bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Impact Of Information Disclosure Violation On Firm Value In Chinese Listed Firms
Authors: Li Bin
Published: May 2016

We analyze the association between information disclosure violation (IDV) and firm value, based on a sample of Chinese listed firms that were subject to China Securities Regulatory Commission (CSRC) enforcement actions from 2000 to 2014. Using Tobin’s Q as a proxy for firm value at the end of the enforcement action year, we find that firm value in violating firms is significantly lower than firm value in non-violating firms. Further, we find IDV with the following characteristics can cause serious damage to firm value: IDV related to inflated profit or asset fabrication have a more damaging effect on firm value; the total number of violation types, fines and the total number of admonishment types are negatively associated with firm value; violation frequency and number of years between violations and CSRC enforcement action are negatively related to firm value.
Content Analysis Of Board Reports On Corporate Governance, Internal Controls And Risk Management: Evidence From France
Authors: Mandzila Eustache Ebondo Wa , Zeghal Daniel
Published: May 2016

The French legislature has mandated in 2008 that the board chairperson reports on governance, internal controls, and risk management approach with the objective to enhance corporate disclosures to investors.  This study examines the content of board chair reports to assess their relevance and compliance with mandated disclosure requirements. Based on a sample of 109 french publicly listed comapnies in 2009, Our results show that,  with the exception of banks subject to a more stringent regulatory standard, the mandatory nature of the legislation did not translate in extended disclosures about internal controls and risk management practices. We further observe significant variations among the different indices of disclosure particularly with regards internal accounting and financial control. The multivaraite results validate the influence of the chosen internal control framework as well as firm characteristics on the content of the information disclosed about governance, internal control, and risk management practices.
Treinamento de operários de obras: análise estatística da transferência de conhecimento
Authors: Oliveira Ana Maria de Souza Santana de , Oliveira Ricardo Rocha de
Published: May 2016

Para que um treinamento seja considerado eficaz, é necessário que após os cursos ou processos de qualificação, o que foi ensinado seja efetivamente utilizado no ambiente de trabalho. O presente artigo discute esta questão e tem como objetivo apresentar uma análise estatística referente à transferência de conhecimentos adquiridos em programas de treinamentos por operários de obras. Enquanto delineamento para coleta dos dados e verificação da transferência de conhecimentos, a pesquisa constou do desenvolvimento de instrumentos para medir se os conhecimentos aprendidos estavam sendo efetivamente utilizados pelos operários em três obras de três diferentes empresas da construção, através de Protocolos de Observação Direta (POD), bem como análises quantitativas realizadas por testes estatísticos. Uma primeira análise foi em relação a dois momentos distintos de coleta, considerados como teste e reteste, verificando-se se houve diferenças entre transferência de conhecimentos, através da verificação de diferenças de médias de notas obtidas nos instrumentos de medição (Teste T). Também foram analisadas diferenças entre módulos de treinamento, através de testes estatísticos de comparação de médias (teste Tukey HSD e Bonferroni). Os resultados indicam que em relação aos dois momentos de análise (teste e reteste), houve uma tendência de não alteração de valores e quanto aos módulos de treinamento, as análises permitiram identificar diferenças de valores entre eles. Dentre as conclusões destaca-se a importância de realização de avaliação da transferência de conhecimentos de treinamentos no âmbito da construção, para que se possa analisar e melhorar os diversos métodos instrucionais e, desta forma, tornar os treinamentos mais efetivos.
Mock-up de habitação: relação entre concepção, desenvolvimento e execução no ensino de projeto
Authors: Imbronito Maria Isabel , Almeida Eneida de
Published: May 2016

O presente artigo constitui o relato de uma experiência didática exercitada no presente momento, que permite estabelecer uma reflexão sobre o ensino de projeto e os fundamentos teóricos próprios do campo disciplinar da arquitetura. Trata-se de um exercício proposto na disciplina Introdução ao Projeto de Arquitetura e Urbanismo, aplicado a alunos do primeiro ano de projeto do curso de Arquitetura e Urbanismo da Universidade São Judas Tadeu. O exercício é composto por diferentes etapas, que são descritas e têm os objetivos apresentados no decorrer do artigo. A última etapa, correspondente à construção dos mock-ups em escala 1:1, possibilita a execução de um elemento complexo e a experiência de ocupar e perceber o espaço construído. Ao visar uma construção real, tanto do ponto de vista da organização do espaço como do domínio técnico-construtivo, o exercício de projeto de arquitetura dá ênfase às implicações, para a aprendizagem do aluno, do enfrentamento de aspectos construtivos em sincronia com a própria concepção do espaço. O interesse é assinalar que a atividade de construção do mock-up oferece ao processo de projeto elementos materiais concretos para a manipulação simultânea de múltiplas prerrogativas do projeto, propiciando a experimentação e verificação in loco da complexidade do sistema estrutural em suas propriedades físicas, especialmente nas relações entre o dimensionamento (e modulação) das peças, a estabilidade do conjunto e a própria forma.  As considerações feitas procuram estabelecer parâmetros para o desenvolvimento futuro de uma pesquisa no ensino de Projeto de Arquitetura no que tange à relação entre a matéria e o espaço, bem como o aperfeiçoamento constante do sistema construtivo utilizado.
Arqueologia Unisa: 10 anos de trajetória
Authors: Porto Vagner Carvalheiro
Published: May 2016

