bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Well Testing in Tight Gas Reservoir: Today's Challenge and Future's Opportunity
Authors: Pankaj Piyush , Kumar Vikash
Published: January 2010

With the increase in demand and rapidly diminishing resources in conventional reservoirs, economically producing gas from unconventional reservoirs e.g. tight gas reservoir is a great challenge today. The character and distribution of tight gas reservoirs are not yet well understood. Low quality reservoirs are often seen as involving higher costs and risk than high-medium quality reservoirs. There is no formal definition for "Tight Gas". Law and Curtis (2002) defined low-permeability (tight) reservoirs as those with permeabilities less than 0.1 mD. The best definition of tight gas reservoir is "reservoirs that cannot be produced at economic flow rates or economic volumes of natural gas are unrecoverable, unless the well is stimulated by a large hydraulic fracture treatment or produced by use of a horizontal wellbore or multilateral wellbores."

Unlike conventional reservoirs, which are small in volume but easy to develop, unconventional reservoirs are large in volume but difficult to develop. Improved technology and adequate gas price is the key to their development. Gas production from a tight-gas well will be low on a per-well basis compared with gas production from conventional reservoirs. A lot of wells have to be drilled to get most of the gas out of the ground in tight gas reservoirs.

Testing a tight gas reservoir is a big challenge today but in coming future more and more numbers of wells are expected in tight gas reservoirs. If we want to grab a piece of this upcoming opportunity, we will have to accept the challenge today. More data and more engineering manpower are required to understand and design a well test in tight gas reservoir than a well test in good permeability conventional reservoirs.

In this paper, a possible way to test a tight gas reservoir using hydraulic fracturing will be discussed. Since hydraulic fracturing is one of the most successful ways of producing a tight gas reservoir economically so far, an idea of integrating hydraulic fracturing job with well testing job as a complete package for testing tight gas reservoirs, especially in the exploratory phase, will be discussed.
How Effective Leadership Practices Deliver Safety Performance AND Operational Excellence
Authors: Winter Jim , Owen Keith , Read Brett
Published: January 2010

This paper is based on several long term studies in the energy industry designed to determine if there was a relationship between leadership practices, employee commitment and motivated effort. A survey methodology was used to identify and validate the variables that consistently impacted operational excellence and safety performance. Our research shows that employee engagement is a direct result of leadership practices. Where leadership practices promote and align company values and commitment to safety, the overall performance in both individual and organizational safety is significantly higher. Furthermore, the leadership that creates this increased performance also creates more highly engaged employees that outperform the competition in production, customer satisfaction and overall profitability. The linkages are these. The best leadership practices develop engaged employees. Engaged employees have strong feelings of collective and individual self-efficacy. Engaged employees were observed to have much higher commitment and alignment to the organization’s values and work practices. This high level of commitment and alignment subsequently led to higher performance outcomes. The paper goes on to describe what an organization needs to do to create those effective leadership practices. Our research suggests that behavioral based programs rarely succeed unless fully integrated into a values based safety culture.
Gas Strike in Shale Reservoir in Dholka Field in Cambay Basin
Authors: Sharma SS , Kulkarni PK
Published: January 2010

Cambay is matured petroliferous basin in the western part of India. Dholka is one of the complex oil field in Cambay – Tarapur tectonic block wherein gas has been struck, for the first time, in Shale Reservoir of middle Eocene. In this basin, Cambay shale was thought as cap and source rock. But the gas strike in well DK #30, around 1310 m has opened new frontier for exploration and exploitation of Shale gas and / or Shale oil in Cambay shales, the thickness of which vary from 900 to 1200 m. Conventional testing yielded small quantity of gas. Hydraulic fracturing was carried out in the same interval of 10m which resulted in increased rate of 200 m3 per day gas. The composition of produced gas is totally different from the solution gas being produced from other oil wells of the field. The salient points of this accidental gas discovery need elaborate studies, cost-effective and sound horizontal well completion alongwith multistage fracturing.
Real Time Optimization of Drilling Parameters During Drilling Operations
Authors: Eren Tuna , Ozbayoglu M. Evren
Published: January 2010

Real time optimization of drilling parameters during drilling operations aims to optimize weight on bit, bit rotation speed for obtaining maximum drilling rate as well as minimizing the drilling cost. The process is formation specific. A Statistical method namely multiple linear regression technique is used for the drilling optimization methodology. An extensive literature survey on drilling optimization was conducted for this research study. A model is developed for this purpose using actual field data collected through modern well monitoring and data recording systems, which will be predicting the rate of drilling penetration as a function of available parameters. The rate of penetration general equation is optimized for effective functions at each data point. In order to optimize the parameters in the field, a computer network is required to be developed. The computer network will keep the piped data directly from the data source, and continuously be collecting the new data to be piped. A database present at the central computer will be continuously calculating the developed model parameters by means of multiple regression technique and inform the team at the field. The field engineer will transmit the current drilling parameters back to the central computer, and the headquarters will determine the new model parameters and optimum drilling parameters by including the recently received information. Therefore, there will be a real-time-optimization process. It is considered that this technique is going to be widely used in future drilling activities since it could reduce drilling costs and minimize probability of encountering problems due to working with optimized parameters.

