bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Petroleum systems of the Proterozoic in northwest Queensland and a description of various play types
Authors: Gorton Justin , Troup Alison
Published: May 2018

As part of Queensland Government’s Strategic Resources Exploration Program, in conjunction with the Australian Government’s Exploring for the Future program, a study to improve the subsurface knowledge of Proterozoic basins in northwest Queensland (NWQ) is underway. Proterozoic sedimentary basins are prevalent across central and western Australia. Several of these basins have proven petroleum systems, with the best discoveries to date being in the Greater McArthur Basin, Northern Territory. Recent exploration and appraisal in the Beetaloo Sub-basin of the Greater McArthur Basin has identified large volumes of gas resources contained within unconventional shale reservoirs. In NWQ, the Isa Superbasin and overlying South Nicholson Basin are related in both age and likely deposition to the Greater McArthur Basin. The thick, extensive shale units of the Isa Superbasin are excellent source rocks, while the Mullera Formation in the South Nicholson Basin also has potential but has not been investigated in detail. There are several potential reservoirs within the Proterozoic section and younger units of the overlying Georgina and Carpentaria basins, including clastic and carbonate types. Exploration in the Isa Superbasin identified an estimated 22.1 trillion cubic feet of prospective resources (Armour Energy 2015) in unconventional shale reservoirs of the Lawn Hill Formation and Riversleigh Siltstone. This paper will discuss the stratigraphy, depositional and structural history of these Proterozoic basins and characterise their source and reservoir units using existing and recently acquired geophysical, geochemical, petrographic and petrophysical datasets. From this, several plays or play concepts will be identified and described to help understand the region’s potential for both conventional and unconventional petroleum resources.
Composition changes of hydrocarbons during secondary petroleum migration
Authors: Borazjani S. , Kulikowski D. , Amrouch K. , Bedrikovetsky P.
Published: May 2018

We investigate secondary migration of hydrocarbons with significant composition difference between the source and oil pools in the Cooper-Eromanga Basin, Australia. The secondary migration period is significantly shorter than the time of the hydrocarbon pulse generation, so neither adsorption nor dispersion of components can explain the concentration difference. The filtration coefficients, obtained from oil compositions in source rock (Patchawarra Formation) and in the reservoir (Poolowanna Formation and Hutton Sandstone), monotonically increase as carbon number increases. The monotonicity takes place for heavy hydrocarbons (n > 10). Loss of monotonicity for light and intermediate hydrocarbons can be explained by their evaporation into the gas phase. The evaporation of light and intermediate hydrocarbons into the gas phase is supported by their concentrations in oil, which are higher in source rock than in trapped reservoir oil. The paper proposes deep bed filtration of hydrocarbons with component kinetic retention by the rock. Introduction of the component capture rate into the mass balance transport equation allows matching the concentration difference, and the tuned filtration coefficients are in the common range. The results suggest that deep bed filtration controls the final reservoir oil composition during secondary migration in the Cooper-Eromanga Basin petroleum system, which was not previously considered.
Leading the WAy: Western Australia is the key to driving LNG as a marine fuel
Authors: Purio Walter , Bowen Matthew , van der Walt Adel , Panizza Sarah
Published: May 2018

Uniquely positioned globally, logistically and financially, resource rich, Western Australia is poised to lead the establishment of liquefied natural gas (LNG) as a marine fuel in the Asia Pacific region.
Maritime trade is vital to the global economy, but is a major source of atmospheric pollution. This paper considers how tightening restrictions on marine exhaust emissions will affect vessel owners and the shipping trade, and why LNG offers a clean, safe and economically viable option to meet the new restrictions.
Western Australia’s bulk iron ore export trade to Asia offers sufficient critical mass to underpin the creation of this new LNG bunkering industry. A design has already been completed for a new bulk ore carrier capable of running on both conventional heavy fuel oil and LNG and meeting the new emissions requirements.
The LNG Marine Fuel Institute has analysed the demand and supply side business cases required to get this industry started. On the demand side, its modelling concludes that LNG-powered vessels can be economically viable if bunkering LNG is priced in the range of US$7 to $10/mmBtu. On the supply side, this price is achievable from an initial commercial scale 0.5 mtpa LNG bunkering facility if the natural gas feedstock can be priced in the range of AU$5 to $7/GJ (excluding pipeline charges). Such a plant would require ~75 TJ/d of natural gas feedstock. Western Australia’s domestic gas market is well positioned to meet this demand in terms of both price and volume.
The benefits of this new industry would extend to Australian bulk exporters, gas suppliers, ship owners and operators, infrastructure owners and Australian governments.
Using technology and innovation to deliver a step change in CSG workover rig services
Authors: Phelan Tim
Published: May 2018

