bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Buckling analysis of functionally graded sandwich cylindrical micro/nanoshells based on the couple stress theory
Authors: Zeighampour Hamid , Shojaeian Milad
Published: May 2017

Buckling of functionally graded sandwich cylindrical microshell under axial load is investigated. For this purpose, Donnell shell theory as well as material length scale parameter as considered by the couple stress theory is used, and equations of motion of the functionally graded sandwich cylindrical microshell along with boundary conditions are developed using Hamilton’s principle. Finally, dimensionless critical buckling load is determined for three functionally graded sandwich cylindrical microshells using the Navier procedure. Results of the new model are compared with the classical theory. The results indicate that the rigidity of the functionally graded sandwich cylindrical microshell in the couple stress theory is higher than that in the classical theory, which leads to increased dimensionless critical buckling load. Besides, the effect of material length scale parameter on dimensionless critical buckling load of the functionally graded sandwich cylindrical microshell in different wavenumbers is considerable.
Cardiovascular Magnetic Resonance Imaging—Incremental Value in a Series of 361 Patients Demonstrating Cost Savings and Clinical Benefits: An Outcome-Based Study
Authors: Hegde Vinayak A , Biederman Robert WW , Mikolich J Ronald
Published: May 2017

Background:

This study was designed to assess the clinical impact and cost-benefit of cardiovascular magnetic resonance imaging (CMR). In the face of current health care cost concerns, cardiac imaging modalities have come under focused review. Data related to CMR clinical impact and cost-benefit are lacking.

Methods and Results:

Retrospective review of 361 consecutive patients (pts) who underwent CMR exams was conducted. Indications for CMR were tabulated for appropriateness criteria. Components of the CMR exam were identified along with evidence of clinical impact. The cost of each CMR exam was ascertained along with cost savings attributable to the CMR exam for calculation of an incremental cost-effectiveness ratio. A total of 354 of 361 pts (98%) had diagnostic quality studies. Of the 361 pts, 350 (97%) had at least 1 published Appropriateness Criterion for CMR. A significant clinical impact attributable to CMR exam results was observed in 256 of 361 pts (71%). The CMR exam resulted in a new diagnosis in 69 of 361 (27%) pts. Cardiovascular magnetic resonance imaging results avoided invasive procedures in 38 (11%) pts and prevented additional diagnostic testing in 26 (7%) pts. Comparison of health care savings using CMR as opposed to current standards of care showed a net cost savings of $833 037, ie, per patient cost savings of $2308.

Conclusions:

Cardiovascular magnetic resonance imaging provides diagnostic image quality in >98% of cases. Cardiovascular magnetic resonance imaging findings have documentable clinical impact on patient management in 71% of pts undergoing the exam, in a cost beneficial manner.
A contemporary profile of primary progressive multiple sclerosis participants from the NARCOMS Registry
Authors: Salter Amber , Thomas Nina P , Tyry Tuula , Cutter Gary R , Marrie Ruth Ann
Published: May 2017

Background:

Primary progressive multiple sclerosis (PPMS) represents 10%–15% of all multiple sclerosis (MS) diagnoses. Information regarding socio-demographic and clinical characteristics of persons with PPMS is limited.

Objective:

To characterize persons with PPMS in the North American Research Committee on Multiple Sclerosis (NARCOMS) Registry.

Methods:

We compared demographic and health-related characteristics of NARCOMS Registry participants reporting PPMS in the spring 2015 update survey with those reporting relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis (RRMS) and secondary progressive multiple sclerosis (SPMS), with characteristics of published PPMS cohorts.

Results:

Of 8004 responders, 6774 self-reported a clinical course of PPMS, SPMS, or RRMS. The PPMS cohort ( n = 632, 9.3%) reported a mean (standard deviation (SD)) age of 64.3 (8.9) years; 62.7% were female; the SPMS and RRMS cohorts were younger and had a higher proportion of females. The NARCOMS PPMS cohort differed in age, time from onset and diagnosis, and proportion of females compared to population-based and clinical trial cohorts. Median (25%, 75%) number of comorbidities was 2 (1, 2) for each cohort with vascular comorbidities being most frequently reported.

Conclusion:

The NARCOMS population provides a different perspective on persons with PPMS than clinical trials. A better understanding of the characteristics of persons with PPMS may help address unmet needs in this population.
A journey to HIV prevention research: From social psychology to social health via multidisciplinarity
Authors: Kippax Susan
Published: May 2017

This is a personal account of my research in HIV prevention from 1984 to the present day. It demonstrates my disquiet with the individualism of psychology as a way of thinking about what was needed to prevent HIV transmission. HIV prevention requires social transformation which is produced via changes in social practices and norms of communities and networks rather than by changes in behaviours of individuals. My colleagues and I developed a ‘social health’ model of social transformation that involves enabling communities to modify their social practices by building on emergent community responses, responses that were identified by the use of a reflexive research methodology.
Exploring our understanding of fatigue among adolescents living with HIV: Highlighting the unknown
Authors: Loades Maria Elizabeth , Kagee Ashraf
Published: May 2017