O artigo traz uma trajetória do curso de Pós-Graduação em Arqueologia na Universiadde de Santo Amaro - Unisa/SP
Eu faço Arqueologia escavando a minha casa
Authors: Barcellos Dias Carolina Kesser
Published: May 2016

O artigo discute a disciplina "Fundamentos da Prática Arqueológica", atualmente oferecida no segundo módulo do curso de especialização do curso lato sensu “Arqueologia, História e Sociedade” da Universidade de Santo Amaro – UNISA.
Projeto "Nárnia"
Authors: Ramos Cinthya
Published: May 2016

Este trabalho é o resultado de um programa arqueológico desenvolvido para a disciplina Fundamentos da Prática Arqueológica. O objetivo do programa é realizar a simulação de uma escavação, abordando todas as etapas de um trabalho de campo: da definição de um sítio arqueológico, dos procedimentos de prospecção da área e da aplicação das técnicas de escavação, até a formação de um registro arqueológico passível de análise laboratorial. Para a realização dessa simulação, abordamos um sítio arqueológico artificial (Nárnia), onde trabalhamos com a questão da modificação de um espaço para a adaptação das necessidades humanas.
A Critical Appraisal of the Right of Inheritance of Children Born Out of Wedlock
Authors: Ajanwachuku Michael Akpa
Published: May 2016

The phenomenon of the so-called bastard children has growth astronomically worldwide. In Nigeria, the rights of children born out of wedlock to inherit their biological fathers who died intestate was wholly dependent on the acknowledgement of paternity. This paper attempts to unravel the recent development in the law of inheritance in Nigeria with respect to children born out of wedlock. It concludes from the review of case laws in Nigeria that there is a significant progressive development of the law in Nigeria. Absent acknowledgement of paternity, children born out of wedlock may now inherit their biological fathers if they can provide other evidence of paternity, including the use of DNA technology.
The developement of red mud flood environmental information system and the methodology for the spatial analysis of the degraded area
Authors: Bakó Gábor , Kovács Gábor , Molnár Zsolt , Kirisics Judit , Góber Eszter , Ambrus András
Published: May 2016

The red mud disaster occurred on 4th October 2010 in Hungary has raised the necessity of rapid intervention and drew attention to the long-term monitoring of such threat. Both the condition assessment and the change monitoring indispensably required the prompt and detailed spatial survey of the impact area. It was conducted by several research groups - independently - with different recent surveying methods. The high spatial resolution multispectral aerial photogrammetry is the spatially detailed (high resolution) and accurate type of remote sensing. The hyperspectral remote sensing provides more information about material quality of pollutants, with less spatial details and lower spatial accuracy, while LIDAR ensures the three-dimensional shape and terrain models. The article focuses on the high spatial resolution, multispectral electrooptical method and the evaluation methodology of the deriving high spatial resolution ortho image map, presenting the derived environmental information database
Flood model for the Bódva catchment
Authors: Németh Róbert , Dobos Endre
Published: May 2016

In term of floods the current area of Hungary has extensively been endangered. Modelling of flood processes – mainly following the hydrological events in the riverbed – has recently been developed. As far as protection dykes provide protection of the inhabited and agricultural areas, the flood models can run with acceptable preciseness. However, when dykes cannot withstand against the increasing load and a dyke burst occurs, fast and efficient protection measures shall be taken in the protected areas. The dynamic 4D Flood model presented in this paper makes possible a fast modelling of dyke burst occurring in the protected side and spreading of water mass, based on real parameters. For this reason the features of protected area shall be recognised, for example topology of creeks, features of agricultural and inhabited areas, parameters of roads, railways, rainwater drainage, buildings, natural conditions (soil parameters, meteorological characteristics, etc.). The results satisfy the comprehensive demands of the Directorate General for Disaster Prevention of Borsod-Abaúj-Zemplén County. In case of dyke burst, the completed Flood Model can run the expected events of the next hour in a few minutes. This time is enough for the specialists to bring operative decisions to protect the inhabitants and avoid material losses.
Comments: A Pivotal Month
Authors: Donnelly John
Published: May 2016

Editor's column

This month should offer key clues to the direction of the oil market over the next several months. OPEC countries will meet on 5 June in Vienna in a regular meeting to discuss their current supply to the market and production quotas. And government figures released this month should begin to get a better handle on the decline in US production.

OPEC’s last meeting, in November, contributed to the steep drop in oil prices when Saudi Arabia decided it would no longer play the role of “swing producer” and would instead defend market share. Although many took this as provocative, several executives speaking at the recent IHS CERA conference in Houston noted that OPEC fears prolonged high oil prices could lead to faster development of alternative energy, and the cartel is engaged in a “price discovery exercise” to determine the sustainability of US shale producers. “I think it’s going to be very useful to the industry to have a clear understanding of the resilience of these resources, how robust the resources are, and how they are able to withstand different price environments,” said ExxonMobil Chief Executive Officer Rex Tillerson. Most of the executives at the conference agreed that the current price downturn would last a while and that the current situation seemed closer to the downturn that occurred in the mid-1980s, rather than more recent price downturns.