The well servicing industry is demanding technology solutions that continually improve safety and productivity performance.
Through in-field experience, the Advantage Light Rig (ALR) has been developed, specifically designed to service existing coal seam gas (CSG) wells and install infrastructure in newly drilled wells, to significantly improve the safety and productivity performance of workover operations by reducing the time taken to deliver a workover from 5.5 to 2.5 days.
Designed and built in Toowoomba, the ALR ‘factory-style’ rig has allowed additional efficiencies to be applied across operations from the training and capability of the staff who operate these rigs to the support operations that enable the rigs to perform, such as warehousing, workshop maintenance, transport, aviation, training and camp operations.
In addition to improved rig technology and innovation, further cost efficiencies can be achieved by collecting real-time operational data. Using intelligent analytics to improve logistics management (rig and vehicle movements, workforce planning, supply chain) and asset utilisation (electronic tour reporting, engineering and maintenance, camp capacities) will reduce costs and improve services.
New enabling technologies and innovations like the ALR (and the Advantage Light Rig Extra) and the intelligent analysis of real-time operational data help improve business performance by reconfiguring products and processes. Through a deliberate investment in innovation and by leveraging operational data, the resources industry will benefit from improved safety and productivity performance.
Offshore gas field development – the ripple effect
Authors: Black Alan , Saunders Greg
Published: May 2018

The Kipper field is developed via a subsea tieback to the West Tuna platform, and produced into the Gippsland gas processing facilities to supplement long-term energy supply in South-East Australia. During the 2010 Kipper development drilling campaign, mercury was detected in the reservoir fluids. This late discovery required a change to the Kipper development plan due to the ripple effect of mercury along the production path.
There are several key execution steps in brownfield concept design, and it is essential to select options that can cope with the reservoir variations and risks associated with tie-ins to brownfield assets. This paper describes how best practice execution was achieved by making good decisions when faced with change late in the field development cycle. The work highlights the benefits of having a clear understanding of the project drivers, options and brownfield constraints to select the right concept.
Despite delays to production start-up until 2017, the Kipper Mercury Removal Project was successfully installed, and work practices updated to allow the Kipper field to be safely produced.
The role of the human in an age of automation
Authors: Farrell Bradley
Published: May 2018

The liquefied natural gas (LNG) industry in Australia has a very large installed asset base that is highly automated. This paper explores established, emerging and experimental automations that could materially impact human work in existing LNG facilities. The focus is on automations that assist with physical interventions on the built asset. Riley’s method for assessing the level of automation is used on current and emerging automations in the industry. Use cases demonstrate that as automation increases, the primary focus of the human becomes one of system design, monitoring and intervention. The changing role of the human in this age of automaton has important implications for the development of human work skills for the future: with increasing automation, the nature of work will change. In the future (1) field workers need to supervise and maintain robots, (2) functional specialists need to define and debug robot instruction sets, and (3) system designers need to master the opportunities and challenges in an exciting new field: the robot-human-interface.
An outcrop analogue for deepwater salt withdrawal mini-basins: lateral and vertical variations in basin-fill
Authors: Fernandes Blaise I. L. , Amos Kathryn J. , Payenberg Tobias H. D. , Lang Simon
Published: May 2018

Mini-basins are well known targets for petroleum exploration as they can contain significant hydrocarbon reserves, such as in the Gulf of Mexico. Though mini-basins have been studied before, their reservoir rock distributions remain poorly predictable. This is especially the case where mini-basins are near salt-diapirs. The Donkey Bore Syncline in the Flinders Ranges, South Australia, presents an excellently exposed deepwater mini-basin reservoir analogue. Detailed outcrop study, including vertical and lateral logged sections presented here, shed considerable light on the depositional system, especially with regards to depositional style and stages of basin-fill. Based on the observed facies and deposit geometries, the authors have been able to detect the change from a carbonate to a siliciclastic deposition system and interpret mini-basin-fill initiation and progradation processes. Sandy gravity-flow deposit lobe areas are identified, enclosed within shales. Along with paleocurrent data, these enable the description and interpretation of basin-fill stages and the lateral character of reservoir-analogue depositional tracts. This will be useful for better interpretation of mini-basin turbidite sequences and will help reduce uncertainties in subsurface exploration. This may also improve prediction of basin-fill where well spacing is inadequate.
Study of phase behaviour and ionic effect of green surfactants in MEOR
Authors: Haq Bashirul , Liu Jishan , Liu Keyu , Al Shehri Dhafer
Published: May 2018

The phase behaviour of surfactant systems is an important characteristic for microbial enhanced oil recovery (MEOR) and is a key method for understanding and predicting the performance of surfactant systems. In addition, ions play a vital role in surfactant chemistry and the ionic effects of green surfactants are not yet well characterised. Green surfactants are biodegradable and environmental friendly and perceived to have great potential for MEOR. This study characterises some green anionic and non-ionic surfactants through phase behaviour study, interfacial tension (IFT) and core flooding experiments. At the same time, the combined effect of the surfactants with alcohols on IFT through laboratory experiments are looked into. Our laboratory experiments have confirmed that the non-ionic surfactant is more active in the reduction of IFT than anionic surfactant. Bio-surfactant is unable to form stable middle phase. Temperature and pressure appear to have little effect on the IFT of non-ionic surfactant. There is no significant reduction in IFT values when the non-ionic surfactant is combined with pentanol in varying concentrations. The role of alkyl group carbon number in non-ionic surfactant was also investigated in this study. It was found that the IFT value decreased by increasing the lower limit alkyl group carbon number.
Mapping geology beneath volcanics using magnetic data
Authors: Kivior Irena , Markham Stephen , Mellon Leslie , Boyd David
Published: May 2018