It has been found that drilling rate of penetration could be modeled in real-time environment as function of independent drilling variables such as weight on bit, rotation speed of the string, mud weight, and formation characteristics. The ability to have the drilling rate of penetration with respect to depth characteristically with certain parameters for specific formations on real-time basis could bring new insights to the nature of drilling operations. Any departure from the trend could have significant reasons. The study has also achieved one of its objectives, giving the optimized independent drilling parameters found following statistical synthesis.
Modeling of Phytase Production by Cultivation of Pichia pastoris Under the Control of the GAP Promoter
Authors: Tang Shuiquan , Potvin Gabriel , Reiche Alison , Zhang Zisheng
Published: January 2010

Cell growth and recombinant phytase production under the control of the GAP promoter were studied in continuous cultivation experiments of Pichia pastoris. Based on these studies, a simple kinetic model was established to predict biomass and enzyme production. Although parameters were mainly estimated using the results of continuous cultivation, the proposed model was able to successfully predict cell growth and phytase production in three different fed-batch cultivations of P. pastoris using limited glucose feeding.
What Kind of Job is Safer? A Note on Occupational Vulnerability
Authors: Bardhan Ashok , Tang John
Published: January 2010

The present recession has brought into stark focus this question: Which occupations are more vulnerable to job loss? Since shocks to the economy affect employment across multiple occupations, we employ a new approach to assess the vulnerability of jobs due to such shocks by measuring how diversified an occupation is across sectors. Using U.S. employment data between the years 1999 and 2005, which include the downturn in the aftermath of the internet bust and the subsequent recovery, we find that an occupation spread across multiple industries is less volatile in terms of both numbers employed and the average wage. The result is robust to occupation size. Including various measures of an occupation's "footloose" nature and geographical mobility does not affect the results. The evidence presented distills a key lesson from a previous downturn and recovery, and could improve our understanding of issues relating to business cycles, offshoring and higher education.
IQ and Family Background: Are Associations Strong or Weak?
Authors: Björklund Anders , Hederos Eriksson Karin , Jäntti Markus
Published: January 2010

For the purpose of understanding the underlying mechanisms behind intergenerational associations in income and education, recent studies have explored the intergenerational transmission of abilities. We use a large representative sample of Swedish men to examine both intergenerational and sibling correlations in IQ. Since siblings share both parental factors and neighbourhood influences, the sibling correlation is a broader measure of the importance of family background than the intergenerational correlation. We use IQ data from the Swedish military enlistment tests. The correlation in IQ between fathers (born 1951-1956) and sons (born 1966-1980) is estimated to 0.347. The corresponding estimate for brothers (born 1951-1968) is 0.473, suggesting that family background explains approximately 50% of a person's IQ. Estimating sibling correlations in IQ, we thus find that family background has a substantially larger impact on IQ than has been indicated by previous studies examining only intergenerational correlations in IQ.
The influence of the grain-size distribution and soil structure on the unsaturated shear strength of loess sediments in Belgrade, Central Serbia
Authors: Hadzi-Nikovic Gordana
Published: January 2010

There is a negative pore water pressure or matric suction in the zone above the ground water level in silty loess soil, which can be as deep as 5-10 m in the Belgrade area. This primary characteristic of unsaturated soil, i.e., matric suction, should be included in laboratory testing and geotechnical analyses. Direct shear or triaxial testing of unsaturated soil are very expensive and time-consuming and require specially modified equipment. Instead, the prediction of unsaturated shear strength using the soil water characteristic curve, SWCC, and the effective shear strength parameters c' and ?' is a widely accepted practice. In this study, constitutive soil-water characteristic curves were obtained from the results of experimental testing by draining saturated soil samples under different pressures. This testing was performed for the first time in Serbia in a 15 bar pressure plate extractor according to ASTM standards. The laboratory testing included natural samples of loess sediments with the original macroporous structure and loess sediments with a destroyed soil structure. The influence of the grain-size distribution and natural soil structure on the unsaturated shear strength of Belgrade loess sediments above the ground water level was also evaluated. The obtained results are in accordance with the results from other investigations.
Forensic expertise of thoracic aorta, heart and pericardial injuries in car-occupant fatalities
Authors: Nikolic Slobodan
Published: January 2010