The OPEC strategy is definitely having an impact on North American production. The US Energy Information Administration last month lowered its 2015 and 2016 crude oil production growth forecasts. Its latest Short-Term Energy Outlook predicts that US crude production this year will increase 530,000 B/D (revised down from 550,000 B/D) and that 2016 growth will be 20,000 B/D (revised down from 80,000 B/D). US producers have cut spending, idled more than half of the country’s drilling rigs, and eliminated thousands of jobs. The number of active rigs working in the US had fallen for 23 weeks in a row as of mid-May.
Guest Editorial: Keeping Reservoir Stewardship on Course
Authors: Harrison Bob
Published: May 2016

Guest Editorial

The French term, déja vu, which means literally “already seen,” is the feeling that you have previously experienced something you are currently experiencing. Two thirds of adults claim to have sensed this phenomenon, but this figure rises to 100% when one considers professionals in the oil and gas industry, which is undergoing yet another boom-and-bust cycle.

Besides the real concern that the recently announced staff layoffs will only hasten the “big crew change” (as some “golden oldies” may decide to call it a day this time around), one hopes that operators will maintain good stewardship of their wells and fields and resist the temptation to cut back on essential data acquisition.

Reservoir stewardship, in which operators accept the responsibility to shepherd and safeguard the assets of a company or a country, involves the periodic review of asset performance to ensure productivity and recovery targets are met and maintained, and to guide future work plans. Continuous reservoir appraisal and surveillance are essential to minimize production losses from downtime in wells, facilities, and export systems. Unfortunately, it is evident that some operators (and governments) pay only lip service to good reservoir stewardship, especially when oil and gas prices are low.

Sometime ago, I read a student thesis that looked at options for reducing costs in the unconventional “factory drilling” process. It concluded that significant time and money could be saved if formation evaluation services were eliminated from the well program. The project sponsor was happy with the result and the student graduated, but I was appalled that this suggestion could ever be taken seriously. Unconventional reservoirs have complex pore systems, very low interparticle permeability, contain free and adsorbed gas, and exhibit variable water salinity, all of which make their characterization a major challenge for the geoscientist.

Therefore, more core data (not less) are needed to calibrate the responses of logging suites, which also require enhanced measurement services as opposed to standard tool strings. The taking of core permits subsequent rock typing to include dynamic properties and fracturability and allows partitioning of the reservoir into zones that reflect quartz content and producibility.
Dissolvable Plug and Perf System Eliminates Mill-Outs in Multistage Stimulations
Authors: Aviles Isaac , Dardis Michael , Jacob Gregoire
Published: May 2016

Technology Update

Of all the technologies that have propelled the unconventional boom in the United States over the past 15 years, plug and perf (P&P) remains the No. 1 method for stimulating multistage wells, enabling operators to achieve significant economic gains in previously inaccessible reservoirs.

Unconventional wells have become longer, with laterals extending as far as 10,000 ft and beyond. When combined with tighter spacing between stages, this growing lateral length has dramatically increased stage counts. In North American land activity, stages per lateral have nearly doubled in most basins since 2008, thanks in part to increased efficiencies in P&P operations.

P&P relies on the use of a wireline or electric line to convey perforating guns and plugs to isolate sections of a reservoir for hydraulic fracturing. After the well is stimulated, the plugs are milled out with some type of mechanical intervention, such as the use of coiled tubing (CT).

Over the years, P&P has been improved with the development of composite plugs, as opposed to permanent-style plugs, that can be milled out in a continuous operation, pump-down operations to replace mechanical conveyance, and toe-initiator valves, which eliminate the need to mechanically convey perforations for the initial stage of the P&P operation.

Despite these advances, mechanical intervention remains costly and risky, and in some instances may damage the recently placed fractures. In cases of low reservoir pressure or extended-reach laterals, milling can be especially problematic. Returns do not easily reach the surface, and friction and helical buckling effects can often result in CT lockup, preventing the CT from reaching the required depth to remove plugs in the toe section of the well. Debris left behind from milled-out plugs in the wellbore can result in the CT becoming stuck, thus driving up costs and further delaying production.

These limitations signaled the need for the industry to move a step beyond conventional P&P technology. A new, dissolvable P&P system eliminates the need for mechanical intervention to remove plugs, enabling an unlimited number of stages to be stimulated. Launched in February, the dissolvable P&P completions system has been successfully implemented in many of the major unconventional plays in North America.
Turning Weakness Into Strength: Hydraulic Pipe-Recovery System
Authors: Churchill Mike
Published: May 2016

Young Technology Showcase

Introduction

Stuck pipe has traditionally been a challenge for the oil and gas industry; in recent years, operators have become even more determined to reduce the effect of stuck-pipe issues. Even with the best planning and practice, there is a significant probability in certain wells that some of the string will not come back out of the hole. While losing a bottomhole assembly is never ideal, the time wasted in trying to free it and in redrilling afterwards can be far worse.