Volcanic layers within sedimentary basins cause significant problems for petroleum exploration because the attenuation of the seismic signal masks the underlying geology.
A test study was conducted for the South Australia Government to map the thickness of volcanics and sub-volcanic geology over a large area in the Gawler Range Volcanics province. The area is covered by good quality magnetic data. The thickness of volcanics and basement configuration was unknown as there has only been a limited amount of drilling.
The Automatic Curve Matching (ACM) method was applied to located magnetic data and detected magnetic sources within different rock units, providing their depth, location, geometry and magnetic susceptibility. The magnetic susceptibilities detected by ACM allowed the differentiation of the volcanics and the underlying basement. The base of volcanics and the depth to the top of basement was mapped along 75 km NS profiles, that were spaced 1 km apart over a distance of 220 km. The volcanic and basement magnetic susceptibilities and the magnetic source distribution pattern were used as key determinants to interpret the depth to the two interfaces. The results for each interface were gridded, and images of the base of volcanics and depth to basement were generated.
The mapped volcanics thickness was validated by comparison with the results from drilling, with the volcanics thickness matching very well. After project completion, a passive seismic survey was conducted in part of the test area, indicating a base of volcanics of ~4 km, which further confirmed the results.
The stratigraphic architecture, distribution and hydrocarbon potential of the organic-rich Kyalla and Velkerri shales of the Upper Roper Group (McArthur Basin)
Authors: Sheridan Mattilda , Johns D. Rhodri , Johnson Howard D. , Menpes Sandra
Published: May 2018

Recent exploration studies on the stratigraphic framework, depositional environment and tectonic setting of the Mesoproterozoic Roper Group in the McArthur Basin, have led to an improved understanding of the highly prospective organic-rich shales of the Velkerri and Kyalla Formations. From a review of open-file drill core and well logs, several major regressive–transgressive (R–T) cycles have been identified along with four key facies associations within the Roper Group. The R–T cycles show sedimentary features typical of deposition within a clastic-dominated marine deltaic setting and show marked lateral variation in facies and thicknesses. The lateral thickness variations are particularly noticeable across regional 2D seismic lines. Seismic interpretation and well correlation confirm the extensive and relatively undeformed nature of the Velkerri and Kyalla Formations in the subsurface, they appear thickest in the south-east of the Beetaloo Sub-Basin.
The east coast gas market explained: analysis of the gas market supply and demand dynamics
Authors: Stabler Joshua
Published: May 2018

The Australian east coast gas market is experiencing arguably the most disruptive structural change since its inception, with the completion of the 25.4 mtpa Curtis Island Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) facilities and the introduction of a fourth pillar to the market for domestic gas. However, this disruption was not in isolation and coincided with substitutional interactions with the electricity market already dealing with transition.
This report develops context for the natural gas market, establishes the four major avenues of markets and then investigates eight fundamental supply and demand dynamics that are influencing the market in an interconnected fashion. The report concludes that all participants of the gas market must address the multiple dynamic drivers including economic consideration, government policy and regulatory engagement to avoid disorderly market transition.
Implementing process safety critical roles to reduce risk
Authors: Wilson Andrew J. , Ransom Gerard G.
Published: May 2018

In late 2014, Woodside commenced the implementation of the Energy Institute Process Safety Management (PSM) Framework to transform how process safety is managed in the organisation. The framework consists of four focus areas and 20 elements which formed a structure around which a cultural change to a ‘line led, risk based’ approach was made. The transformation focused on four key improvement opportunities: (i) consistent multi-disciplined risk assessments, (ii) efficient management of safety critical devices, (iii) better recognition of excursions beyond integrity limits and (iv) lift and formalise the capability of people to lead and deliver superior process safety performance. The first three focused on tools and methodologies – the PSM ‘system’. The capability workstream considered the people aspect of process safety, so that people understand and are able to execute their role in the overall process safety effort.
This paper discusses the capability workstream in Woodside’s PSM Initiative, the ‘how’ of establishing process safety critical roles and implementing cultural change. It then discusses the demonstrable improvements and reduction in risk that were realised and measured, using lagging indicators (Tier 1 and 2 events) and a suite of leading indicators.
Insights into the Great Australian Bight gained through marine geology and benthic ecology studies
Authors: Ross Andrew , Williams Alan , Talukder Asrar , Parr Joanna , Trefry Christine , Kempton Richard , Stalvies Charlotte , Schinteie Richard , Ezzy Ashley , Kulpecz Andrew , Schaefer Carole , Rarey Phil
Published: May 2018