Introduction. Forensic expertise has not specified with certainty any specific injury among fatally injured frontal car-occupants in frontal car collisions. Objective. To establish if blunt injuries of thoracic aorta, heart, and pericardium could be used as predictors where the fatally injured car-occupant was at the moment of car-collision. Methods. A retrospective autopsy study was performed. The subjects were fatally injured car-drivers, front-seat and rearseat passengers in head-on car collisions. In each of them we analyzed the injuries of thoracic aorta, heart and pericardium. Results. 492 subjects were analyzed (378 male and 104 female): 239 car-drivers, 194 front-seat and 49 rear-seat passengers. The isthmus of aorta was the commonest site of simple blunt rupture among car-drivers and front-seat passengers. Among more than half of the observed subject, there was aortic blunt rupture as concomitant injury with heart and pericardium injuries. Heart and pericardium ruptures were most common among fatally injured car-drivers. Most frequently injured part of the heart was the right atrium. Injuries of thoracic aorta, heart and pericardium indicated a higher probability that the fatally injured would be the car-driver (?=0.818; df=2; p=0.011, ?=0.906; df=2; p=0.000, and ?=0.951; df=2; p=0.000); this was also pointed out by the rupture of the right atrium and multiple ruptures of the thoracic aorta (?=0.966; df=2; p=0.000 and ?=0.918; df=2; p=0.009). The concomitant injuries of the thoracic aorta with thoracic spine, sternum and heart pointed out that the injured person was the car-driver (?=0.971; df=4; p=0.007, ?=0.974; df=4; p=0.013 and ?=0.958; df=4; p=0.000), as well as the concomitant injuries of heart and sternal fracture (?=0.960; df=4; p=0.001). The probability of about 80% that the fatally injured person in head-on collisions was a car-driver was pointed out by concomitant blunt thoracic aorta rupture with fractured sternum and ribs (Wald. coeff.=8.611; df=1; p=0.003, and Wald. coeff.=3.875; df=1; p=0.049). Conclusion. The basic mechanism of the injury of thoracic organs is deceleration, as well as anteroposterior compression with caudorostral hyperextension. That is why thoracic organ injuries are mostly concomitant. Fatally injured car-drivers suffered more often of these injuries than other car-occupants. The probability that the fatally injured was the car-driver rises with the number of concomitant injuries of thoracic aorta, heart and pericardium, as well as with the fractured thoracic-cage bones.
Ultrasound diagnostics of muscle and tendon injuries
Authors: Stevic Ruza , Masulovic Dragan
Published: January 2010

Introduction. Sonography is a useful technique for the investigation of a number of musculoskeletal disorders. The most common indication for ultrasonography of muscles and tendons is the diagnosis of traumatic lesions, distinguishing them from other disorders and follow-up of healing process. Objective. The purpose of this paper is to show the importance of ultrasound in the diagnosis of muscle and tendon injuries. Methods. The study included 170 patients (148 male and 22 female), mean age 29.6 years (range 14-60 years). All examinations were performed by linear transducer of 7.5-10 MHz, with longitudinal and transverse scanning. Ultrasound examination followed physical examination. Results. Traumatic lesions of muscles were diagnosed in 113 patients (66.7%) and tendon injuries in 57 cases (33.2%). The muscle changes detected by ultrasonography were the following: 70 (61.9%) partial and two (1.76%) complete ruptures, 22 (19.46%) haematoma, 9 (7.96%) strains grade I, 4 fibroses and 4 ossifying myositis 4 (3.5%, respectively). Complications of muscle injuries were diagnosed in two cases, a muscular hernia and an arteriovenous fistula. Among tendon injuries, 21 (33.8%) ruptures and 36 (66.1%) tendinitis were diagnosed. Accompanying effusion in the bursa of patients with tendon injuries was found in 9 cases. Conclusion. Ultrasonography allowed visualization and objective assessment of the type and the extent of traumatic pathomorphological changes of muscles and tendons. Such diagnostic possibilities of ultrasonography are especially important in the choice of appropriate therapy.
Fear of body symptoms and sensations in patients with panic disorders and patients with somatic diseases
Authors: Latas Milan , Obradovic Danilo , Pantic Marina
Published: January 2010

Introduction. A cognitive model of aetiology of panic disorder assumes that people who experience frequent panic attacks have tendencies to catastrophically interpret normal and benign somatic sensations - as signs of serious illness. This arise the question: is this cognition specific for patients with panic disorder and in what intensity it is present in patients with serious somatic illness and in healthy subjects. Objective. The aim of the study was to ascertain the differences in the frequency and intensity of 'catastrophic' cognitions related to body sensations, and to ascertain the differences in the frequency and intensity of anxiety caused by different body sensations all related to three groups of subjects: a sample of patients with panic disorder, a sample of patients with history of myocardial infarction and a sample of healthy control subjects from general population. Methods. Three samples are observed in the study: A) 53 patients with the diagnosis of panic disorder; B) 25 patients with history of myocardial infarction; and C) 47 healthy controls from general population. The catastrophic cognitions were assessed by the Agoraphobic Cognitions Questionnaire (ACQ) and the Body Sensations Questionnaire (BSQ). These questionnaires assess the catastrophic thoughts associated with panic and agoraphobia (ACQ) and the fear of body sensations (BSQ). All study subjects answered questionnaires items, and the scores of the answers were compared among the groups. Results. The results of the study suggest that: 1) There is no statistical difference in the tendency to catastrophically interpret body sensations and therefore to induce anxiety in the samples of healthy general population and patients with history of myocardial infarction; 2) The patients with panic disorder have a statistically significantly more intensive tendency to catastrophically interpret benign somatic symptoms and therefore to induce a high level of anxiety in comparison to the sample of patients with the history of serious somatic illness (myocardial infarction) and the sample of healthy general population. Conclusion. The tendency to catastrophically interpret benign somatic symptoms and therefore to induce a high level of anxiety in patients with panic disorder, confirms the cognitive aetiology model of panic disorder and suggests that it should be the focus of prophylactic and therapeutic management of patients with panic disorder.
An unusual case of a serious blunt injury of the eye
Authors: Jovanovic Milos , Stefanovic Ivan , Mirkovic Milos
Published: January 2010