HyPR HoleSaver

The results of Churchill Drilling Systems’ collaboration with drilling crews in the North Sea and the Gulf of Mexico and extensive research and development resulted in the creation of the HyPR HoleSaver, the first hydraulic pipe-recovery system. In March 2015, the system had its first major deployment, optimizing stuck-pipe contingency in zones highly vulnerable to differential sticking. Although no stuck-pipe issues arose, the tool significantly reduced the cost-overrun risks. The tool is now being considered for imminent deployment by a number of other major operators and leading independents, to reduce costs and risks in a wide range of upcoming wells across the globe, particularly in the Gulf of Mexico.

The tool consists of a full-strength sub positioned in the drillstring, which is severed in a couple of hours (Fig. 1). A jetting dart is launched and lands inside the sub, jetting the internal American Petroleum Institute (API) pin connection.

At the conceptual stage, a number of questions had to be considered. Could significant time savings actually be delivered from the point at which the decision is made to sever the string until sidetracking or fishing commences? With its expertise in dart-activated tools, Churchill Drilling Systems decided to determine whether applying dart-related principles in a new approach could cut wait times significantly.

The Need for a New Method

A major delay in severance often accompanies the mobilization of specialist equipment or personnel. This is compounded in remote locations or when moving restricted equipment, such as explosives or hazardous chemicals. Ideally, any new method should be self-operated by the user, or at least should allow cutting-and-retrieval operations to begin while third-party services are mobilized.
Mining Daily Driller’s Reports Looking for Telling Patterns
Authors: Rassenfoss Stephen
Published: May 2016

Data Mining

There is a lot of information buried in drilling reports written every day, but little of it appears in computer databases.

Numbers from daily drilling reports can be added to databases along with data from sensors on the rig that can be crunched in seconds by a computer. But the perspective of the drillers is only available to a person reading the reports. Turning those sometimes personal, always jargon-filled observations into a form a computer can analyze is a challenge the oil industry is beginning to take on.

BP created a system able to mine the daily reports filed by drillers, seeking what a paper on the project (SPE 173429) describes as “insightful.”

The project used natural language processing to seek out key words and phrases related to drilling, and pattern-recognition software to identify common concerns. The paper described it as an “automatic discovery of unobservable events.”

The results were displayed in the form of word clouds. These graphic displays highlighted the size and prominence of terms related to drilling performance appearing frequently in reports. The goal is to begin using this unstructured data—documents not in the form of a computer database—to answer a pressing question:

“How can we pinpoint the progress of things that could impact the performance and the cost of the well” as it is being drilled, said Mohamed Sidahmed, a data analytics scientist at BP, who recently spoke about the three-well project at the SPE Digital Energy Conference and Exhibition in The Woodlands, Texas.

“You might be able to spot the most high-frequency events, but most of the time, there are subtle issues that do not reveal themselves obviously,” Sidahmed said. For example, during the test, the analysis highlighted driller comments about a mud pump 3 weeks before it broke down.

Language Learning

BP is the first oil company to report using these data-mining methods for drilling monitoring. Its goal is to increase safety and efficiency. These techniques have been previously used for analyzing trends on the Internet and monitoring by intelligence agencies.
Technology Focus: Coiled-Tubing Applications (June 2015)
Authors: Crabtree Alex
Published: May 2016

Technology Focus

The oil industry has responded rapidly to the decline in oil prices of these last few months. As in past downturns, the rig count has fallen quickly, with the US land rig count having been particularly hard hit. The Baker Hughes rig count for US land rigs shows a fall from 1,866 at the beginning of June 2014 to 1,028 at the start of April 2015, a decrease of 45%. A large portion of this reduction has occurred in the shale plays.

In prior industry cycles, declines in rig activity have not affected the coiled-tubing (CT) market immediately. In fact, an increase in the CT sector has been observed in some past down cycles. CT had been predominantly an intervention method used to aid or maintain existing production. However, the focus in the US CT market has shifted to supporting completion operations in the shale plays. Anecdotal opinion at the Coiled Tubing and Well Intervention Conference and Exhibition in Houston this year suggested that there is a greater and more immediate effect on the CT market in the US. Opinion similarly suggested that activity outside of the US land market is responding as it has in previous cycles.

The CT industry, like all other sectors in our industry, will respond to today’s new market conditions. Technical innovation, as evident at the CT conference, will continue. The focus of this innovation may shift toward improving processes and their efficiency—namely, doing more with less. This repurposing brings an opportunity to drive and recognize the value of these innovations. Perhaps this period in the cycle will allow for a consolidation of knowledge and incremental development of today’s technologies.

