bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Behavioral Measures of Aircrew Mental Workload
Authors: Williges Robert C. , Wierwille Walter W.
Published: January 2017

Behavioral research literature pertaining to the measurement of aircrew workload was classified into general categories of subjective opinion, spare mental capacity, and primary task metrics. Fourteen specific classes of workload measures related to these general categories were reviewed specifically in regard to aircrew workload assessment in the flight test and evaluation. Each class of measures was summarized in terms of background, applications, and implications for research and implementation. It was concluded that no one, single measure can be recommended as the definitive behavioral measure of mental workload. Due to the multidimensionality of workload, it appears that the most promising assessment procedure should include multiple measures of subjective opinions, spare mental capacity, and primary task measures as well as physiological correlates.
Physiological Measures of Aircrew Mental Workload
Authors: Wierwille Walter W.
Published: January 2017

Physiological measures of aircrew mental workload were divided into fourteen specific classes. Each class was then summarized in terms of background, applications, and implications for research and implementation. It is concluded that several physiological measures appear promising, but that more research is needed to provide convincing evidence of viability. Physiological techniques can, however, be combined with other workload assessment techniques to provide a more complete understanding of the workload associated with given aircrew tasks.
Age as a Factor in Combined Manual and Decision Tasks
Authors: Kochhar Dev S. , Ali Hatem M.
Published: January 2017

A study was conducted to investigate the variation in speed of performance and decision making ability with age. The task performed involved decision making, hand movement, and positioning elements. The effects of age on decision and movement time were examined when information load, distance of move, and radial clearance (target width) were varied. In addition, heart rate was also monitored. Significant differences were detected in both decision and movement time for different levels of information load, distance of move, and radial clearance between the older (52 to 63 years) and younger (18 to 29 years) groups of subjects. Decision time differences between the two groups increased at higher levels of information load. The relationship between movement time and index of difficulty suggested that the older worker tends to exhibit a “start-up” lag in exercising movement control. Performance errors indicated that the slowing among the older workers was not observed at the expense of accuracy. The study provided no evidence that age has an effect on heart rate variability under different levels of information load and task difficulty.
Problem Solving Performance of First Semester Maintenance Trainees in Two Fault Diagnosis Tasks
Authors: Rouse William B.
Published: January 2017

Forty-eight first semester trainees in an FAA certificate program participated in an experimental study of trouble-shooting of two different types of graphically displayed networks. The effects of network size, redundancy, feedback, computer aiding, and training were considered. It was found that performance degraded as network size increased, degraded as the level of feedback was reduced, improved with the use of computer aiding, and that skills developed with computer aiding in one task were transferred to the other task.
Making Sense of War: An Autobiographical Account of a Vietnam War Correspondent
Authors: Gassaway Bob M.
Published: January 2017

This article presents and discusses the author's experiences as an Associated Press reporter covering the Vietnam War in the 1960s. The author presents vignettes of some of the people and events that made the greatest impressions on him, along with brief analyses of these stories. Following this he provides a retrospective examination of broader issues related to news coverage, including the emotional makeup of war correspondents, the role of journalists in creating news, and some organizational factors that influence the way news is reported.
Creating Scholarship and Journeying through Academia: Reflections and Interpretations from the Field
Authors: Frost Peter J.
Published: January 2017

This autobiographical account describes and analyzes aspects of the life and work of a scholar in organizational science. The author begins the account by discussing his origins and early work experience in South Africa, then focuses on three of his publication projects that exemplify the processes he considers significant to his development as a scholar. In reflecting on his career to date, the author points out themes that may be useful for understanding his and other scholars' experiences. He concludes by criticizing the stifling effects of the pressures universities and journals exert on scholars today, and urges the consideration of alternate ways of creating and pursuing useful knowledge.
Research on Vulnerable Populations
Authors: Weil Marie
Published: January 2017