Introduction. Optic nerve avulsion is a serious injury of the eye. The objective of the paper was to present the peculiarity of the eye injury caused by a penetrating orbital wound with foreign body being retained in the orbit. Case report. A 15-year-old boy who sustained injury by chain link is presented. While he was turning the chain round in his hand, the last link broke off, piercing the lower lid, penetrated the left orbital cavity and remained behind the eyeball at the top of orbit. While passing towards the top of the orbit, the foreign body caused a blunt injury of the eyeball and avulsion of the ocular nerve. The accurate localization of the foreign body was verified by X-ray and CT imaging. The foreign body was removed through the entry wound. The eye injury resulted in amaurosis. Conclusion. This injury was one of those that could have been prevented.
Assessment of health-related quality of life of patients with chronic arthritis
Authors: Mustur Dusan , Vesovic-Potic Vladislava , Ille Tatjana , Stanisavljevic Dejana , Ille Mihailo
Published: January 2010

The assessment of the quality of life as a subjective measure of therapeutic intervention outcome appears to be increasingly adopted by different fields of medicine. In contrast to conventional indicators of condition, which are recognized as objective outcomes, the health-related quality of life (HRQoL) focuses on the patient himself. HRQoL has been determined as the perception of the individual of his or her situation in the current culture and value system; it includes wishes, expectations and emotional responses of the individual related to his or her health. Chronic arthritis leads to irreversible structural changes in joints and consequently to impaired physical function and reduced HRQoL. Today there are validated disease specific ('target') questionnaires to assess HRQoL in patients with rheumatoid arthritis and ankylosing spondylitis, but not yet in patients with psoriatic arthritis. A disease specific questionnaire makes easier approach to patients suffering from a specific rheumatic condition; it enables the comparison of HRQoL among patients suffering from the different types of chronic arthritis. The most frequently used questionnaire in the assessment of the HRQoL of patients suffering from chronic arthritis is the generic MOS 36-Item Short-Form Health Survey (SF-36) which is considered as the 'gold standard'. It is a generic questionnaire for the assessment of HRQoL in patients with chronic arthritis. To our knowledge, there are only a few studies focused on the HRQoL of patients suffering from chronic arthritis in Serbia and Montenegro.
Thermodynamic modelling and efficiency analysis of a class of real indirectly fired gas turbine cycles
Authors: Ma Zheshu , Zhu Zhenhuan
Published: January 2010

Indirectly or externally-fired gas-turbines (IFGT or EFGT) are novel technology under development for small and medium scale combined power and heat supplies in combination with micro gas turbine technologies mainly for the utilization of the waste heat from the turbine in a recuperative process and the possibility of burning biomass or 'dirty' fuel by employing a high temperature heat exchanger to avoid the combustion gases passing through the turbine. In this paper, by assuming that all fluid friction losses in the compressor and turbine are quantified by a corresponding isentropic efficiency and all global irreversibilities in the high temperature heat exchanger are taken into account by an effective efficiency, a one dimensional model including power output and cycle efficiency formulation is derived for a class of real IFGT cycles. To illustrate and analyze the effect of operational parameters on IFGT efficiency, detailed numerical analysis and figures are produced. The results summarized by figures show that IFGT cycles are most efficient under low compression ratio ranges (3.0-6.0) and fit for low power output circumstances integrating with micro gas turbine technology. The model derived can be used to analyze and forecast performance of real IFGT configurations.
Theoretical and experimental study of a cross-flow induced-draft cooling tower
Authors: Abo Elazm , Elsafty Farouk
Published: January 2010

The main objective of this study is to find a proper solution for the cross-flow water cooling tower problem, also to find an empirical correlation's controlling heat and mass transfer coefficients as functions of inlet parameters to the tower. This is achieved by constructing an experimental rig and a computer program. The computer simulation solves the problem numerically. The apparatus used in this study comprises a cross-flow cooling tower. From the results obtained, the 'characteristic curve' of cross-flow cooling towers was constructed. This curve is very helpful for designers in order to find the actual value of the number of transfer units, if the values of inlet water temperature or inlet air wet bulb temperature are changed. Also an empirical correlation was conducted to obtain the required number of transfer units of the tower in hot water operation. Another correlation was found to obtain the effectiveness in the wet bulb operation.
Elastic-plastic transition stresses in a transversely isotropic thick-walled cylinder subjected to internal pressure and steady-state temperature
Authors: Pankaj Thakur
Published: January 2010