While the Great Australian Bight (GAB) represents one of the most prospective deep water basins in Australia, its vast geographic extent and deep sedimentary sequences remain poorly characterised. Recently, multidisciplinary research has been conducted to better characterise the continental and abyssal slope of the Ceduna Sub-basin.
The Great Australian Bight Deepwater Marine Program (GABDMP) aimed to build a regional understanding of the deep water GAB marine geology and benthic ecology. This three-year research program encompassed four research voyages that aimed to sample and characterise deep water outcropping facies, volcanic seamounts, potential seeps and their associated biological communities. These voyages used a variety of equipment to achieve the research goals and included the deployment of autonomous underwater and remotely operated vehicles and a seafloor coring system. Numerous sites across the Ceduna Sub-basin from 700 to 5501 m water depth were studied. Sampling operations collected over 2.8 tons of rocks, 148 m of core, 55 698 biological specimens and 48 097 km2 of mapping data. Nearly 4000 geological samples have been analysed to date. This paper will summarise the key findings from the GABDMP and the geological and biological insights that have been revealed through this multidisciplinary research program.
Electroencephalographic and blood parameters changes in anaesthetised goats subjected to slaughter without stunning and slaughter following different electrical stunning methods
Authors: Sabow A. B. , Goh Y. M. , Zulkifli I. , Ab Kadir M. Z. , Kaka U. , Adeyemi K. D. , Abubakar A. A. , Imlan J. C. , Ebrahimi M. , Sazili A. Q.
Published: May 2018

Electrical stunning is the most widely used stunning method for sheep and goats. Because low frequency head-to-back electrical stunning induces cardiac arrest, it is non-compliant with halal requirements. In addition, conventional head-only electrical stunning method can have adverse effects on carcass and meat quality. To address these issues high-frequency electrical stunning systems were developed. High frequency head-to-back removes the potential for pain and distress compared with non-stunned slaughter and does not induce cardiac arrest like low frequency head-to-back stunning making it appropriate for halal. However, this claim is yet to be proven through a comprehensive neurophysiological study. Thus, the present study examined the effects of different pre-slaughter electrical stunning methods and slaughter without stunning on electroencephalographic and blood biochemistry changes. Thirty-two male Boer crossbred bucks were distributed into four groups of eight animals each and subjected to slaughter without stunning (SWS), low frequency head-only (LFHO) and low frequency head-to-back (LFHB) or high frequency head-to-back electrical stunning (HFHB). Slaughtering of animals with or without stunning was performed under minimal anaesthesia. Based on electroencephalograph results, at slaughter, the SWS animals showed an increase in brain electrical activity, which is consistent with the presence of post slaughter noxious sensory input associated with tissue damage. Meanwhile the electroencephalograph activities decreased immediately after application of electrical stunning in all animals, suggesting that they were insensible to pain during and after the neck cut. Electrical brain activities for goats subjected to HFHB were comparable to those for LFHO and those for LFHB. The percentage of animals that exhibited severe clonic activity was significantly lower after LFHB or HFHB stunning compared with LFHO. The concentrations of catecholamines and hyperglycemia in electrically stunned goats were higher compared with those from SWS. It was observed that LFHB caused cardiac arrest in all goats whereas all HFHB goats had no cardiac arrest. High frequency head-to-back electrical stunning may be an improvement on non-stunned slaughter and has advantages for meat quality. However, stunning effectiveness after head-to-back electrical stunning with high frequencies needs to be evaluated under industrial conditions before any recommendation is given.
Comparison of microbial processing of Brachiaria brizantha, a C4 invasive species and a rainforest species in tropical streams of the Atlantic Forest of south-eastern Brazil
Authors: Figueiredo A. F. , Augusto F. G. , Coletta L. D. , Duarte-Neto P. J. , Mazzi E. A. , Martinelli L. A.
Published: May 2018

The breakdown of allochthonous organic matter is considered to be the main source of energy and nutrients for the majority of first-order streams. Thus, land-use change and riparian vegetation, such as deforestation and conversion of native forest to pasture lands, will lead to unwanted changes of the structure and function of aquatic ecosystems due to the disturbance of organic-matter supply. The C4 grasses, extensively used as forage in tropical regions, are poorly studied as important sources of allochthonous material because they are usually considered as a poor source of nutrients. Because the effects of land-use change on ecosystem functions are not fully known, we aimed to evaluate how such changes in riparian vegetation can affect nutrient cycling by means of measuring the decomposition rate of an abundant native C3 species and an exotic C4 grass species in first-order streams of the Atlantic Forest. Our results showed that C4 detritus decomposed faster than did C3 detritus, despite its lower nutrient concentration. This was likely to be due to the lower lignin concentration of the C4 species than the native C3 species. Lignin also influenced nutrient-loss dynamics of the C3 species, because it can interact with other cellular constituents and prevent the decomposition of most labile compounds. Our results supported the observation that the replacement of riparian vegetation alters breakdown rates and nutrient distributions, which may disrupt aquatic food webs.
Relationships between contemporary and subfossil macrophyte assemblages in Mediterranean ponds
Authors: García-Girón Jorge , Fernández-Aláez Margarita , Fernández-Aláez Camino
Published: May 2018