Due to antiretroviral therapies, HIV is now a chronic illness rather than a terminal disease. Chronic symptoms, including fatigue, should be identified and managed to prevent or minimise their potential negative consequences. We apply a Symptom Management Model to conceptualise fatigue among adolescents with HIV. In the context of minimal research, we seek to identify a research agenda for resource-constrained contexts, where HIV prevalence remains high and treatment adherence is a significant problem. By better understanding and addressing the symptom of fatigue, treatment adherence, occupational, social and emotional functioning could be improved. We highlight conceptual, methodological and measurement-related caveats.
‘Am I really gonna go sixty years without getting cancer again?’ Uncertainty and liminality in young women’s accounts of living with a history of breast cancer
Authors: Rees Sophie
Published: May 2017

Although much research has examined the experience of breast cancer, the distinctive perspectives and lives of young women have been relatively neglected. Women diagnosed with breast cancer under the age of 45, and who had completed their initial treatment, were interviewed, and social constructionist grounded theory methods were used to analyse the data. The end of initial treatment was accompanied by a sense of unease and uncertainty in relation to recurrence and survival, and also fertility and menopausal status. The young women’s perceptions about the future were altered, and their fears about recurrence were magnified by the possibility of many decades ahead during which breast cancer could recur. The implications for the young women’s life course, in terms of whether they would be able to have children, would not become clear for several years after initial treatment. This resulted in a liminal state, in which young women found themselves neither cancer-free nor cancer patients, neither pre- nor post-menopausal, neither definitively fertile nor infertile. This liminal state had a profound impact on young women’s identities and sense of agency. This extends previous understanding of life after cancer, exploring the age-related dimensions of liminality.
“It was like I had to fit into a category”: Care-seekers’ experiences of gender regulation in the Swedish trans-specific healthcare
Authors: Linander Ida , Alm Erika , Goicolea Isabel , Harryson Lisa
Published: May 2017

The few previous studies investigating regulation of gender in trans-specific healthcare are mainly based on text material and interviews with care-providers or consist solely of theoretical analyses. There is a lack of studies analysing how the regulation of gender is expressed in the care-seeker’s own experiences, especially in a Nordic context. The aim of this study is to analyse narratives of individuals with trans experiences (sometimes called transgender people) to examine how gender performances can be regulated in trans-specific care in Sweden. The conceptual framework is inspired by trans studies, a Foucauldian analysis of power, queer phenomenology and the concept of cisnormativity. Fourteen interviews with people with trans experiences are analysed with constructivist grounded theory. The participants’ experiences indicate that gender is constructed as norm-conforming, binary and stable in trans-specific healthcare. This gendered position is resisted, negotiated and embraced by the care-seekers. Norms and discourses both inside and outside trans-specific care contribute to the regulation and limit the room for action for care-users. We conclude that a trans-specific care that has a confirming approach to its care-users, instead of the current focus on gender norm conformity, has the potential to increase the self-determination of gender performance and increase the quality of care.
Cloaked Facebook pages: Exploring fake Islamist propaganda in social media
Authors: Farkas Johan , Schou Jannick , Neumayer Christina
Published: May 2017

This research analyses cloaked Facebook pages that are created to spread political propaganda by cloaking a user profile and imitating the identity of a political opponent in order to spark hateful and aggressive reactions. This inquiry is pursued through a multi-sited online ethnographic case study of Danish Facebook pages disguised as radical Islamist pages, which provoked racist and anti-Muslim reactions as well as negative sentiments towards refugees and immigrants in Denmark in general. Drawing on Jessie Daniels’ critical insights into cloaked websites, this research furthermore analyses the epistemological, methodological and conceptual challenges of online propaganda. It enhances our understanding of disinformation and propaganda in an increasingly interactive social media environment and contributes to a critical inquiry into social media and subversive politics.
Anti-idling systems for service vehicles: Modeling and experiments
Authors: Khazraee Milad , Huang Yanjun , Khajepour Amir
Published: May 2017

Vehicles are a major source of fuel consumption and air pollution. Any improvement in their efficiency impacts the environment and economy positively. Service vehicles such as food delivery trucks have many loading and unloading stops during their daily work cycle. In these stops, their auxiliary devices need to be active and hence the engines run at its idling speed resulting in extremely low fuel efficiency.

A regenerative auxiliary power system is proposed for anti-idling of service vehicles. This system reduces the engine idling and maximizes the regenerative braking energy by utilizing an additional battery.

In this paper, different system configurations and possible options for integration of regenerative auxiliary power system to the vehicle powertrain are studied. Backward-looking scalable powertrain components modeling approach is utilized to create a flexible system model which can be easily modified for different vehicles. The full system model has scalability and composability features. A library for common components used in service vehicles is developed for ease of development of such anti-idling systems.