Elastic-plastic transitional stresses in a transversely isotropic thick-walled cylinder subjected to internal pressure and steady-state temperature have been derived by using Seth's transition theory. The combined effects of pressure and temperature has been presented graphically and discussed. It has been observed that at room temperature, thick-walled cylinder made of isotropic material yields at a high pressure at the internal surface as compared to cylinder made of transversely isotropic material. With the introduction of thermal effects isotropic/transversely isotropic cylinder yields at a lower pressure whereas cylinder made of isotropic material requires less percentage increase in pressure to become fully-plastic from its initial yielding as compared to cylinder made of transversely isotropic material.
Heat exchanger operating point determination
Authors: Gvozdenac Dusan
Published: January 2010

This paper indicates 21 possible tasks for the calculation of heat exchangers and specifies in particular the procedure for determining heat exchanger operating point. Features of heat exchanger energy micro-balance are contained in its mathematical model, and features of its macro-balance hold in relations for heat flow rate. Operating point of heat exchanger is defined by satisfying micro and macro balances. The paper presents basic relations for determining operating points for some types of tasks and algorithms of certain procedures. A special case in which two, one or none non-trivial solutions appear within two of 21 tasks is analyzed and discussed separately. Presented procedures are very suitable for the preparation of own software for the calculation of operating parameters of any heat exchanger and analysis of heat exchangers network.
A modelling approach of thermal insulation applied to a Saharan building
Authors: Bekkouche Sidi , Benouaz Tayeb , Cheknane Ali
Published: January 2010

The present work is part of research project titled 'Modeling, Simulation, Theoretical and Experimental Thermal Studies of Ghardaia Local Climate. Effect of Thermal Insulation'. The main objective of the current work was to determine the temperatures of the building in question with or without thermal insulation. This paper presents experimental and theoretical studies of two rooms thermal behavior. These rooms are two parts of an apartment building located in semi arid area (Gharda?a). A mathematical model describing the thermal behavior of these rooms in question was developed and elaborated. These studies allowed also room internal temperature evolution profile to be determined. Through numerical simulation it has been found that the applied insulation layer reduced the losses of winter and maintained an appropriate temperature. It was found that the theoretically found results were consistent to an acceptable level with those found experimentally.
Readiness of primary school teachers to accept disabled children
Authors: Djevic Rajka
Published: January 2010

The paper presents the results of the research with the basic goal to study the readiness of primary school teachers to accept disabled students. Research participants were 205 teachers from primary schools at the territory of Serbia. The goal was accomplished through: (a) studying attitudes towards joint education of disabled students and their peers; (b) studying teachers' experiences in working with disabled students; and (c) studying teachers' readiness to accept disabled students, depending on their involvement/non-involvement in projects of inclusive education. Teachers express supportive attitudes towards joint schooling, but more than one half of them think that a selective approach is necessary in that process, according to the kind and degree of developmental disability. They support joint schooling from the humanistic point of view, but express concerns about the academic achievement of classes that include disabled students. The majority of teachers had experience in working with disabled students and based on that provided interesting suggestions for improving joint schooling. Higher readiness for accepting disabled students was demonstrated by teachers whose schools were involved in the projects of inclusive education. That implies the need for involving schools in similar projects and enabling teachers' immediate contact with students with developmental disabilities.
Sciences education for connecting science, technology and the society
Authors: Korolija Jasminka , Stanisic Jelena
Published: January 2010

Connecting science, technology and the society is one of the important principles of contemporary education. The foundation of this principle is the idea that scientific and technological achievements should be useful and applicable in everyday life of an individual. The paper presents the main determinants of the STS project (Science, Technology and Society Project) which deals with studying the influence of scientific research and technological development on social, political and cultural values. The basic goal of education within the STS Project is to enable the students to understand and learn to incorporate the achievements of scientific and technological development in their own cultural, ecological, economic, political and social contexts. In addition to this, the paper presents the role of sciences in connecting science, technology and the society and describes the possibilities of incorporating a similar project in chemistry instruction in our school. Pilot study which was conducted refers to the proposal for applying the principles on which the STS project is based in chemistry instruction in our country. This pilot study can present the basis for future research and the guideline that can be used for promoting the process of education in primary and secondary school.
Involvement of MicroRNAs in the Cytotoxic Effects Exerted by Proinflammatory Cytokines on Pancreatic β-Cells
Authors: Roggli Elodie , Britan Aurore , Gattesco Sonia , Lin-Marq Nathalie , Abderrahmani Amar , Meda Paolo , Regazzi Romano
Published: January 2010

OBJECTIVE

Pancreatic β-cells exposed to proinflammatory cytokines display alterations in gene expression resulting in defective insulin secretion and apoptosis. MicroRNAs are small noncoding RNAs emerging as key regulators of gene expression. Here, we evaluated the contribution of microRNAs to cytokine-mediated β-cell cytotoxicity.

RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS

We used global microarray profiling and real-time PCR analysis to detect changes in microRNA expression in β-cells exposed to cytokines and in islets of pre-diabetic NOD mice. We assessed the involvement of the microRNAs affected in cytokine-mediated β-cell failure by modifying their expression in insulin-secreting MIN6 cells.

