological grade, advanced pT category, lymph node metastasis, and advanced American Joint Committee on Cancer stage. There was no significant correlation between any clinicopathological factors and MET overexpression. No difference in survival was found with respect to MET overexpression and amplification status.ConclusionOur data suggested that MET might be a potential therapeutic target for targeted therapy in gallbladder cancer, because MET amplification was found in a subset of tumors associated with adverse prognostic factors. Detection of MET amplification by ISH might be a useful predictive biomarker test for anti-MET therapy.
Improving Value-Based Care Education in a Fellowship by Incorporating ACGME Competencies
Authors: Zanotti Kristine , Somasegar Sahana , Hooper Monica Webb , Hopp Elizabeth
Published: October 2019

Background

Most value-based care educational interventions teach knowledge of cost but fail to recognize the interrelatedness of the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME) competencies of medical knowledge, patient care, practice-based learning and improvement, and systems-based practice.

Objective

We analyzed the impact on clinical decision-making of an educational curriculum that incorporated the spectrum of ACGME competencies.

Methods

Five didactic sessions for a gynecologic oncology fellowship were modified to incorporate cost- and value-based care considerations for each clinical topic addressed. After discussion, the group of fellows identified 1 high-value and 5 low-value practices to target for improvement. The fellows then undertook a chart audit of clinical decisions occurring for patients seen in the outpatient clinics. The frequency of low- and high-value practices was compared before and after the educational intervention.

Results

A total of 126 patients with a cervical cancer diagnosis were seen by participants in the outpatient setting during the entire observation period. After the intervention, the occurrence of 3 identified low-value practices was reduced by 13% to 33%, demonstrating modest effect sizes (effect size φ = 0.2–0.3). One high-value practice (smoking cessation counseling) increased 100% after a fellow-initiated quality improvement project was undertaken. Two low-value practices, including routine surveillance imaging, remained unchanged.

Conclusions

Overlaying value-based concepts in didactic conference teaching resulted in measurable changes in decision-making behavior. Engaging learners in a subsequent, focused quality practice review served as a vital part of their educational experience and allowed us to assess learner competency in its practical application.
Costs and Benefits of Initial Certification for Emergency Medicine Residency Graduates
Authors: Baren Jill M. , Beeson Michael S. , Chudnofsky Carl R. , Goyal Deepi G. , Kowalenko Terry , Mallory Mary Nan S. , Heller Barry N. , Reisdorff Earl J.
Published: October 2019

Background

Graduates of emergency medicine residency programs can seek certification from the American Board of Emergency Medicine (ABEM), yet the costs and perceived value by residents is not clear.

Objective

This report sought to better define the value of board certification by asking physicians taking the ABEM Oral Certification Examination (OCE) to describe its costs (eg, time, money) and perceived benefits.

Methods

A descriptive, cross-sectional, voluntary, anonymous survey was administered to physicians taking the 2018 spring and fall ABEM OCEs. Response frequencies were used to report response rates.

Results

There were 2016 physicians who participated in the 2018 OCEs, of whom 1565 (78%) completed a survey. With respect to preparation, 38% (599 of 1565 responses) spent more than 30 hours preparing for the examination. Regarding the expense of preparing for the examination, 21% (328) spent nothing, 50% (776) spent less than $1,000, and 2% (38) spent more than $3,000. Most physicians (80%, 1254) reported a learning benefit to preparing for and taking the OCE. There were 49% (765) of respondents who reported that preparing for the examination reinforced their knowledge of emergency medicine; 20% (311) reported no learning benefit. Most physicians (92%, 1442) reported that ABEM certification provided a career benefit, the most common of which was more career opportunities (69%, 1076).

Conclusions

Initial certification requires a considerable investment of time and money. Physicians seeking initial ABEM certification found both learning and professional benefits, with the most frequently reported being reinforcement of medical knowledge and more career opportunities.
Detection of Residents With Progress Issues Using a Keyword–Specific Algorithm
Authors: Tremblay Gaby , Carmichael Pierre-Hugues , Maziade Jean , Grégoire Mireille
Published: October 2019

Background

The literature suggests that specific keywords included in summative rotation assessments might be an early indicator of abnormal progress or failure.