The papers in this year’s feature represent innovation, the adaptation of existing technologies, and overcoming operational problems. They demonstrate the transfer of knowledge from other sectors of our industry. By using that knowledge, each paper shows that technical innovation is still possible in this current climate and continues to move the CT industry forward.
Coiled-Tubing-Deployed Shutoffs in Alaska With a Polymer Gel and Microfine Cement
Authors: Carpenter Chris
Published: May 2016

This article, written by JPT Technology Editor Chris Carpenter, contains highlights of paper SPE 173655, “Coiled-Tubing-Deployed Gas and Water Shutoffs in Alaska With a Polymer Gel and Microfine Cement,” by D.B. Robertson, SPE, BP; M.A. Brown, Petrotechnical Resources of Alaska; L.H. Duong, SPE, BP; O.V. Ivanova, Schlumberger; and A. Tambe, SPE, BP, prepared for the 2015 SPE Coiled Tubing and Well Intervention Conference and Exhibition, The Woodlands, Texas, USA, 24–25 March. The paper has not been peer reviewed.

A common problem in oil and gas wells is excess free gas or water production from only certain portions of the completed interval. A coiled-tubing-deployed profile-modification technique was developed primarily to shut off excess free-gas production from the heel of cased-and-perforated horizontal oil wells. The technique has also been used for water and gas shutoff in both vertical and horizontal wells in a variety of lower-completion types.

Introduction

Coiled-tubing work has a well- established track record in North Slope of Alaska oil fields involving several thousand interventions of various types. Fig. 1 is a photograph of a typical Arctic-winter coiled-tubing operation.

Most of the approximately 1,700 wells in the Prudhoe Bay field penetrate either an extensive gas cap or the aquifer in the sandstone reservoir. Mechanisms for excess free-gas or water production can be related to poor primary-cement jobs of production liners, fluid-contact movements over time, coning, or corroded or damaged liners. In general, any through-tubing-profile modification that can be performed to reduce excess free-gas and water rates and increase oil rate or time on production is beneficial to overall field production. With many candidate wells, there has been a continuous evolution in job design and execution techniques over the years.
Pilot to Full-Field Polymer Application in One of India’s Largest Onshore Fields
Authors: Wilson Adam
Published: May 2016

This article, written by Special Publications Editor Adam Wilson, contains highlights of paper SPE 169146, “Pilot to Full-Field Polymer Application in One of the Largest Onshore Fields in India,” by Dhruva Prasad, Amitabh Pandey, SPE, M. Suresh Kumar, and Nitish Koduru, SPE, Cairn India, prepared for the 2014 SPE Improved Oil Recovery Symposium, Tulsa, 12–16 April. The paper has not been peer reviewed.

A normal five-spot polymer-flooding pilot has been conducted at the Mangala field, one of the largest onshore fields in India, and results are encouraging in terms of additional oil recovery and reduction of water cut. Polymer flooding has the potential to improve sweep efficiency in the field significantly and to increase expected ultimate recovery (EUR). The project is one of the largest in the world in terms of scale, polymer usage, and related facility and logistics.

Introduction

The main reservoir unit in Mangala field is the Fatehgarh group. Five reservoir units (FM1–FM5) have been named from the top down. Mangala contains waxy sweet crude oil with gravity ranging from 20 °API near the oil/water contact to 28 °API higher in the oil column. The crude has an in-situ oil viscosity of 9–22 cp, with live-oil wax-appearance temperature approximately 6°C lower than the average reservoir temperature of 65°C. The oil also has a high pour point of 40–45°C, which had a great influence on all aspects of the project and process design.

The development plan involved implementing a hot waterflood from production startup to maintain reservoir pressure and sweep reserves effectively.

On the basis of appraisal data, it was realized from the start that Mangala was a candidate for an enhanced-oil-recovery (EOR) process. Detailed laboratory evaluations and simulation studies suggested chemical flooding as the appropriate EOR process for the field. A polymer-flood pilot was conceived on the basis of laboratory and simulation results. The pilot has been successful in terms of reducing water cut and increasing oil rate. Full-field implementation is now planned for Mangala.
From Streamlines to Fast Marching: Rapid Simulation and Performance Assessment of Shale-Gas Reservoirs by Use of Diffusive Time of Flight as a Spatial Coordinate
Authors: Zhang Yanbin , Bansal Neha , Fujita Yusuke , Datta-Gupta Akhil , King Michael J. , Sankaran Sathish
Published: May 2016

Current industry practice for characterization and assessment of unconventional reservoirs mostly uses empirical decline-curve analysis or analytic rate- and pressure-transient analysis. High-resolution numerical simulation with local perpendicular bisector (PEBI) grids and global corner-point grids has also been used to examine complex nonplanar fracture geometry, interaction between hydraulic and natural fractures, and implications for the well performance. Although the analytic tools require many simplified assumptions, numerical-simulation techniques are computationally expensive and do not provide the more-geometric understanding derived from the depth-of-investigation (DOI) and drainage-volume calculations.

We propose a novel approach for rapid field-scale performance assessment of shale-gas reservoirs. Our proposed approach is dependent on a high-frequency asymptotic solution of the diffusivity equation in heterogeneous reservoirs and serves as a bridge between simplified analytical tools and complex numerical simulation. The high-frequency solution leads to the Eikonal equation (Paris and Hurd 1969), which is solved for a “diffusive time of flight” (DTOF) that governs the propagation of the “pressure front” in the reservoir. The Eikonal equation can be solved by use of the fast-marching method (FMM) to determine the DTOF, which generalizes the concept of DOI to heterogeneous and fractured reservoirs. It provides an efficient means to calculate drainage volume, pressure depletion, and well performance and can be significantly faster than conventional numerical simulation. More importantly, in a manner analogous to streamline simulation, the DTOF can also be used as a spatial coordinate to reduce the 3D diffusivity equation to a 1D equation, leading to a comprehensive simulator for rapid performance prediction of shale-gas reservoirs. The speed and versatility of our proposed method makes it ideally suited for high-resolution reservoir characterization through integration of static and dynamic data.