Mediterranean ponds have been historically far less studied than temperate lakes of northern Europe and, for this reason, the availability of historical data is limited for these endangered ecosystems. In the absence of such data, macrofossils from surface sediment may provide highly relevant information concerning modern and past assemblages. Herein we explore the correspondence between contemporary macrophyte assemblages and their sedimentary remains from surface sediment in 35 ponds located in the North Iberian Plateau. The results show that plant macrofossils reflect both the contemporary communities from which they are derived and the environmental forces controlling their assemblage composition (primarily total phosphorous and chlorophyll-a). Overall, macrofossils may represent a useful tool for reconstructing the historical evolution of macrophyte communities, as well as the driving environmental variables, in the poorly investigated Mediterranean ponds. However, the absence of some littoral and helophytic remains in the surface sediment samples may indicate that caution should be exercised to avoid potential biases when reconstructing past macrophyte communities. Hence, we suggest that addressing the effects of coring location and the complex patterns of production and distribution of subfossils in relation to their source vegetation may provide intriguing insights for future research in Mediterranean paleolimnology.
Stakeholder perspectives about general practice pharmacists in the Australian Capital Territory: a qualitative pilot study
Authors: Deeks Louise S. , Kosari Sam , Naunton Mark , Cooper Gabrielle , Porritt Julie , Davey Rachel , Dawda Paresh , Goss John , Kyle Gregory
Published: May 2018

Previous studies have found that integrating non-dispensing pharmacists in general practice may improve patient safety, improve patient outcomes, deliver health system efficiencies and generate savings. However, the employment of pharmacists in general practice is not common in Australia. A naturalistic study was conducted in the Australian Capital Territory with three general practices, each employing a part-time pharmacist for 12 months. This study reports on stakeholder perspectives of the benefits, barriers and enablers for integrating pharmacists into general practice. Patients, practice staff and community pharmacists that had interacted with a practice pharmacist were asked to complete a self-administered questionnaire. Patient questionnaire respondents (n=44) reported that a practice pharmacist was beneficial and wanted to see this continue. Practice pharmacists were also perceived beneficial by primary healthcare employees surveyed (n=42). Opinions were further explored by individual semi-structured interviews (n=20). The qualitative data explored five themes: perception of the practice pharmacist, collaboration with doctors, pharmacist roles, sustainability and community pharmacy aspects. Patients welcomed improved understanding about their medication, whereas general practice staff appreciated pharmaceutical advice about patients with chronic conditions. Participants discussed options to fund practice pharmacists longer term, which was identified as the main barrier to widespread roll out.
Long-distance electron transport in individual, living cable bacteria
Authors: Bjerg Jesper T. , Boschker Henricus T. S. , Larsen Steffen , Berry David , Schmid Markus , Millo Diego , Tataru Paula , Meysman Filip J. R. , Wagner Michael , Nielsen Lars Peter , Schramm Andreas
Published: May 2018

Significance

Cable bacteria are centimeter-long, multicellular filamentous bacteria, which are globally occurring in marine and freshwater sediments. Their presence coincides with the occurrence of electrical fields, and gradients of oxygen and sulfide that are best explained by electron transport from sulfide to oxygen along the cable-bacteria filaments, implying electric conductance by living bacteria over centimeter distances. Until now, all indications for such long-distance electron transport were derived from bulk sediment incubations. Here we present measurements on individual cable-bacteria filaments that allow us to quantify a voltage drop along cable-bacteria filaments and show a transport of electrons over several millimeters. This is orders of magnitude longer than previously known for biological electron transport.
MINFLUX monitors rapid molecular jumps with superior spatiotemporal resolution
Authors: Eilers Yvan , Ta Haisen , Gwosch Klaus C. , Balzarotti Francisco , Hell Stefan W.
Published: May 2018

Significance

Popular localization of single molecules through calculating the centroid of the diffraction pattern produced by molecular fluorescence on a camera is typically limited to spatiotemporal resolutions of >10 nm per >10 milliseconds. By requiring at least 10–100 times fewer detected photons and being free of bias due to molecular orientation, the localization concept called MINFLUX propels molecular tracking to the hitherto-unachievable regime of single-digit nanometer precision within substantially less than a millisecond. Our experiments herald the feasibility to detect molecular interactions and conformational changes at microsecond timescales.
Some pedagogical and syntactical aspects of Francesco da Buti’s (1324–1406)Regule grammaticales
Authors: Martinelli Chiara
Published: May 2018

This essay aims at giving an account of some pedagogical and syntactical aspects of Francesco da buti’s (1324–1406)Regule grammaticales, a Latin grammar written in Central Italy in the second half of the 14th century. It occupies an important place in the history of positive grammar, providing an excellent example of Latin teaching in late medieval Italy. In fact, da Buti treatise deals not only with grammar, but also with rhetoric andArs dictaminis, as was customary in the Italian tradition in the final centuries of the Middle Ages. This article analyzes the sections devoted to nouns and verbs, while also pointing out some pedagogical features, such as the exercises of thethèmataand the use of the vernacular as a tool for learning Latin composition.
Syntax in the earliest Latin-Portuguese grammatical treatises
Authors: Fernandes Gonçalo
Published: May 2018