Objective

This study aims to determine the possible relationship between specific keywords on in-training evaluation reports (ITERs) and subsequent abnormal progress or failure. The goal is to create a functional algorithm to identify residents at risk of failure.

Methods

A database of all ITERs from all residents training in accredited programs at Université Laval between 2001 and 2013 was created. An instructional designer reviewed all ITERs and proposed terms associated with reinforcing and underperformance feedback. An algorithm based on these keywords was constructed by recursive partitioning using classification and regression tree methods. The developed algorithm was tuned to achieve 100% sensitivity while maximizing specificity.

Results

There were 41 618 ITERs for 3292 registered residents. Residents with failure to progress were detected for family medicine (6%, 67 of 1129) and 36 other specialties (4%, 78 of 2163), while the positive predictive values were 23.3% and 23.4%, respectively. The low positive predictive value may be a reflection of residents improving their performance after receiving feedback or a reluctance by supervisors to ascribe a “fail” or “in difficulty” score on the ITERs.

Conclusions

Classification and regression trees may be helpful to identify pertinent keywords and create an algorithm, which may be implemented in an electronic assessment system to detect future residents at risk of poor performance.
Reflexões sobre a produção de pesquisas pautadas na história oral em periódicos de estratos superiores na área da Educação Física
Authors: Oliveira Souza Maria Thereza , Vargas Pauline Iglesias , Capraro André Mendes
Published: October 2019

Ao discutirmos os artigos baseados nessa metodologia e publicados em revistas científicas próprias da Educação Física, observamos que as formas empregadas para se analisar as fontes orais se constituíam de maneira diferenciada em relação ao que nos acostumamos a encontrar em textos de outras áreas, principalmente no que tange o tratamento conceitual de memória e identidade. A fim de entender essas diferenças para além de uma breve constatação inicial, estabelecemos a seguinte pergunta norteadora: de que forma a metodologia de História Oral vem sendo utilizada nos artigos científicos publicados em revistas da área 21 (Educação Física) no Brasil? Concluímos que o modo de fazer pesquisas em História Oral na Educação Física guarda suas particularidades e essas devem impactar na nossa própria produção.
Contemporary Indonesian Fashion
Authors: Lopez y Royo Alessandra
Published: October 2019

Indonesian fashion has undergone a period of rapid growth over the last three decades. This book explores how through years of social, political, and cultural upheaval, the country’s fashion has moved away from “colonial fashion” and “national dress” to claim its own distinct identity as contemporary fashion in a global world.

With specific reference to women’s wear, Contemporary Indonesian Fashion explores the diversity and complexity of the country’s sartorial offerings, which weave together local textile traditions like batik and ikat-making with contemporary narratives. The book questions concepts of “tradition” and “modernity” in the developing world, taking stock of the elite consumption of luxury brands and the large-scale manufacturing of fast fashion, and introduces us to the rise of new trends such as busana muslim (or “modest wear”), creating a portrait of a vibrant and growing national and, increasingly, international, industry.

Exploring clothing in shopping malls, on the catwalk, in magazines, and online, the book examines how Indonesian fashion is made, presented, and consumed, combining research in Indonesia with analysis and personal reflection. Contemporary Indonesian Fashion ultimately questions the deeply entrenched eurocentrism of “global fashion”, simultaneously interrogating current homogenizing beauty and body image discourses posited as universal, by pointing to absences, silences, and erasures as reflected by contemporary Indonesian fashion— hence the “looking glass” of the title. Aptly illustrated, the book offers a new perspective on a rapidly developing new fashion capital, Jakarta.
The Third Realm of Luxury
Authors: Roberts Joanne , Armitage John
Published: October 2019

In a world that is obsessed with luxury, critical luxury studies is a rapidly emerging field. This is the first book to explore the interplay between the real and imaginary realms of luxury, considering the most significant developments in the theories and practices of luxurious places and spaces over the last fifty years.

Providing a critical approach to contemporary interpretations of luxury, the book interrogates the distinction between real places and imaginary spaces. Bringing together an interdisciplinary group of leading scholars, it features a range of case studies which take the reader from the Rolls-Royce Ghost Black Badge to expressions of sensuality in the 1970s domestic interior, and global conceptions of fine wine and art.