The major advantages of our proposed approach are its simplicity, intuitive appeal, and computational efficiency. We demonstrate the power and utility of our method by use of a field example that involves history matching, uncertainty analysis, and performance assessment of a shale-gas reservoir in east Texas. A sensitivity study is first performed to systematically identify the “heavy hitters” affecting the well performance. This is followed by history matching and an uncertainty analysis to identify the fracture parameters and the stimulated-reservoir volume. A comparison of model predictions with the actual well performance shows that our approach is able to reliably predict the pressure depletion and rate decline.
New Historicism: Text and Context
Authors: Vesić Violeta M.
Published: May 2016

During most of the twentieth century history was seen as a phenomenon outside of literature that guaranteed the veracity of literary interpretation. History was unique and it functioned as a basis for reading literary works. During the seventies of the twentieth century there occurred a change of attitude towards history in American literary theory, and there appeared a new theoretical approach which soon became known as New Historicism. Since its inception, New Historicism has been identified with the study of Renaissance and Romanticism, but nowadays it has been increasingly involved in other literary trends. Although there are great differences in the arguments and practices at various representatives of this school, New Historicism has clearly recognizable features and many new historicists will agree with the statement of Walter Cohen that New Historicism, when it appeared in the eighties, represented something quite new in reference to the studies of theory, criticism and history (Cohen 1987, 33). Theoretical connection with Bakhtin, Foucault and Marx is clear, as well as a kind of uneasy tie with deconstruction and the work of Paul de Man. At the center of this approach is a renewed interest in the study of literary works in the light of historical and political circumstances in which they were created. Foucault encouraged readers to begin to move literary texts and to link them with discourses and representations that are not literary, as well as to examine the sociological aspects of the texts in order to take part in the social struggles of today.The study of literary works using New Historicism is the study of politics, history, culture and circumstances in which these works were created. With regard to one of the main fact which is located in the center of the criticism, that history cannot be viewed objectively and that reality can only be understood through a cultural context that reveals the work, re-reading and interpretation of literature is not just re-reading of texts that are already well known, but reading in a completely new way.
Nursing homes as the perspective and reality of guest workers in old age
Authors: Milosavljević Ljubica , Antonijević Dragana
Published: May 2016

The aim of this paper is to present the results of research conducted as part of the “Ambivalent nostalgia in the cultural heritage of gastarbeiters” project of the Ethnological-anthropological society of Serbia. The research was conducted in Kučevo and Wienna in 2014. The research focused on older guest workers or gastarbeiters who are mostly in the status of disabled pensioners, and seniors whose family members work abroad. An important criterion for determining the gasterbeiter population was entering into the sphere of work in an active capacity, specified by the assumed “temporality” in the country of work; the determination of “seniority” is based on the criteria of exiting the active sphere of work. In this way a new kind of old person, a new kind of pensioner was formed – the foreign currency pensioner whose operating strategies are partly in the focus of this paper. Aside from these strategies, the paper analyzes the strategies employed by the family members of gastarbeiters facing the old age of their relatives who reside in their country of origin either permanently or on a semi-permanent basis; as well as the strategies which the Gerontological Society of Serbia tried to develop in cooperation with the former Ministry of Diaspora RS with the aim of attracting aging gastarbeiters to domestic nursing homes, as well as stimulating the diaspora to invest in such institutions in Serbia. In short, the life experiences and attitudes of 14 pensioners interviewed in Kučevo and Vienna on issues of old age, possible – or ongoing life in a nursing home, the differences and/or similarities between them and other old folks they encountered abroad or at home, as well as experiences with working with the aging gastarbeiter population shared by six employees in a private as well as a public nursing home in Kučevo, will be the object of analysis in this paper.
Prehistoric “cooperative families”: Neolithic households between tradition and innovation
Authors: Tripković Boban
Published: May 2016

The beginning of production, private property and the division of labor are often distinguished as the socio-economic context for the earliest emergence of cooperative families. In this paper the phenomenon of large cooperative families in the neolithic is considered, as the neolithic is the start of production (the domestication of plants and animals) with implications of wider social significance. This paper indicates that a) large neolithic households are based and function according to economic principles, and, most propbably, kinship; b) the neolithic house is an ideological and spatial framework for the display of the identity of cooperating kinship groups; c) the structure, developmental dynamics and interrelations are reflected in the material sphere of the household. Ultimately attention is drawn to the existence of large (family?) households during the neolithic, and that it represents one of the more meaningful phenomena in a time which is otherwise, technologically and materially, suitable for the first clear physical expression of this phenomenon. Because of this, a certain dilemma remains as to whether the beginning of organizing in “cooperative families” can really be a neolithic innovation (or a consequence of the start of production) or, as this research suggest, the beginnings and the manifestation of this process ought to be sought anew in different periods of the past in varying demographic, cultural and economic circumstances.
John and Jacqueline Kennedy: Politics, culture and the “new frontier” of clothing
Authors: Čupić Simona
Published: May 2016