RESULTS

We found that IL-1β and TNF-α induce the expression of miR-21, miR-34a, and miR-146a both in MIN6 cells and human pancreatic islets. We further show an increase of these microRNAs in islets of NOD mice during development of pre-diabetic insulitis. Blocking miR-21, miR-34a, or miR-146a function using antisense molecules did not restore insulin-promoter activity but prevented the reduction in glucose-induced insulin secretion observed upon IL-1β exposure. Moreover, anti–miR-34a and anti–miR-146a treatment protected MIN6 cells from cytokine-triggered cell death.

CONCLUSIONS

Our data identify miR-21, miR-34a, and miR-146a as novel players in β-cell failure elicited in vitro and in vivo by proinflammatory cytokines, notably during the development of peri-insulitis that precedes overt diabetes in NOD mice.
Surfactant Protein D, a Marker of Lung Innate Immunity, Is Positively Associated With Insulin Sensitivity
Authors: Fernández-Real José Manuel , Valdés Sergio , Manco Melania , Chico Berta , Botas Patricia , Campo Arantza , Casamitjana Roser , Delgado Elías , Salvador Javier , Fruhbeck Gema , Mingrone Geltrude , Ricart Wifredo
Published: January 2010

OBJECTIVE

Impaired lung function and innate immunity have both attracted growing interest as a potentially novel risk factor for glucose intolerance, insulin resistance, and type 2 diabetes. We aimed to evaluate whether surfactant protein D (SP-D), a lung-derived innate immune protein, was behind these associations.

RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS

Serum SP-D was evaluated in four different cohorts. The cross-sectional associations between SP-D and metabolic and inflammatory parameters were evaluated in two cohorts, the cross-sectional relationship with lung function in one cohort, and the longitudinal effects of weight loss on fasting and circadian rhythm of serum SP-D and cortisol concentrations in one prospective cohort.

RESULTS

In the cross-sectional studies, serum SP-D concentration was significantly decreased in subjects with obesity and type 2 diabetes (P = 0.005) and was negatively associated with fasting and postload serum glucose. SP-D was also associated with A1C, serum lipids, insulin sensitivity, inflammatory parameters, and plasma insulinase activity. Smoking subjects with normal glucose tolerance, but not smoking patients with type 2 diabetes, showed significantly higher serum SP-D concentration than nonsmokers. Serum SP-D concentration correlated positively with end-tidal carbon dioxide tension (r = 0.54, P = 0.034). In the longitudinal study, fasting serum SP-D concentration decreased significantly after weight loss (P = 0.02). Moreover, the main components of cortisol and SP-D rhythms became synchronous after weight loss.

CONCLUSIONS

These findings suggest that lung innate immunity, as inferred from circulating SP-D concentrations, is at the cross-roads of inflammation, obesity, and insulin resistance.
Barriers to Insulin Initiation
Authors: Karter Andrew J. , Subramanian Usha , Saha Chandan , Crosson Jesse C. , Parker Melissa M. , Swain Bix E. , Moffet Howard H. , Marrero David G.
Published: January 2010

OBJECTIVE

Reasons for failing to initiate prescribed insulin (primary nonadherence) are poorly understood. We investigated barriers to insulin initiation following a new prescription.

RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS

We surveyed insulin-naïve patients with poorly controlled type 2 diabetes, already treated with two or more oral agents who were recently prescribed insulin. We compared responses for respondents prescribed, but never initiating, insulin (n = 69) with those dispensed insulin (n = 100).

RESULTS

Subjects failing to initiate prescribed insulin commonly reported misconceptions regarding insulin risk (35% believed that insulin causes blindness, renal failure, amputations, heart attacks, strokes, or early death), plans to instead work harder on behavioral goals, sense of personal failure, low self-efficacy, injection phobia, hypoglycemia concerns, negative impact on social life and job, inadequate health literacy, health care provider inadequately explaining risks/benefits, and limited insulin self-management training.

CONCLUSIONS

Primary adherence for insulin may be improved through better provider communication regarding risks, shared decision making, and insulin self-management training.
Depressive Symptoms and Risk of Type 2 Diabetes in a National Sample of Middle-Aged and Older Adults
Authors: Demakakos Panayotes , Pierce Mary B. , Hardy Rebecca
Published: January 2010

OBJECTIVE

To examine the association between baseline elevated depressive symptoms and incident type 2 diabetes in a national sample of people aged ≥50 years.

RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS

The sample consisted of 6,111 individuals free from self-reported doctor-diagnosed diabetes at baseline in 2002–2003. The eight-item Center for Epidemiological Studies–Depression (CES-D) scale was the measurement of depressive symptoms. Cox proportional hazards regression models were used to assess whether baseline elevated (≥4) depressive symptoms were associated with a higher risk of type 2 diabetes over 45.8 months of follow-up.

RESULTS

The hazard ratio (HR) for diabetes was 1.62 (95% CI 1.15–2.29) in a model adjusted for age, sex, marital status, education, total net household wealth, cardiovascular and psychiatric and other noncardiovascular comorbidities, BMI, and health behaviors for participants with elevated CES-D symptoms compared with those without. Complementary analysis performed for a subsample (n = 5,090) showed that additional adjustment of this model for use of antidepressants did not explain the association (HR 1.58, 95% CI 1.09–2.29).