The Third Realm of Luxury considers the interplay between luxury and space in both the past and the present, examining the abstract conception of excess and exoticism, as well as the real locations of the home, hotel, apartment, and palace. Full of original research, it is a key contribution to the study of consumption, design, fashion, and architecture.
Bond Girls
Authors: Germanà Monica
Published: October 2019

Since Ursula Andress’s white-bikini debut in Dr No, ‘Bond Girls’ have been simultaneously celebrated as fashion icons and dismissed as ‘eye-candy’. But the visual glamour of the women of James Bond reveals more than the sexual objectification of female beauty. Through the original joint perspectives of body and fashion, this exciting study throws a new, subversive light on Bond Girls. Like Coco Chanel, fashion’s ‘eternal’ mademoiselle, these ‘Girls’ are synonymous with an unconventional and dynamic femininity that does not play by the rules and refuses to sit still; far from being the passive objects of the male gaze, Bond Girls’ active bodies instead disrupt the stable frame of Bond’s voyeurism.

Starting off with an original re-assessment of the cultural roots of Bond’s postwar masculinity, the book argues that Bond Girls emerge from masculine anxieties about the rise of female emancipation after the Second World War and persistent in the present day. Displaying parallels with the politics of race and colonialism, such tensions appear through sartorial practices as diverse as exoticism, power dressing and fetish wear, which reveal complex and often contradictory ideas about the patriarchal and imperial ideologies associated with Bond. Attention to costume, film and gender theory makes Bond Girls: Body, Gender and Fashion essential reading for students and scholars of fashion, media and cultural studies, and for anyone with an interest in Bond.
Dona Ivone Lara’s Sorriso Negro
Authors: Burns Mila
Published: October 2019

More than simply a paragon of Brazilian samba, Dona (Lady) Ivone Lara’s 1981 Sorriso Negro (translated to Black Smile) is an album deeply embedded in the political and social tensions of its time. Released less than four years after the Brazilian military dictatorship approved the Lei de Abertura (the “Opening” that put Brazil on a path toward democratic governance), Sorriso Negro reflects the seminal shifts occurring within Brazilian society as former exiles introduced notions of civil rights and feminist thought to a nation under the iron hand of a military dictatorship that had been in place since 1964. By looking at one of the most important samba albums ever recorded (and one that also happened to be composed by a black woman), Mila Burns explores the pathbreaking career of Dona Ivone, tracing the ways in which she navigated the tense gender and race relations of the samba universe to ultimately conquer the masculine world of samba composers.

33 1/3 Global, a series related to but independent from 33 1/3, takes the format of the original series of short, music-based books and brings the focus to music throughout the world. With initial volumes focusing on Japanese and Brazilian music, the series will also include volumes on the popular music of Australia/Oceania, Europe, Africa, the Middle East, and more.
The Wild Tchoupitoulas’ The Wild Tchoupitoulas
Authors: Wagner Bryan
Published: October 2019

The Wild Tchoupitoulas is a definitive expression of the modern New Orleans sound. From "Hey Pocky A-Way" to "Big Chief Got a Golden Crown," the album draws on carnival traditions stretching back a century, adapting songs from the Mardi Gras Indians. Music chanted in the streets with tambourines and makeshift percussion is transformed throughout the album into electric rhythm and blues accented funk, calypso, and reggae. The album bridges not only genres but generations, linking the improvised flow from group leader George Landry, better known as Big Chief Jolly, to the stacked harmony vocals by his nephews Aaron, Art, Charles, and Cyril--the core members of the soon-to-be-formed Neville Brothers, playing together here for the first time.

With production from Allen Toussaint and support from The Meters, the city’s preeminent funk ensemble, The Wild Tchoupitoulas brings an all-star brigade, pressing these old anthems into new arrangements that have since become carnival standards. In the process, the album helped to establish the terms by which processional second-line music in New Orleans would be commercialized through the record industry and the tourist trade, setting into motion a process that has raised more questions than it has answered about autonomy, authenticity, and appropriation under the conditions of a new cultural economy.