In this autobiographical account, the author discusses her life and career experiences and how these relate to her work in community organizing and social services. The author's own sense of marginality, which originated in her being a dark-skinned, white, female member of a North Carolina family, formed the basis of her concerns about populations facing vulnerability and risk. Although the author's research and writings have addressed diverse subjects, common themes emerge related to decision making and shared leadership and to helping vulnerable groups design and coordinate programs to serve their array of needs.
Lessons of Burography
Authors: Johnson John M.
Published: January 2017

A burography is a description and analysis of the intersections of biography and bureaucracy that articulates the organizational experience and meaning from the actor's perspective. In this burography, the author discusses his experiences with and/or participant-observer study of bureaucracies in the U.S. Navy, public welfare agencies, evangelical organizations, movements on behalf of abused children and battered wives, and academia. Within the context of an organization, using biased or false reports in constructing official information is often considered a feature of organizational competence, based on one's understanding of the context. The process of critical reflection on the author's career has revealed to him that the motives for and results of his actions are more complex—and less completely altruistic—than previously imagined, both practically and morally.
The Moral Politics of Organizations: Reflections of an Unlikely Feminist
Authors: Martin Patricia Yancey
Published: January 2017

In this autobiographical account, the author describes how her background and organizational experiences in school, the church, employment, and other contexts have influenced her life and work. The author's upbringing in a Deep South town dominated by a textile company and her work in universities as a student and faculty member have led to her interest in organizational use and abuse of power, decision making, ethics, discriminatory practices, and the contradictions of official versus informal goals and practices. When organizations in her life failed to uphold their promises of neutrality, meritocracy, and fairness, particularly with respect to women, the author came to realize how much organizations tolerate and sometimes even reward rule violations. This prompted her to become a feminist, and to view organizations as entities responsible for the morality of their outcomes.
Notes on the Life of a Tortured Optimist
Authors: Sjoberg Gideon
Published: January 2017

This article is an autobiographical account of the author's background, educational experiences, and academic life and work as a professor of sociology at the University of Texas at Austin. Particular attention is given to the author's scholarly and research interests, and to how crises involving the organizational setting in which he worked are related to the sociological problems he has addressed since the early 1960s, especially those concerning bureaucracy and human rights.
The Role of APACHE-II Triaging in Optimum Management of Small Bowel Perforations
Authors: Mani Chinta , Borah C , Krishna S V S R , Anuj M , Bhatnagar D
Published: January 2017

Small bowel perforations with peritonitis pose a serious problem to an emergency surgeon because of the lack of any uniformity of opinion regarding the optimum surgical treatment to be performed. This may be attributed to lack of any common and reliable scoring system. A prospective study to discover the utility of APACHE-II triaging in small bowel perforations was conducted over a period of 14 months on 51 patients with small bowel perforations of various aetiologies. The triaging facilitated definitive surgical treatments based on the predictive value of APACHE-II scoring. The classification of patients into three groups, effectively brought uniformity in the management. A significant reduction in mortality and cost-effective utilization of scarce intensive care unit resources were the dominant outcomes of this study conducted at a busy tertiary centre.
Multifocal Skeletal Tuberculosis
Authors: Aggarwal Aditya N , Dhammi Ish Kumar , Jain Anil K
Published: January 2017

Multifocal skeletal tuberculosis is an uncommonly reported entity. The article presents a series of 18 cases encountered in our institution. There clinical characteristics are analysed and compared with available international literature.
The Pattern of Pain as Seen among Dar Es Salaam Residents
Authors: Mwafongo V , Zu-Bin Ma
Published: January 2017

This is a prospective study of 50 patients who attended the newly opened pain clinic at Muhimbili Medical Centre Dar es Salaam from January to June 2000. The aim of the study was to discover the final diagnosis and management of pain complaint from patients who attended the clinic. The most complaints were headache, backache, facial pain and discomfort of the lower extremities. Forty-six per cent of the women presented with headache, 15.4% backache and 15.4% numbness of lower limbs. In the men lower joint pains accounted for 37.5%, headache 33.3% and backache 16.7%. Where chronic inflammatory disorders were diagnosed non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs were prescribed combined with acupuncture and physiotherapy. Three women who had marital disharmony and two men who were impotent were referred to psychologist for counselling. The present study has shown that some patients in Dar es Salaam have a problem of both non-organic pain and psychogenic pain for which further studies are required in the general population.
Neonatal Tetanus in Babies of Women Immunized with Tetanus Toxoid during Pregnancy
Authors: Owa J A , Makinde O O
Published: January 2017