Jacqueline Kennedy’s style is one of the mainstays of the history of fashion and popular culture, as well as contemporary politics. John Kennedy’s way of dressing garnered much less attention. Even though, at first glance, not as interesting as the first lady’s “fashion sense”, the president’s style was no less thought-out. If, however, we view the changes in clothing as social changes and a determinant of various kinds of social differentiation: marital status, sex, occupation, religious and political affiliation, the way in which the Kennedys were presented to the public becomes more interesting – from the (carefully planned) photos and appearances to art and culture. Having in mind that the 1960s were a time when the appropriation  of popular and fictional came back into modern art, and that general changes inherent in the new lifestyle, as well as a layered image of American internal politics, and the cold war map of the world, the carefully thought-out image of the presidential couple can be viewed as a specific kind of metaphor for a complicated time.
Positive Emotional Learning Induces Resilience to Depression: A Role for NMDA Receptor-mediated Synaptic Plasticity
Authors: Burgdorf Jeffrey , Colechio Elizabeth M. , Stanton Patric , Panksepp Jaak
Published: May 2016

Background: Positive emotions have been shown to induce resilience to
depression and anxiety in humans, as well as increase cognitive abilities (learning,
memory and problem solving) and improve overall health. In rats, frequency
modulated 50-kHz ultrasonic vocalizations (Hedonic 50-kHz USVs) reflect a positive
affective state and are best elicited by rough-and-tumble play.

Methods: The effect of positive affect induced by rough-and tumble play was
examined on models of depression and learning and memory. The molecular and
pharmacological basis of play induced positive affect was also examined.

Results: Rough-and-tumble play induced Hedonic 50-kHz USVs, lead to resilience to
depression and anxiety, and facilitation of learning and memory. These effects are mediated, in part, by
increased NMDAR expression and activation in the medial prefrontal cortex.

Conclusions: We hypothesize that positive affect induces resilience to depression by facilitating
NMDAR-dependent synaptic plasticity in the medial prefrontal cortex. Targeting MPFC synaptic
plasticity may lead to novel treatments for depression.
Long Term Clinical and Visual Outcomes of Retrofixated Iris Claw Lenses Implantation in Complicated Cases
Authors: Ganesh Sri , Brar Sheetal , Relekar Kirti
Published: May 2016

Aims:

To evaluate the visual outcomes and complications after implantation of retrofixated iris claw (RFIC) lens in various challenging situations.

Settings and Design:

Retrospective, single centre, 8 year clinical audit.

Materials and Methods:

A retrospective analysis of cases who underwent RFIC lens implantation alone (group 1) or in combination with vitreoretinal (VR), corneal or glaucoma procedures (group 2) was performed. The main outcomes evaluated were corrected distant visual acuity (CDVA) and postoperative complications. The mean follow up was 13.09±6.8 (range 6-24) months.

Results:

The study involved 100 eyes of 83 patients with mean age of 51.1±25.4 years. Group 1 included 59 eyes and group 2 had 41 eyes. In group 1, the mean CDVA improved from 0.86±0.81 to 0.38±0.51 LogMAR (p<0.001) with 72.8% eyes having gain in lines (≥ 2 lines) of CDVA with safety index of 1.73. The mean CDVA in group 2 improved from 0.71±0.65 to 0.38±0.34 LogMAR (p=0.003) with 65.8% eyes having gain in lines (≥ 2 lines) of CDVA with a safety index of 1.54. Group 2 showed a higher complication rate of 36.59% compared to group 1 (20.34%). Significant complications noted were secondary glaucoma (8%), disenclavation of haptic (4%), subluxation of RFIC lens (1%).

Conclusion:

The visual outcome with RFIC lenses when combined with other intraocular procedures is mainly affected by the complexity of co-existing pathologies .The complications are more related to the combined procedures performed rather than RFIC lens implantation alone. This may still be acceptable when complication profile of other intraocular lenses is evaluated in similar challenging situations.
Evaluation of a Public Child Eye Health Tertiary Facility for Pediatric Cataract in Southern Nigeria I: Visual Acuity Outcome
Authors: Duke Roseline E. , Adio Adedayo , Oparah Sidney K. , Odey Friday , Eyo Okon A.
Published: May 2016

Purpose:

A retrospective study of the outcome of congenital and developmental cataract surgery was conducted in a public child eye health tertiary facility in children <16 years of age in Southern Nigeria, as part of an evaluation.

Materials and Method:

Manual Small Incision Cataract Surgery with or without anterior vitrectomy was performed. The outcome measures were visual acuity (VA) and change (gain) in visual acuity. The age of the child at onset, duration of delay in presentation, ocular co-morbidity, non ocular co-morbidity, gender, and pre operative visual acuity were matched with postoperative visual acuity. A total of 66 children were studied for a period of six weeks following surgery.