This essay analyses the most central concepts of Latin syntactical theory in the earliest pedagogical grammars written in Portugal during the 14th and 15th centuries, namely concord, government, and transitivity. The sources include two unpublished treatises preserved in manuscripts of Portuguese origin, one from the end of the 14th century and the other dated 1427, and the first grammar printed in Portugal (1497). They are representative of the teaching of Latin in Portugal at different levels of learning. All three treatises use the vernacular as a pedagogical aid, and Pastrana’s grammar also employs images to illustrate the main syntactical concepts. All treatises discuss government using the regular medieval terminology ofregere“to govern” andregi“to be governed”. Like in Spanish, Italian and English grammars of Latin, the three concords belong to the basic syntactical doctrine. The major difference between these textbooks lies in their employment of the concept of transitivity. It is little more than mentioned in the two manuscripts, but highly relevant in the printed grammar.
William of Champeaux (c.1070–1121), theGlosulaeon Priscian and theNotae Dunelmenses
Authors: Grondeux Anne , Rosier-Catach Irène
Published: May 2018

William of Champeaux taught the arts of language, grammar, dialectic and rhetoric at the beginning of the 12th century. Abelard who studied with him often quotes and discusses the opinions of “his master”. The different versions of theGlosulae Super Priscianum Maiorem, Glosulae Super Priscianum Minoremand theNotae Dunelmenses, five sets of “notes” on Priscian (three on Priscian major, and two on Priscian minor), to which are added “notes” on Cicero’sDe inventione, testify to the grammatical teachings of William and his influence. We first present the arguments that allow us to identify William’s teachings in these texts. Secondly, we expound Williams’ views of the meaning of the noun, verb, substantival verb and the consignifying parts of speech, as well as Abelard’s reactions to his views. These discussions involve a few logico-linguistic problems depending on a quarrel between realism and nominalism.
Les Communia super Priscianum minorem
Authors: Létourneau René
Published: May 2018

The teaching of syntax in the 13th-century university was based on the last two books of Priscian of Caesarea’s Institutiones Grammaticae (c.500 A.D.). Following the order proposed by Priscian, the medieval grammarian first studies orthography, which deals with the constituent parts of the word (dictio), then etymology, which is concerned with the word in itself (simpliciter) and its grammatical accidents, and finally diasynthetic or syntax, which discusses the construction of words as constituents of a sentence (oratio). Each of these particular sciences (orthography, etymology and diasynthetic) has its own particular subject, which is, as some philosophers believe, predicated of the subject of the general science according to the aim it purports to achieve. Written probably in the first half of the 1250s in an academic philosophical environment, the Communia super Priscianum minorem, a subsection and the culmination of the Communia super totam gramaticam, are interesting, among other things, in that they specify the epistemological relation that links syntax to the science of grammar in general. In a polemical effort to dismiss the sentence (oratio) as the subject of diasynthetic, the unknown author of the Communia opens the section of syntax with a discussion which aims to establish the “word in relation with another according to their accidental compatibility or incompatibility” as the real subject of syntax, doing so in a typically Aristotelian way.
The Donatus minor between Via antiqua and Via moderna
Authors: Kneepkens C. H.
Published: May 2018

In the 15th and early 16th centuries, educational life at the universities of Western and Central Europe was dominated by serious doctrinal conflicts between several schools of thought (the Antiqui/Reales vs the Moderni/Nominales), the Wegestreit. This clash not only had serious consequences for instruction in philosophy and theology, but was also felt in the grammar courses of the BA programme. Remarkably, we find the old elementary grammar primer, the Donatus minor, as a prescribed textbook in several Arts faculties. This essay examines the impact of the so-called Wegestreit on university grammar instruction with special reference to late 15th- and early 16th-cent. commentaries on the Donatus minor. After a concise sketch of the philosophical and logical roots of the Wegestreit, I present the development of the conflicting approaches to language and grammar in the 14th century that underlay the divergent opinions of the 15th-century masters.The third section deals with the position of the Donatus minor as a textbook for the undergraduate grammar courses of the Arts faculties. The remainder of this essay falls into two sections. First, a discussion of the different ways the Antiqui and Moderni analyse and explain some theoretical and the related practical aspects of syntactic relations in the last decades of the 15th cent. This part is followed by two case studies of the analyses, explanations and applications of these syntactic phenomena in the commentaries on the Donatus minor of the Realist/Thomist, Magnus Hundt (1449–1519) of Leipzig, and the Modernist Florentius Diel (fl.1490–1509) of Mainz.
Introducing internet pragmatics
Authors: Xie Chaoqun , Yus Francisco
Published: May 2018