Hardware-in-the-loop tests and a prototype model of regenerative auxiliary power system have been utilized for the laboratory evaluation in order to validate the model and characterize the regenerative auxiliary power system components.
Seizing the serendipitous moments: Coincidental creative processes in media work
Authors: Malmelin Nando , Virta Sari
Published: May 2017

This article discusses the phenomenon of serendipity in media work and in media organizations. Based on an empirical analysis of diary material, we identify and elaborate three types of serendipitous processes in creative work, that is, serendipitous, semi-serendipitous and antiserendipitous processes. In addition, we discuss the role of lucky incidents and human capabilities in serendipity, and consider their value to creative processes in media organizations. We argue that conceptual frameworks and theories of serendipity are useful in identifying, evaluating and harnessing unpredicted and accidental creative incidents and processes. The article shows that serendipity offers valuable conceptualizations and insights for scholars and practitioners alike in the context of the rapidly changing media industry and media work.
What’s in a name again? The identity frames and mobilisation strategies of Czech Romani and Pro-Romani activists
Authors: Koubek Martin
Published: May 2017

The aim of this study is to empirically analyse the relationship of collective identity frames to the mobilisation strategies of the Czech Romani and pro-Romani activists over the past two decades. After all, most existing analyses merely implicitly assume that this relationship exists, and explain the relationship as the result of a given political opportunity structure, but they do not examine these frames more closely. Using frame and claim-making analysis, the text traces the diachronic and synchronic development of self-naming frames and the collective action repertoire in five-year intervals (1992, 1997, 2002, 2007, and 2012). It shows that, whereas self-naming significantly changes, the activists’ action repertoire does not. Thus, the frequently postulated relationship between self-naming, strategies and activists’ priorities is not confirmed. However, the analysis does reveal that certain claims and frames are connected with certain strategies and repertoire patterns. The paper concludes with a discussion of reasons for this diversification of activist framings, which may be the result of efforts to focus on different target audiences within the multiplicity of opportunity structures and a response to the (new) availability of external sources of funding in Central and Eastern Europe countries.
Relationship-Centered Dementia Care: Insights from a Community-Based Culture Change Coalition
Authors: de Witt Lorna , Fortune Darla
Published: May 2017

This article reports on the work of a community-based culture change coalition affiliated with the Partnerships in Dementia Care Alliance, a research network committed to strengthening dementia care through supporting relationship-centered care approaches. Research to date emphasizes negative aspects of dementia care relationships. Drawing on data the culture change coalition collected as part of their culture change work using participatory action research guided by appreciative inquiry, this article examines what relationship qualities contributed to positive dementia care experiences and how positive relationships were created. Five types of care partners participated in the study through questionnaires, focus groups, and a mini appreciative inquiry summit. Data were analyzed collaboratively with culture change coalition members. Early in the analysis process, the aspiration statement “Relationships are at the heart of dementia care in [name of] County,” was developed and informed further thematic analysis. Findings revealed several relationship characteristics including friendship, commonality of experience, developing trust and feeling appreciated, reciprocity, and taking time/making time for relationships. As this article illuminates, relationship-centered programs and policies have the potential to foster positive dementia care experiences among diverse care partners in community settings.
Educational justice, segregated schooling and vocational education
Authors: Giesinger Johannes
Published: May 2017

The philosophical debate on educational justice currently focusses on the Anglo-American situation. This essay brings in an additional perspective. It provides a justice-oriented critique of the segregated education systems in German-speaking countries. First, arguments that are commonly put forward in favour of these systems are rejected. Second, an additional argument against early tracking in education is formulated. It is claimed that segregated education systems tend to undermine children’s ‘right to an open future’. It is also explained that the segregated systems in Germany, Austria and Switzerland are linked to well-established systems of vocational education and training. It is argued, in this essay, that a workplace-based vocational system can be an important element of a just education system. The proposal is, then, to introduce a comprehensive school system in the first 8 or 9 school years that prepares students for both the vocational system and the academic track ( Gymnasium). Against this background, a so-called threshold conception of educational justice – that contains two different threshold levels – is formulated.
Inequality of opportunity: Some lessons from the case of highly selective universities
Authors: O’Brien David
Published: May 2017

Many egalitarians believe that there is a pro tanto reason to remedy inequalities of opportunity in access to higher education. This consensus, I argue, masks practical disagreement among egalitarians: in many real-world choice contexts, egalitarians will disagree about which policies are to be endorsed, both from the point of view of equality and all things considered. I focus my discussion on a real-world case (the ‘big squeeze’ – so-called because the children of well-off families ‘squeeze out’ the children of less well-off families from access to highly selective US universities) that has recently been discussed by Amy Gutmann. I argue that while (a) the ‘big squeeze’ is condemned by the ideal of equal opportunity, nevertheless (b) different egalitarians will favor different policies in response to the ‘big squeeze’, and (c) one intuitive, and apparently egalitarian, response lacks support from most plausible egalitarian views.
Rethinking International TV Flows Research in the Age of Netflix
Authors: Lobato Ramon
Published: May 2017