In a study of 52 cases of neonatal tetanus admitted to Wesley Guild Hospital, Ilesha, it was found that 17 (33%) of the babies were delivered to mothers who had received adequate tetanus toxoid immunization during pregnancy. The 17 babies were compared with the remaining 35 babies whose mothers had not received tetanus prophylaxis. The case fatality rates in these two groups were 12.5% and 60% respectively ( P < 0.01).

This report shows that neonatal tetanus can occur in babies of mothers who were immunized with tetanus toxoid during pregnancy. Maternal immunity may, however, improve the prognosis in such infants.
Simple Clinical Signs of Lower Respiratory Infection
Authors: Usha N , Katariya S , Walia B N S
Published: January 2017

We studied the reliability of some simple clinical signs in the diagnosis of paediatric lower respiratory infection (LRI). Seventy infants and 148 children attending the outpatient department for cough of less than 15 days duration were studied. These children were examined by a paediatrician, and a proforma of simple clinical signs of LRI was filled in. A chest X-ray was taken on the same day and interpreted by a radiologist who did not know the clinical features of the patient. Clinical signs were then compared with X-ray changes, the latter being taken to indicate the presence of LRI. Respiratory rates of greater than 40/min in infants and greater than 30/min in older children were found to be the best indicators of LRI as revealed by a receiver-operating-characteristic curve. Chest indrawing and nasal flaring were found to be associated with moderate and severe disease.
Towards Minimizing Postoperative Wound Infection
Authors: Nasher Abdulla A W
Published: January 2017

The rate of postoperative wound infection was found to be low at 1.12% overall in a prospective study. This was achieved by careful preoperative preparation, judicious use of cheap prophylactic antibiotics which are included in the WHO model list of essential drugs, and meticulous operative technique.
Depressive Illness — Zimbabwe
Authors: Broadhead Jeremy , Abas Melanie
Published: January 2017

Depression is common in the developing world and accounts for 10–20% of attendances at primary care clinics. It is a condition associated with considerable morbidity. This paper considers the characteristics of depressive illness in Zimbabwe and discusses ways to improve detection and management.
An Unusual Case of Yersinia Pseudotuberculosis-Induced Diarrhoea in Mangalore, South India
Authors: Shenoy Shalini , Maneesh Paul S , Shivaraj U R S , Shenoy A Janaradhan , Krishnamurthy P N , Shettigar Usha
Published: January 2017

Infection due to Yersinia pseudotuberculosis is the rarest of the yersinoses. It is a worldwide zoonosis. More cases have been reported from Europe than from other continents. The majority of patients have been children 5–15 years old. We report an unusual case of Y pseudotuberculosis-induced diarrhoea in a child who also developed signs and symptoms of meningeal irritation.
Fungal Keratitis as an Indicator of HIV Infection in Africa
Authors: Mselle James
Published: January 2017

A 1-year hospital-based study was undertaken on 212 patients at Muhimbili Medical Centre (MMC) from October 1994 to October 1995. The objective was to determine the aetiology of corneal ulceration. A comparison of the prevalence of HIV infection between patients with fungal keratitis and those with non-fungal keratitis was included. Bacterial infection (32.1%), and mycotic infection (15.1%) were the leading causes of corneal ulceration. There were 32 patients with fungal keratitis and 180 patients with non-fungal keratitis. The male:female ratio for patients with fungal keratitis was 1.7:1 and the peak age group was 20–50 years. Fusarium solani was the commonest organism accounting for 75% of cases with fungal keratitis. Twenty of 32 (81.2%) cases with fungal keratitis were found to be HIV positive; 33% of those with non-fungal keratitis were HIV positive ( P-value was < 0.001).
Preponderance of Hypokalaemia as a Cause of Acute Onset Quadriparesis in Northern India/Southern Nepal
Authors: Thomas Santhosh Matthew , Booth Beverley E , Rao Anand
Published: January 2017

Of 68 patients who were admitted with acute quadriparesis to a hospital in northern India, over 70% were found to be hypokalaemic. The most common cause of hypokalaemia was that associated with gastroenteritis (54%). These patients had all received intravenous fluids previously. It is likely that their hypokalaemia was caused by gastrointestinal loss compounded by parenteral fluid replacement. The next most common group of hypokalaemia-associated quadriparesis had no obvious cause for hypokalaemia (38%).