The internet and internet-mediated life have presented new issues and challenges for research on pragmatics. When analyzing the application of pragmatics to internet-mediated communication, a possibility is to set up a number of layers and study the contributions that traditional pragmatic schools can make to this new research area. These layers include, but are not limited to, user and contextual constraints, user to user by means of discourse, user to user in interaction, user to audience, user in a group of users and, user and non-intended no-propositional effects. Research on internet pragmatics, we believe, can, should and will extend and expand the scope of pragmatics. Ultimately, internet pragmatics, capturing and elucidating the order of things and the order of life more extensively, deeply and fully, seeks to explore and expound, from the perspective of pragmatics, ways of living, ways of doing, ways of seeing, and ways of (re)discovering.
Tracking opinion convergence online
Authors: Terkourafi Marina , Lord Sarah
Published: May 2018

We investigate whether facial attractiveness, as one source of positive/negative attitudes towards one’s conversational partner, affects the degree and type of opinion convergence online, even in the absence of physical co-presence. Our hypothesis is that when you interact with someone you find attractive, opinion convergence will occur even if you are not physically co-present with them. Additionally, we tracked different types of opinion convergence (one-sided or mutual) and how convergence is linguistically negotiated in these different circumstances. Our hypothesis was confirmed, to a point. Opinion convergence was most frequent among Attracted pairs; however, opinion convergence was greatest among Neutral pairs. Opinion convergence was qualitatively different in the 3 conditions. This research adds to previous studies which highlighted aspects of communication unique to online environments (anonymity, invisibility) to explain the heightened tendency for face-threatening behaviours to occur online, by showing how implicit biases (operationalized here as facial attractiveness) can be an additional factor influencing online behaviour.
Identity-related issues in meme communication
Authors: Yus Francisco
Published: May 2018

Internet memes are an example of the trend of replicability and spread of discourses through the Net within today’s participatory culture. On paper, memes are instances of humorous discourse that abound on the internet, are replicated or altered, and then transmitted to other users. However, in this paper the focus is not on its humorous side, but on how every single stage of meme communication entails a greater or lesser impact on the user’s self-concept, self-awareness and overall identity. The paper addresses five stages of meme communication and possible ways in which these stages influence the user’s identity.
Relational work in multimodal networked interactions on Facebook
Authors: Bou-Franch Patricia , Garcés-Conejos Blitvich Pilar
Published: May 2018

The paper argues that the notion of Relational Work (Locher and Watts 2005) needs to be expanded to be able to account for sociability in the networked interactions afforded by social platforms such as Facebook. Thus, the aim of this paper is to explore how the nature of networked interactions impacts the emergence of relational practices therein. Importantly, Relational Work is a language based framework whereas networked interactions are highly multimodal. By applyingNorris’ (2004)multimodal framework to the analysis of a Facebook wall event, we show how key sociability functions are carried out by semiotic modes other than language. Furthermore, the analysis shows how relational behaviors (such as politeness, impoliteness, etc.) are highly intertwined and should not be compartmentalized, as has traditionally been the case.
Suppression of respiratory growth defect of mutant deficient in mitochondrial phospholipase A1 by overexpression of genes involved in coenzyme Q synthesis in Saccharomyces cerevisiae
Authors: Morisada Shiho , Nishida Ikuhisa , Kawamukai Makoto , Horiuchi Hiroyuki , Fukuda Ryouichi
Published: May 2018

DDL1 encodes a mitochondrial phospholipase A1 involved in acyl chain remodeling of mitochondrial phospholipids and degradation of cardiolipin in Saccharomyces cerevisiae. The deletion of DDL1 leads to respiratory growth defects. To elucidate the physiological role of DDL1, we screened for genes that, when overexpressed, suppress the respiratory growth defect of the DDL1 deletion mutant. Introduction of COQ8, COQ9, or COQ5, which are involved in coenzyme Q (CoQ) synthesis, using a multicopy vector suppressed the respiratory growth defect of the DDL1 deletion mutant. In contrast, introduction of COQ8 using a multicopy vector did not accelerate the growth of the deletion mutants of TAZ1 or CLD1, which encode an acyltransferase or phospholipase A2, respectively, involved in the remodeling of cardiolipin. These results suggest genetic interactions between the mitochondrial phospholipase A1 gene and the genes involved in CoQ synthesis.
Personality and Incident Alzheimer’s Disease: Theory, Evidence, and Future Directions
Authors: Segerstrom Suzanne C
Published: May 2018

Personality, especially the dimensions of neuroticism and conscientiousness, has prospectively predicted the risk of incident Alzheimer’s disease (AD). Such a relationship could be explained by personality and AD risk having a common cause such as a gene; by personality creating a predisposition for AD through health behavior or inflammation; by personality exerting a pathoplastic effect on the cognitive consequences of neuropathology; or by AD and personality change existing on a disease spectrum that begins up to decades before diagnosis. Using the 5-dimensional taxonomy of personality, the present review describes how these models might arise, the evidence for each, and how they might be distinguished from one another empirically. At present, the evidence is sparse but tends to suggest predisposition and/or pathoplastic relationships. Future studies using noninvasive assessment of neuropathology are needed to distinguish these 2 possibilities.
Clinical Impact of the Immune Microenvironment in Spinal Chordoma: Immunoscore as an Independent Favorable Prognostic Factor
Authors: Zou Ming-Xiang , Lv Guo-Hua , Wang Xiao-Bin , Huang Wei , Li Jing , Jiang Yi , She Xiao-Ling
Published: May 2018

BACKGROUND

Currently, clinical implications of immune system cells in chordoma remain to be elucidated.