This article considers how established methodologies for researching television distribution can be adapted for subscription video-on-demand (SVOD) services. Specifically, I identify a number of critical questions—some old, some new—that can be investigated by looking closely at SVOD catalogs in different countries. Using Netflix as an example, and drawing parallels with earlier studies of broadcast and cinema schedules, I ask what Netflix’s international catalogs can tell us about content diversity within streaming services, and how this can be connected to longer traditions of debate about the direction and intensity of global media flows. Finally, I describe what a research agenda around Netflix catalogs might look like, and assess the utility of various kinds of data within such a project (as well as some methodological pitfalls).
Compendium of the Health and Wellness Coaching Literature
Authors: Sforzo Gary A. , Kaye Miranda P. , Todorova Irina , Harenberg Sebastian , Costello Kyle , Cobus-Kuo Laura , Faber Aubrey , Frates Elizabeth , Moore Margaret
Published: May 2017

Health and wellness coaching (HWC) for lifestyle behavior change is emerging as a practice, role, and profession, in diverse health care, employee wellness, and community settings. Health care professionals apply HWC as a behavior change methodology for the prevention and treatment of diabetes, hypertension, hyperlipidemia, heart disease, cancer, and other chronic disorders. The purpose of this systematic review was to provide a comprehensive and organized compendium of HWC literature. To date, extant HWC literature remains scattered with no meaningful summary accessible. Lack of comprehensive summary stems from lack of consensus on HWC definition and standards. We applied a recently proposed, standardized definition of HWC to determine compendium inclusion criteria for peer-reviewed, data-based literature from relevant search engines (ie, PubMed, PsychInfo, and CINAHL). A systematic review process was executed and ultimately yielded 219 articles meeting HWC inclusion criteria. Of these, 150 were data-based and the remainder were expert opinion or review-style articles. A summary of results generally reveals HWC as a promising intervention for chronic diseases though further research is needed in most categories. The resulting HWC compendium organizes and describes the quantity and quality of available literature for the use and benefit of HWC practitioners and researchers.
Using guilt appeals in communication
Authors: Chédotal Camille , Berthe Bénédicte , de Peyrelongue Bénédicte , Le Gall-Ely Marine
Published: May 2017

Based on pioneering consideration in the Humanities and Social Sciences domain, research on the use of guilt appeals in communication has expanded in the marketing field. Advertisers regularly use guilt-inducing messages, but contradictory results regarding their effects have been found in the literature. This article proposes a conceptual model to increase understanding of the operating modes of guilt appeals and to improve their effectiveness.
BabyVeillance? Expecting Parents, Online Surveillance and the Cultural Specificity of Pregnancy Apps
Authors: Barassi Veronica
Published: May 2017

The rapid proliferation of self-tracking pregnancy apps raises critical questions about the commodification and surveillance of personal data in family life while highlighting key transformations in the social experience of pregnancy. In the last 2 years, we have seen the emergence of significant research in the field. On one hand, scholars have highlighted the political economic dimension of these apps by showing how they relate to new practices of quantification of the self. On the other hand, they have focused on users’ experience and on the affective, pleasurable, and socially meaningful dimension of these technologies. Although insightful, current research has yet to consider the cultural specificity of these technologies. Drawing on a digital ethnography of the 10 most reviewed pregnancy apps among UK and US users at the beginning of 2016, the article will show not only that the information ecologies of pregnancy apps are extremely varied but also that users’ interaction with these technologies is critical and culturally specific. By discussing pregnancy apps as complex ethnographic environments—which are shaped by different cultural tensions and open-ended processes of negotiation, interaction, and normativity—the article will argue that—in the study of infancy online—we need to develop a media anthropological approach and shed light on the cultural complexity of digital technologies while taking into account how users negotiate with digital surveillance and the quantification of the self.
A new model for understanding global media and China: ‘Knowledge clubs’ and ‘knowledge commons’
Authors: Hartley John , Montgomery Lucy , Siling Li Henry
Published: May 2017

The topic of this article and title of this journal are the same: ‘global media and China’. Although ‘global’ suggests a single universal unit, adding ‘China’ necessarily creates a difference, especially in the context of the ‘Great Firewall’, which creates a well-defined boundary between global media and China. Should our title read ‘Global Media versus China’, suggesting that the apparent universality of ‘global’ phenomena may be an illusion in a world marked by difference? We argue the contrary: that difference, produced along borderlines between different cultures – defined as those sociocultural groups whose boundaries require translation to cross, rather than simple transmission – is the productive energy that generates new knowledge (and thence, innovation) among large populations. We show that the peculiarity of current relations between global media and China is not evidence of exceptional ‘Chinese characteristics’, but of how culture deals with the globalisation of communication, and consciousness of that process among whole populations.
Do They Always Have Wounded Selves: Moderating Impact of Job-worth on Burnout and Self-worth of Indian Call Centre Employees
Authors: Mukherjee Tuheena , Bhal Kanika T.
Published: May 2017