Hypokalaemia-induced quadriparesis is a potentially life-threatening illness which can be readily treated with potassium supplements. The physician should consider hypokalaemia in patients who present with acute onset quadriparesis, and even if diagnostic tests for hypokalaemia are not available, should consider a judicious trial of potassium supplementation empirically, provided that there are no contraindications.
Appendicostomy as a Venting Enterostomy for Colonic Atresia
Authors: Gangopadhyay A N , Gupta Ruchi , Sahoo Sakti P
Published: January 2017

Colonic atresia is usually managed surgically by resection and end-to-end anastomosis but preferably with a venting enterostomy, if presentation is delayed. A new technique of appendicostomy was performed as a venting enterostomy in eight cases of colonic atresia with good results in our children's hospital during the period 1990–1995.
Fuel Oil
Authors: Dickinson Richard R.
Published: January 2017

As the price of petroleum has increased, the power industry has displaced a great deal of more expensive petroleum and natural gas with coal and nuclear power. The petroleum industry has installed processing facilities to upgrade its heavy fuel oil to make lighter products. These two actions, when combined, have effectively resulted in producing clean products indirectly from coal. A profitable synfuels industry has been created by the refining and power industries without conscious direction on their part—and without government support. The net effect has been to substantially reduce demand for both crude oil and natural gas, stretching future supplies of petroleum energy.

This displacement has contributed to the temporary bubble in natural gas and the present oversupply of crude oil, creating downward price pressures on both crude oil and products. Even so, fuel oil prices have remained relatively stable because the industry has installed sufficient capability through its refinery improvements to upgrade fuel oil into more clean products, thereby reducing production of heavy fuel oil.

In the future, we can expect the interaction among these fuels to continue to exert their effects. Since there are many consumers who can use either natural gas or fuel oil, their prices will remain tied to each other. Fuel oil prices will set the upper limits to which the burner tip price of natural gas can rise. Conversely, natural gas prices will tend to set the floor under fuel oil prices.
Electric Utility Competition in the United States
Authors: Overcast H. Edwin
Published: January 2017

Effective competition among alternate suppliers, alternate fuels and emerging technologies will provide a new challenge to electric utilities in the next decade and beyond. The erosion of the traditional natural monopoly market structure should be viewed as a healthy consequence causing more appropriate pricing of utility service, a renewed emphasis on efficient operation and a broader base of utility offerings.

The benefits of competition will accrue to all sectors of customers. The benefits which might be expected would likely vary by region and by class of customer. In assessing the benefits of competition it is important to recognize the need for flexible regulation and for both traditional and non-traditional responses to competition. As a result of those responses, all rate payers will benefit from efficient, safe and reliable electric service provided to customers at the lowest feasible cost.
The Natural Gas Perspective
Authors: Martin Robert W.
Published: January 2017

Market responsive pricing is a fundamental requirement if natural gas is to play its full part in meeting Canada's energy needs. Regulation must be modified to enable flexibility in buying, transporting and selling natural gas in a market responsive manner. Taxes should be based on profits, not on revenues and, because utility costs, by definition, flow through to the customers, taxation of natural gas utilities should be equitable in relation to electric power utilities.
The US Role in Energy Trade in North America
Authors: Stalon Charles G.
Published: January 2017

The North American nations are fortunate in that they have a long record of mutually beneficial trade in many goods and services. This trade is built on the solid rock of mutual interests. Although that trade experience has been punctuated by troublesome short-sighted actions, it is worth emphasizing that the mutual benefits of such trade are enormous, and tolerance on all sides for policy failures is as much a part of modern trade between nations as is the trade itself.
The Canadian Electrical Industry
Authors: Donnelly James
Published: January 2017