CONCLUSIONS

Elevated depressive symptoms were associated with a higher risk of developing type 2 diabetes after accounting for sociodemographic, lifestyle, and clinical factors in a national sample of people aged ≥50 years.
Self-phase modulation effects and pulse propagation in gain-guided fibers
Authors: Zhou Renjie , Ibarra-Escamilla Baldemar , Zhan Qiwen , Powers Peter E. , Haus Joseph W.
Published: January 2010

We present a theoretical analysis of pulse propagation and self-focusing in a gain-guided (GG) fiber amplifier. A weak pulse is launched in the GG fiber when the input pulse reaches a critical power the pulse begins to collapse in the transverse direction. By using different input powers the transmission characteristics are changed. We add coupling to a single-mode fiber at the output end and study pulse dispersion and energy.
Magnetic resonance imaging of articular cartilage abnormalities of the far posterior femoral condyle of the knee
Authors: Ogino Shuhei , Huang Thomas , Watanabe Atsuya , Iranpour-Boroujeni Tannaz , Yoshioka Hiroshi
Published: January 2010

Background: Incidental articular cartilage lesions of the far posterior femoral condyle (FPFC) are commonly detected. Whether or not these cartilage lesions are symptomatic or clinically significant is unknown.

Purpose: To characterize and assess prevalence of articular cartilage abnormalities of the FPFC and associated bone marrow edema (BME) and/or internal derangements through magnetic resonance (MR) images.

Material and Methods: 654 knee MR examinations were reviewed retrospectively. Sagittal fast spin-echo proton density-weighted images with and without fat suppression were acquired with a 1.5T scanner, and were evaluated by two readers by consensus. The following factors were assessed: 1) the prevalence of cartilage abnormalities, 2) laterality, 3) the type of cartilage abnormalities, 4) cartilage abnormality grading, 5) associated BME, 6) complications such as meniscal injury and cruciate ligament injury, and 7) knee alignment (femorotibial angle [FTA]).

Results: Articular cartilage abnormalities of the FPFC were demonstrated in 157 of the 654 patients (24%). Of these, 40 patients demonstrated medial and lateral FPFC cartilage abnormalities and were thus counted as 80 cases. Focal lateral FPFC abnormalities were demonstrated in 117 of 197 cases (59.4%), while diffuse lateral FPFC abnormalities were demonstrated in 24 of 197 cases (12.2%). Focal medial FPFC abnormalities were demonstrated in 23 of 197 cases (11.6%), while diffuse medial FPFC abnormalities were demonstrated in 33 of 197 cases (16.8%). No statistically significant pattern of associated BME, FTA, or internal derangements including meniscal and cruciate ligament injury was demonstrated.

Conclusion: Articular cartilage abnormalities of the FPFC are common and were demonstrated in 24% of patients or 30% of cases. Lateral FPFC abnormalities occur 2.5 times more frequently than medial FPFC abnormalities and were more frequently focal compared with medial cohorts. BME is associated in 36.5% of cases.
Book Review
Authors: Jogeesvaran K. Haran
Published: January 2010

Frameworks for Radiology Reporting. By J. Jacoby & R. Ayer. London: Royal Society of Medicine Press Limited, 2009. 200 pages. ISBN: 978-1-85315-820-9
Non‐speech oro‐motor exercise use in acquired dysarthria management: regimes and rationales
Authors: Mackenzie Catherine , Muir Margaret , Allen Carolyn
Published: January 2010

Background: Non‐speech oro‐motor exercises (NSOMExs) are described in speech and language therapy manuals and are thought to be much used in acquired dysarthria intervention, though there is no robust evidence of an influence on speech outcome. Opinions differ as to whether, and for which dysarthria presentations, NSOMExs are appropriate.

Aims: The investigation sought to collect development‐phase data, in accordance with the Medical Research Council (MRC) evaluation of complex interventions. The aims were to establish the extent of use of NSOMExs in acquired disorders, the exercise regimes in use for dysarthria, with which dysarthric populations, and the anticipated clinical outcomes. A further aim was to determine the influencing rationales where NSOMExs were or were not used in dysarthria intervention.

Methods & Procedures: Speech and language therapists throughout Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland, working with adult‐acquired dysarthria, were identified by their service heads. They received postal questionnaires comprising 21 closed and two open questions, covering respondent biographics, use of NSOMExs, anticipated clinical outcomes, and practice influencing rationales.

Outcome & Results: One hundred and ninety‐one (56% response) completed questionnaires were returned. Eighty‐one per cent of respondents used NSOMExs in dysarthria. There was no association with years of speech and language therapy experience. Those who used and those who did not use NSOMExs provided similar influencing rationales, including evidence from their own practice, and Higher Education Institute teaching. More experienced speech and language therapists were more likely than those more recently qualified to be guided by results from their own practice. Input from the attended Higher Education Institute was more influential for those less experienced than for those more experienced. Clinical outcome aims were not confined to speech, but also included improvements in movement, sensory awareness, appearance, emotional status, dysphagia and drooling. NSOMExs were used with many neurological disorders, especially stroke, all dysarthria classes, especially flaccid, and all severity levels. Tongue and lip exercises were more frequent than face, jaw and soft palate. The most common regimes were four to six repetitions of each exercise, during three practice periods daily, each of 6–10 min.