Numerous researches in call centres indicate the negative psychological impact in the form of burnout experiences of the customer service representatives. The present study argues that burnout experiences do not always have a negative impact on the employee’s self-worth. The relationship is, instead, moderated by the impact of job-worth, which acts as a potential individual resource. The results of the present study conducted on 312 call centre representatives partially confirm our hypotheses. Results indicate that representatives who have high job-worth maintain their self-worth, even when emotionally exhausted. The results also show that employees possessing high job-worth, even with low personal accomplishments on their jobs, maintain their self-worth. We discuss the findings in the Indian call centre context from the perspective of self and identity literature and provide broader implications for practice and research.
Rescaling employment support accountability: From negative national neoliberalism to positively integrated city-region ecosystems
Authors: Whitworth Adam , Carter Eleanor
Published: May 2017

Waves of successive Devolution Deals are transforming England’s landscape of spatial governance and transferring new powers to city-regions, facilitating fundamental qualitative policy reconfigurations and opening up new opportunities as well as new risks for citizens and local areas. Focused on city-region’s recently emerging roles around employment support policies the article advances in four ways what are currently conceptually and geographically underdeveloped literatures on employment support accountability levers. Firstly, the paper dissects weaknesses in the accountability framework of Great Britain’s key national contracted-out employment support programme and identifies the potential for city-regions to respond to these weaknesses. Secondly, the article highlights the centrality of the nationally neglected network accountability lever in supporting these unemployed individuals and advances this discussion further by introducing to the literature for the first time a conceptual distinction between what we term ‘positive’ and ‘negative’ forms of these accountably levers that currently remain homogenised within the literature. Crucially, the argument sets out for the first time in the literature why analytically it is the positive version of network accountability that is the key – and currently missing at national-level – ingredient to the design of effective employment support for the priority group of ‘harder-to-help’ unemployed people who have more complex and/or severe barriers to employment. Thirdly, the paper argues from a geographical perspective that it is city-regions that are uniquely positioned in the English context to create the type of positively networked integrated employment support ‘ecosystem’ that ‘harder-to-help’ individuals in particular require. Finally, the discussion situates these city-region schemes within their broader socio-economic and political context and connects with broader debates around the lurching development of neoliberalism. In doing so it argues that whilst these emerging city-region ecosystem models offer much progressive potential their relationship to the problematic neoliberal employment support paradigm remains uncertain given that they refine, embed and indeed buttress that same neoliberal employment policy paradigm rather than fundamentally challenging or stepping beyond it.
Cooking fuel and respiratory symptoms among people living with HIV in rural Uganda
Authors: North Crystal M. , Valeri Linda , Hunt Peter W. , Mocello A. Rain , Martin Jeffrey N. , Boum Yap , Haberer Jessica E. , Bangsberg David R. , Christiani David C. , Siedner Mark J.
Published: May 2017

Household air pollution (HAP) and chronic HIV infection are each associated with significant respiratory morbidity. Little is known about relationships between HAP and respiratory symptoms among people living with HIV. The objective of this study was to investigate the relationship between cooking fuel type and chronic respiratory symptoms in study participants from the Uganda AIDS Rural Treatment Outcomes Study.

Study participants were enrolled at the time of antiretroviral therapy initiation and seen quarterly from 2005 to 2014 for health-focused questionnaires, CD4 count and HIV viral load. We used multivariable logistic regression and generalised estimating equations, with each study visit as a unit of observation, to investigate relationships between cooking fuel type and chronic respiratory symptoms.

We observed an association between cooking with firewood (versuscharcoal) and chronic cough among HIV-infected females in rural Uganda (adjusted OR 1.41, 95% CI 1.00–1.99; p=0.047). We did not observe an association between cooking fuel type and respiratory symptoms among males (adjusted OR 0.88, 95% CI 0.47–1.63; p=0.658).

Associations between cooking fuel and chronic cough in this HIV-infected cohort may be influenced by sex-based roles in meal preparation. This study raises important questions about relationships between household air pollution, HIV infection and respiratory morbidity.
Influence of deformation-band fault damage zone on reservoir performance
Authors: Qu Dongfang , Tveranger Jan , Fachri Muhammad
Published: May 2017