Results:

Forty eight (72.7%) children had bilateral congenital cataracts and 18 (27.3%) children had bilateral developmental cataracts. There were 38(57.6%) males and 28 (42.4%) females in the study. Thirty Five (53%) children had good visual outcome (normal vision range 6/6/ -6/18) post-operatively. The number of children with blindness (vision <3/60) decreased from 61 (92.4%) pre-operatively to 4 (6.1%) post-operatively. Post operative complication occurred in 6.8% of cases six week after surgery. Delayed presentation had an inverse relationship with change (gain) in visual acuity (r = - 0.342; p-value = 0.005). Pre-operative visual acuity had a positive relationship with post operative change (gain) in visual acuity (r = 0.618; p-value = 0.000).

Conclusion:

Predictors of change in visual acuity in our study were; delayed presentation and pre-operative VA. Cataract surgery in children showed clinical benefit.
Masquerading Orbital Sarcoidosis with Isolated Extraocular Muscle Involvement
Authors: Kim Jane S. , Scawn Richard L. , Lee Bradford W. , Lin Jonathan H. , Korn Bobby S. , Kikkawa Don O.
Published: May 2016

Two patients, previously diagnosed and treated for euthyroid, autoantibody-negative thyroid eye disease, presented with active orbitopathy. An atypical disease course and presentation prompted orbital biopsy. Extraocular muscle histopathology demonstrated noncaseating granulomatous inflammation consistent with presumed orbital sarcoidosis involving multiple extraocular muscles, including the inferior oblique in one of the cases. These two cases emphasize the importance of a broad differential diagnosis and the utility of an orbital biopsy in the context of an unusual disease presentation or poor treatment response. The patients’ clinical course is discussed alongside important clinical signs, imaging findings, and biopsy results that support a diagnosis of isolated orbital sarcoidosis.
Efficiency of Stress-Strain Models of Confined Concrete With and Without Steel Jacketing to Reproduce Experimental Results
Authors: Campione G. , Cavaleri L. , Ferrotto M.F. , Macaluso G. , Papia M.
Published: May 2016

The improvement and the capacity assessment of existing buildings has become the main topic of the last years so that different studies can be found devoted to damaged structures or structures not having a capacity compatible with the safety levels of the actual codes. Reinforced concrete framed structure buildings represent a conspicuous rate of the existing constructions so many efforts are addressed to them. Referring to this type of buildings, a good prediction of strength and deformation capacity requests models able to interpret the constitutive law of concrete confined by internal reinforcement or by eventual external reinforcement applied to increase capacity of cross-sections. Considering that one of the techniques much diffused for the improvement of the capacity of reinforced concrete members is the steel jacketing by the combined system of angles and battens, models able to predict the real contribution of this kind of intervention are desirable. In this connection the paper discusses the different confined concrete models available in the literature, analyzing all the characteristics and comparing the σ-ε constitutive laws for different type of RC cross sections. Also, an experimental campaign aimed to the validation of the above models is presented. Through the paper, the results of tests on columns reinforced with steel jacketing are described and the reliability of some costitutive laws for concrete confined by steel jacketing is examined.
Comparison of conventional magnetic resonance imaging and nonenhanced three dimensional time-of-flight magnetic resonance angiography findings between dogs with meningioma and dogs with intracranial histiocytic sarcoma: 19 cases (2010–2014)
Authors: Ishikawa Chieko , Ito Daisuke , Kitagawa Masato , Watari Toshihiro
Published: May 2016

OBJECTIVE To compare conventional MRI and nonenhanced 3-D time-of-flight (TOF) magnetic resonance angiography (MRA) findings between dogs with meningioma and dogs with intracranial histiocytic sarcoma (IHS).

DESIGN Retrospective case series.

ANIMALS 14 dogs with meningioma and 5 dogs with IHS.

PROCEDURES Medical records of dogs with meningioma or IHS that were examined at a tertiary veterinary hospital from 2010 through 2014 and underwent 3-D TOF MRA in conjunction with conventional MRI were reviewed. Findings for conventional MRI and 3-D TOF MRA were compared between the 2 groups of dogs to evaluate whether there were any characteristics that could be used to differentiate meningioma from IHS.

RESULTS Tumor type was significantly associated with signal intensity on conventional T2-weighted and fluid-attenuated inversion recovery MRI images; most meningiomas were hyperintense, and most IHSs were isointense or hypointense on those images. Tumor type was not associated with signal uniformity, tumor location, tumor origin, or the presence of edema, midline shift, or brain herniation. On MRA, blood vessels adjacent to the tumor were identified and characterized for 9 of 14 dogs with meningioma and all 5 dogs with IHS. Vessels adjacent to meningiomas were displaced in 8 of 9 dogs, whereas vessels adjacent to IHSs were not displaced.

CONCLUSIONS AND CLINICAL RELEVANCE Results indicated nonenhanced 3-D TOF MRA findings provided additional information that can be assessed in conjunction with conventional MRI findings to help differentiate meningiomas from IHSs in dogs.