Conclusions & Implications: NSOMExs are a frequent component of dysarthria management in the UK‐devolved government countries. This confirmation, along with the details of speech and language therapy practice, provides a foundation for clinical research which will compare outcomes for people with dysarthria, whose management includes and does not include NSOMExs. Speech and language therapy practice may be guided by evidence that speech outcome is or is not affected by NSOMExs.
Modelling Police Officers’ Judgements of the Veracity of Suicide Notes
Authors: Snook Brent , Mercer Jamison C.
Published: January 2010

We examined the extent to which the decision-making process employed by police officers when making judgements regarding the veracity of suicide notes could be modelled accurately by the Matching Heuristic (MH). Thirty-six officers each read 30 randomly selected suicide notes and were asked to decide whether each was genuine or fake. Results indicate that the fast and frugal MH model is an accurate approximation of the officers’ decision making. However, the officers performed at chance levels with respect to the absolute accuracy of their decisions. The implications of these findings for modelling professionals’ decisions and potential police training programs are discussed.
Chi-square-based Scoring Function for Categorization of MEDLINE Citations
Authors: Kastrin A. , Peterlin B. , Hristovski D.
Published: January 2010

Objectives: Text categorization has been used in biomedical informatics for identifying documents containing relevant topics of interest. We developed a simple method that uses a chi-square-based scoring function to determine the likelihood of MEDLINE® citations containing genetic relevant topic.

Methods: Our procedure requires construction of a genetic and a nongenetic domain document corpus. We used MeSH® descriptors assigned to MEDLINE citations for this categorization task. We compared frequencies of MeSH descriptors between two corpora applying chi-square test. A MeSH descriptor was considered to be a positive indicator if its relative observed frequency in the genetic domain corpus was greater than its relative observed frequency in the nongenetic domain corpus. The output of the proposed method is a list of scores for all the citations, with the highest score given to those citations containing MeSH descriptors typical for the genetic domain.

Results: Validation was done on a set of 734 manually annotated MEDLINE citations. It achieved predictive accuracy of 0.87 with 0.69 recall and 0.64 precision. We evaluated the method by comparing it to three machine-learning algorithms (support vector machines, decision trees, naïve Bayes). Although the differences were not statistically significantly different, results showed that our chi-square scoring performs as good as compared machine-learning algorithms.

Conclusions: We suggest that the chi-square scoring is an effective solution to help categorize MEDLINE citations. The algorithm is implemented in the BITOLA literature-based discovery support system as a preprocessor for gene symbol disambiguation process.
Estudio de las propiedades mecánicas de aceros HSLA de bajo contenido en carbono
Authors: Illescas S. , Fernández J. , Asensio J. , Sánchez-Soto M. , Guilemany J. M.
Published: January 2010

Se han estudiado dos aceros HSLA (high strength low alloy) que presentan composiciones similares, a excepción del contenido en elementos microaleantes. El propósito del estudio es determinar el efecto del tratamiento térmico y la influencia del contenido en vanadio (V) sobre la microestructura y las propiedades mecánicas de la bainita en cada uno de los aceros. Para ello, se han realizado ensayos de dureza, de impacto y de tracción para cada una de las estructuras bainíticas-ferrita acicular obtenidas por medio de los diferentes tratamientos térmicos realizados. Los resultados muestran como el contenido en V promueve la formación de ferrita acicular, presentando valores bajos de dureza y resistencia mecánica pero mejorando la tenacidad.
A MECHANICAL ASPIRATOR FOR SORTING AND COUNTING INSECTS IN THE FIELD
Authors: Moore H. W.
Published: January 2010

A quick, easy method of transferring large numbers of living grasshoppers from collection cages to field cages was developed from the suction collector idea by the writer during 1940. The vacuum created in the intake manifold of a car engine was used to operate an aspirator such as is in general use for picking up living insects.
FURTHER NOTES ON EXENTERUS (HYMENOPTERA, ICHNEUMONIDAE)
Authors: Cushman R. A.
Published: January 2010

Since the publication of my revision of the genus Exenterus (U. S. Dept. Agr. Misc. Pub. No. 354, 1940) several pertinent items of interest have come to my attention.

From the Canadian Department of Agriculture, through G. Stuart Walley, I have received specimens of two undescribe species, one in considerable nnmbers, the other represented by only a single specimen.
NEW SPECIES OF POLYMERUS (WESTWOOD) FROM THE UNITED STATES (HEMIPTERA, MIRIDAE)
Authors: Knight Harry H.
Published: January 2010

Runs in the couplet with severini in my key (Miridae of Illinois, 1941) but distinguished by black color on apical half of femora, base and apex of tibiae.

♂. Length 5.1 mm., width 2.34 mm. Head: width 1.12 mm., vertex .51 mm.; black, a small yellow glabrous spot each side of vertex bordering eye. Rostrum, lengt 1.08 mm., just reaching middle of mesosternum, yellowish, apical half blackish.