Access to 3D descriptions of fault zone architectures and recent development of modeling techniques allowing explicit rendering of these features in reservoir models, provide a new tool for detailed implementation of fault zone properties. Our aim is to assess how explicit rendering of fault zone architecture and properties affects performance of fluid flow simulation models. The test models use a fault with a maximum 100 m displacement and a fault damage zone with petrophysical heterogeneity caused by the presence of deformation bands. The distribution pattern of deformation bands in fault damage zones is well-documented, which allows generation of realistic models. A multiscale modeling workflow is applied to incorporate these features into reservoir models. Model input parameters were modulated to provide a range of property distributions, and the interplay between the modeling parameters and reservoir performance was analyzed. The influence of deformation-band damage zone on reservoir performance in the presence of different fault core transmissibility-multipliers was investigated. Two configurations are considered: one in which the fault terminates inside the model domain, representing a case in which the fluid can flow around the fault, and one in which the fault dissects the entire model domain, representing a case in which the fluid is forced to cross the fault. We observed that the impact of deformation-band fault damage zone on reservoir performance changes when the fault core transmissibility multiplier is changed. Reservoir performance is insensitive to changing damage zone heterogeneity in a configuration in which flow can move around the fault. Where flow cannot bypass the fault, the influence of fault damage zone heterogeneity on reservoir performance is significant even when the fault core transmissibility multiplier is low.
A practical petrophysical model for a source rock play: The Mancos Shale
Authors: Salazar Jesús M. , Bonnie Ron J. M. , Clopine William W. , Michael G. Eric
Published: May 2017

Recently, the focus in source rock exploration has moved from gas-rich to liquid-rich plays and warrants revisiting “bypassed” hydrocarbon charged source rocks, which were deemed uneconomic when first drilled. In North America’s oil fields, there are thousands of wells with different vintages of nuclear and electrical logs, yet these wells generally lack any advanced logs beyond the traditional triple combo. We have developed a workflow that uses a considerable amount of laboratory measurements made on crushed rock to upscale a petrophysical model based on a triple combo logging suite only. The model divides the field (laterally) in oil window and gas window fairways and (vertically) in petrophysical units. The remaining hydrocarbon generation potential is based on geochemical measurements, such as thermal maturity and total organic carbon content (TOC), from core and cuttings in the area. The petrophysical units reflect major geologic intervals with similar porosity and clay content. The workflow was sequentially built by correlating logs with core measurements, using TOC and maturity for organic matter, X-ray diffraction for mineralogy and grain density, porosity, and water saturation from fluids extraction, for volumetrics. The model is applied to the Mancos Shale (New Mexico, USA), a Cretaceous-age source rock, which includes the Niobrara Formation. The Mancos Shale has been penetrated in various fields while developing conventional sandstone reservoirs. The model is validated with measurements on a core recently acquired in the anticipated high-hydrocarbon-yield window. Petrophysical properties predicted from logs agree well with core measurements in blind tests, demonstrating the robustness of the model despite being based on a basic suite of logs and a simple deterministic approach. This model is now routinely used by the asset team as an automated workflow to generate fairway maps, locate sweet spots, and for landing lateral wells.
Near-surface and anisotropy modeling for efficient land seismic depth imaging in low-relief geology
Authors: Colombo Daniele , Sandoval-Curiel Ernesto , Ris Mats , Seeni Salvarajah
Published: May 2017

Prestack depth migration of land data presents unique characteristics and challenges that distinguish it from the workflows applied for marine data. Such unique characteristics are primarily related to the near surface. In areas of low-relief geology, near-surface velocity variations can obscure the reservoir structure. The remaining deeper earth model section has good lateral continuity and can be described effectively by smooth velocity fields. Strategies for estimating the near-surface effects and incorporating them into a processing workflow are of primary importance for the successful depth imaging of land seismic data. The second important aspect of a depth imaging workflow is that the seismic image must honor the well markers or formation tops. The subhorizontal fine-scale layering of low-relief structures can cause anisotropy that needs to be taken into account to achieve accurate well ties and good image quality. We have evaluated the application of an efficient workflow to achieve fast and reliable depth imaging in layered geology; this involves the decomposition of the near-surface velocity into short-, medium-, and long-wavelength terms followed by reflection velocity analysis and anisotropic parameter scanning. The long-wavelength components are solved by dynamic velocity analysis, whereas the medium- and short-wavelength terms are evaluated by surface-consistent analysis applied to refracted and reflected data. Interaction with seismic interpreters and geology-consistent updates mitigates the possibility of introducing errors in areas not covered by wells. The workflow is applied to a structure-controlled wadi in central Saudi Arabia showing complex near-surface conditions and imaging problems. The study incorporates high-resolution helicopter-borne transient electromagnetic data that are used to constrain seismic traveltime inversion through cross-gradient structural regularization (joint inversion). Fast and robust depth imaging constrained by well data is obtained through accurate estimation of near-surface velocities, anisotropy, and geology-consistent analysis.
One-year symptom trajectories in patients with stable schizophrenia maintained on antipsychotics versus placebo: meta-analysis
Authors: Takeuchi Hiroyoshi , Kantor Navot , Sanches Marcos , Fervaha Gagan , Agid Ofer , Remington Gary
Published: May 2017

Background

As definitions of relapse differ substantially between studies, in investigations involving data aggregation, total scores on clinical rating scales provide a more generalisable outcome.