OBJECTIVE

To characterize in situ immune cell infiltrates, the Immunoscore, and investigate their correlation with clinicopathologic data of spinal chordoma patients and outcome.

METHODS

Tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes (TILs) subtypes were assessed in 54 tumor specimens using immunohistochemistry for CD3, CD4, CD8, CD20, Foxp3, PD-1, and PD-L1.

RESULTS

Overall, immune cell infiltrates were present in all samples and there was low or moderate correlation among several TILs subsets. PD-1+ TILs density, CD3+, and CD8+ TILs densities in the tumor interior (TI) subarea were associated with surrounding muscle invasion by tumor, whereas PD-L1+ TILs showed inverse association with tumor pathological grade and stage. The density of PD-1+ TILs, PD-L1+ TILs, CD4+ TILs, and CD3+ TILs both in the TI and combined tumor regions (TI and invasion margin) were significantly associated with local recurrence-free survival and overall survival (OS). However, Foxp3+ TILs (P = .024) and CD8+ TILs evaluated in the TI (P < .001) only correlated with OS. The Immunoscore predicted less aggressive clinical features and favorable outcomes. Patients with an Immunoscore of 4 had a median OS of 128 mo, while I0 (Immunoscore of 0) patients survived only 27 mo. Multivariate analysis demonstrated that the Immunoscore was an independent favorable prognostic factor of both local recurrence-free survival (P = .026) and OS (P = .046).

CONCLUSION

Our data suggest a clinically relevant role of the immune microenvironment in spinal chordoma and identify the Immunoscore as promising prognostic marker.
Rheumatic Heart Disease Prophylaxis in Older Patients: A Register-Based Audit of Adherence to Guidelines
Authors: Holland James V , Hardie Kate , de Dassel Jessica , Ralph Anna P
Published: May 2018

Background

Prevention of rheumatic heart disease (RHD) remains challenging in high-burden settings globally. After acute rheumatic fever (ARF), secondary antibiotic prophylaxis is required to prevent RHD. International guidelines on recommended durations of secondary prophylaxis differ, with scope for clinician discretion. Because ARF risk decreases with age, ongoing prophylaxis is generally considered unnecessary beyond approximately the third decade. Concordance with guidelines on timely cessation of prophylaxis is unknown.

Methods

We undertook a register-based audit to determine the appropriateness of antibiotic prophylaxis among clients aged ≥35 years in Australia’s Northern Territory. Data on demographics, ARF episode(s), RHD severity, prophylaxis type, and relevant clinical notes were extracted. The determination of guideline concordance was based on whether (1) national guidelines were followed; (2) a reason for departure from guidelines was documented; (3) lifelong continuation was considered appropriate in all cases of severe RHD.

Results

We identified 343 clients aged ≥35 years prescribed secondary prophylaxis. Guideline concordance was 39% according to national guidelines, 68% when documented reasons for departures from guidelines were included and 82% if patients with severe RHD were deemed to need lifelong prophylaxis. Shorter times since last echocardiogram or cardiologist review were associated with greater likelihood of guideline concordance (P < .001). The median time since last ARF was 5.9 years in the guideline-concordant group and 24.0 years in the nonconcordant group (P < .001). Thirty-two people had an ARF episode after age 40 years.

Conclusions

In this setting, appropriate discontinuation of RHD prophylaxis could be improved through timely specialist review to reduce unnecessary burden on clients and health systems.
Cigarette smoking as a risk factor for type 2 diabetes in women compared with men: a systematic review and meta-analysis of prospective cohort studies
Authors: Yuan Shuai , Xue Hong-liang , Yu Hong-jie , Huang Yao , Tang Bo-wen , Yang Xu-hao , Li Qing-xiao , He Qi-qiang
Published: May 2018

Background

Few studies have investigated the effect of smoking on type 2 diabetes in women compared with men, even though several epidemiological studies provided a clear picture of the risk among the entire population.

Methods

We systematically searched PubMed and Embase up to August 2017 for prospective studies that were stratified by sex with measures of the relative risk (RR) for type 2 diabetes and current smoking compared with non-smoking. The sex-specific RRs and their ratios (RRRs), comparing women with man, were pooled using random-effects models.

Results

Seventeen articles were identified including 20 prospective cohorts with 5 077 289 participants and 223 084 incident cases of type 2 diabetes. The pooled RRR suggested a similar risk of type 2 diabetes associated with smoking in women compared with men (RRR: 0.98, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.96–1.01). Furthermore, no significant sex difference in the RR was found between former smokers and those who had never smoked (RRR: 0.98, 95% CI: 0.92–1.04).

Conclusions

The findings of this meta-analysis indicate that female smokers had similar risk of type 2 diabetes with male smokers.