Aims

To compare total symptom trajectories for antipsychotic versus placebo treatment over a 1-year period of maintenance treatment in schizophrenia.

Method

Randomised controlled trials with antipsychotic and placebo treatment arms in patients with stable schizophrenia that reported Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale and Brief Psychiatric Rating Scale total scores at more than one time point were included. Meta-regression analyses were employed using a mixed model.

Results

A total of 11 studies involving 2826 patients were included. Meta-regression analyses revealed significant interactions between group and time (PS<0.0001); both standardised total scores and per cent score changes remained almost unchanged in patients continuing antipsychotic treatment, whereas symptoms continuously worsened over time in those switching to placebo treatment.

Conclusions

When considering long-term antipsychotic treatment of schizophrenia, clinicians must balance symptomatic and functional outcomes.
High DHEAS Is Associated With Earlier Pubertal Events in Girls But Not in Boys
Authors: Pereira Ana , Iñiguez German , Corvalan Camila , Mericq Verónica
Published: May 2017

Context:

Premature adrenarche (PA) has been associated with increased metabolic risk.

Objective:

To describe the risk of precocious thelarche (PT; <8 years), pubarche (PP; girls <8 years, boys <9 years), and gonadarche (PG; <9 years) in children with high dehydroepiandrosterone sulphate (DHEAS [HD]) vs those with normal DHEAS (ND).

Setting and Intervention:

Longitudinal Chilean cohort (n = 1052, 49.9% girls). Annual clinical examination including secondary sex characteristics by Tanner staging. Logistic regression models were adjusted by age and BMI.

Main Outcome:

Assess the relationship between DHEAS and premature thelarche, gonadarche, and pubarche in both sexes.

Results:

At age of DHEAS determination, overweight/obesity was present in 44.3% of boys and 42.9% of girls. Incidences of any precocious event were observed in 17.2% of boys and in 25.4% of girls, presented as 8.7% of PG and 8.5% of PP in boys and as 21.3% of PT and 4.1% of PP in girls. In crude and adjusted models in boys, HD did not increase the risk of earlier pubertal events. Conversely, girls with HD had a 2.6 times greater risk of early thelarche and a three times greater risk of early pubarche compared with girls with ND concentrations.

Conclusion:

In Chilean adolescents, precocious events of pubertal development were in line with the worldwide secular trend of earlier sexual maturation. HD was only associated with PT and PP in girls. Continuous follow-up of this cohort is a unique opportunity to prospectively address and analyze the interrelationships among HD, early growth, and adiposity as determinants of gonadarche, pubertal rate/sequence progression, and ovarian function.
Queering Glamour in Interwar Fashion Photography
Authors: Brown Elspeth H.
Published: May 2017

Obviously, glamour is queer. But has this always been true? This article offers queer histories of capitalism and interwar glamour through an analysis of George Platt Lynes's photographic work. Lynes, an American photographer for Condé Nast publications, was one of numerous queer photographers, including Baron de Meyer, Cecil Beaton, George Hoyningen-Huene, and Horst P. Horst, who defined a queer aesthetics of fashion photography in New York, Paris, London, and Hollywood in the years before World War II. I historicize what Lynes called the “amorous regard” of his fashion photography through an analysis of his male nudes and the sexual history for which they are a visual record. In this article, I show how both Lynes's fashion images and his male nudes emerged from a market-imbricated queer kinship network to produce a discourse of interwar glamour that accommodated both dominant readings of heteronormativity and resistant readings of queer, white, belonging.
WNK1 and p38-MAPK distribution in ionocytes and accessory cells of euryhaline teleost fish implies ionoregulatory function
Authors: Marshall W. S. , Cozzi R. R. F. , Spieker M.
Published: May 2017

Ionocytes of euryhaline teleost fish secrete NaCl, under regulation by serine and threonine kinases, including with-no-lysine kinase (WNK1) and p38 mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK). Mummichogs (Fundulus heteroclitus L.) were acclimated to freshwater (FW), full strength seawater (SW) and hypersaline conditions (2SW). Immunocytochemistry of ionocytes in opercular epithelia of fish acclimated to SW and 2SW revealed that WNK1-anti-pT58 phosphoantibody localized strongly to accessory cells and was present in the cytosol of ionocytes close to, cystic fibrosis transmembrane conductance regulator (CFTR) in the apical membrane and sodium, potassium, 2 chloride cotransporter (NKCC) in basolateral membrane. In FW acclimated fish, WNK1 localized to a sub-apical zone not colocalized with apical membrane-located sodium chloride cotransporter (NCC) and typically was present in one cell of paired ionocytes and was present in some single ionocytes. Forskolin treatment (10 µM, 30 min) increased immunofluorescence for WNK1 of SW ionocytes only, while hypertonicity had little effect, compared to SW controls. Anti-p38-MAPK antibody localized to the cytosolic compartment. The distribution of WNK1 and p38MAPK is consistent with a proximal position in regulatory cascades, rather than directly affecting transporters. The strong staining of accessory cells by WNK1 phosphoantibody infers a osmoregulatory function for WNK.
TheDrosophilaLIN54 homolog Mip120 controls two aspects of oogenesis
Authors: Cheng Mei-Hsin , Andrejka Laura , Vorster Paul J. , Hinman Albert , Lipsick Joseph S.
Published: May 2017

The conserved multi-protein MuvB core associates with the Myb oncoproteins and with the RB-E2F-DP tumor suppressor proteins in complexes that regulate cell proliferation, differentiation, and apoptosis. Drosophila Mip120, a homolog of LIN54, is a sequence-specific DNA-binding protein within the MuvB core. A mutant of Drosophila mip120 was previously shown to cause female and male sterility. We now show that Mip120 regulates two different aspects of oogenesis. First, in the absence of the Mip120 protein, egg chambers arrest during the transition from stage 7 to 8 with a failure of the normal program of chromosomal dynamics in the ovarian nurse cells. Specifically, the decondensation, disassembly and dispersion of the endoreplicated polytene chromosomes fail to occur without Mip120. The conserved carboxy-terminal DNA-binding and protein-protein interaction domains of Mip120 are necessary but are not sufficient for this process. Second, we show that a lack of Mip120 causes a dramatic increase in the expression of benign gonial cell neoplasm (bgcn), a gene that is normally expressed in only a small number of cells within the ovary including the germline stem cells.
Parasites lacking the micronemal protein MIC2 are deficient in surface attachment and host cell egress, but remain virulent in vivo
Authors: Gras Simon , Jackson Allison , Woods Stuart , Pall Gurman , Whitelaw Jamie , Leung Jacqueline M. , Ward Gary E. , Roberts Craig W. , Meissner Markus
Published: May 2017

Background: Micronemal proteins of the thrombospondin-related anonymous protein (TRAP) family are believed to play essential roles during gliding motility and host cell invasion by apicomplexan parasites, and currently represent major vaccine candidates against Plasmodium falciparum, the causative agent of malaria. However, recent evidence suggests that they play multiple and different roles than previously assumed. Here, we analyse a null mutant for MIC2, the TRAP homolog in Toxoplasma gondii. Methods: We performed a careful analysis of parasite motility in a 3D-environment, attachment under shear stress conditions, host cell invasion and in vivo virulence. Results: We verified the role of MIC2 in efficient surface attachment, but were unable to identify any direct function of MIC2 in sustaining gliding motility or host cell invasion once initiated. Furthermore, we find that deletion of mic2 causes a slightly delayed infection in vivo, leading only to mild attenuation of virulence; like with wildtype parasites, inoculation with even low numbers of mic2 KO parasites causes lethal disease in mice. However, deletion of mic2 causes delayed host cell egress in vitro, possibly via disrupted signal transduction pathways. Conclusions: We confirm a critical role of MIC2 in parasite attachment to the surface, leading to reduced parasite motility and host cell invasion. However, MIC2 appears to not be critical for gliding motility or host cell invasion, since parasite speed during these processes is unaffected. Furthermore, deletion of MIC2 leads only to slight attenuation of the parasite.
Construction of Canal Surfaces With Variable Generatrix And Parallelism Plane Based on Plane’s Equiaffine Transformations
Authors: Кокарева  , Kokareva Ya.
Published: May 2017

A kinematic approach to the construction of surfaces with equiaffine invariant for a volume of a compartment bounded by a surface, and a square of cross sections, parallel to a parallelism plane on the basis of the plane’s equiaffine transformations has been proposed in this paper. In particular, in the paper have been considered parametric equations of canal surfaces with a parallelism plane xOy, which sections have been transformed by elliptic, parabolic and hyperbolic rotations. A curve-prototype lies in the section z = 0, and a curve-image lies in the section z = h after transformation with rotations set parameters. The parametric equations have been obtained in a general form with randomness of the choice both a curve-prototype for canal surface construction, and functions defining a rate of rotation parameters change. Some general properties of the obtained surfaces have been considered, as well as some special cases of surfaces are considered, and trajectories of generating lines have been defined for them. In the case of parameter’s linear variation along the z-axis the elliptical rotation’s surfaces represent spiral and straight helical surfaces with constant and variable step however the generatrix trajectory envelops elliptical cone and cylinder. In all cases, the generatrices of the elliptical rotation’s surfaces are space curves. In the case of all parameters’ linear variation the parabolic rotation’s surfaces represent ruled surfaces. One particular case of parabolic rotation’s surfaces is the surface with two parallelism planes: xOy for equiaffine changing curve-section and xOz for generatrix. In the cases related to non-linear variation of only one parameter, generatrices for surfaces of parabolic and hyperbolic rotations are plane curves. Considered surfaces require further investigation with a view to their possible use in mechanisms and structures.