North America has turned to electricity for every great advance in its economic history. The massive industrialization which commenced 100 years ago was electricity based. Major power projects were the instruments used to shake off the inertia of the Great Depression. The war effort and the boom in the 1950s succeeded on a surge of available electric power. This availability will be ever more important in the next century and if we have the wisdom to learn from history, we will give electricity the confidence and elbow room it needs to give us even greater returns in the future.
Energy Equity Investment Opportunities
Authors: Mack Jane C. , Ohr Frederic D.
Published: January 2017

Trends, once in place, often are carried to extremes. Certainly this occurred on the upside just a few years ago. Oil prices may well drop below equilibrium levels during this cycle, thereby sowing the seeds of the next shortage and, presumably, the opportunity for potential investment gains.
Geo History, Thermal History and Hydrocarbon Generation History of the Northern North Sea Basin
Authors: Cao Song , Lerche Ian
Published: January 2017

A one-dimensional, fluid flow/compaction model has been developed for petroleum explorationists to make quantitative studies of sedimentary basins. The following results can be obtained from the model: (1) basement subsidence (sediment load and tectonic effect); (2) structural evolution; (3) determination of erosion thickness of an unconformity; (4) changes of porosity, permeability, fluid flow rate and pore pressure with time and depth; (5) heat flow history; (6) temperature change with time and depth; (7) the value of thermal maturity indicators which change with time and depth; (8) hydrocarbon generation history including time and depth of peak hydrocarbon generation; and (9) prediction of possible directions of hydrocarbon migration and accumulation with time.

The model is applicable to both frontier basins where only a few wells have been drilled and also to well-developed basins. The input data for the model are based mainly on commonly used geological and geochemical data from one well in a frontier basin or on similar data from many wells in a well-developed basin.

Fifty-eight wells in the northern North Sea Basin have been used to reconstruct the geohistory, thermal history and hydrocarbon generation and migration history of the northern North Sea. The results accurately conformed to the well data, allowing determination of hydrocarbon generation amounts, migration times and accumulation sites, which are helpful for further hydrocarbon exploration in the northern North Sea Basin.
World Oil: The Lessons of 1986
Authors: Jackson J.H.
Published: January 2017

The petroleum industry requires long lead times to look for a petroleum prospect, drill it, evaluate it and ultimately produce from it. There is no way of substantially accelerating the process, particularly as new prospects are becoming increasingly hard to find. The world commercial and political climate are such that a) today's stock markets demand high and quick returns on investments. b) oil is temporarily abundant and low priced, and c) governments are reluctant to reduce taxes or improve incentives. This leaves the petroleum industry little option but to retrench, and as a result, exploration and synthetic fuels projects in importing countries are being cut. The vast majority of the world's conventional crude reserves lie within OPEC, mainly Saudi Arabia, and this proportion is increasing as importing countries deplete their own discovered reserves. Importing countries will again shortly have to pay whatever exporters demand for their crude and products. The lesson of earlier years has not been learned.
The Interpretation of Seismic Reflection Data from the Western Platform Region of Taranaki Basin
Authors: Thrasher Glenn P.
Published: January 2017

The western-most region of Taranaki Basin, the Western Platform, has a stratigraphy which permits subdivision into major seismic units. The reflectors separating these units are easily identifiable. Each of the units and reflectors has typical reflection characteristics which are often correlatable with the lithology of the unit.

Lateral velocity variations, caused by lateral deposition and compaction variations in prograding sequences, area major problem in developing depth conversion models for this region. Analysis of travel time data from wells shows that velocity variations in both the Oligocene-Miocene and Pliocene-Pleistocene sequences are predictable from the thickness variations of the units (and hence from interval travel times). The imerval velocity variations of the Paleocene-Eocene transgressive sequence are dependent on the overburden history and lithology of the unit.
Siliciclastic Diagenesis in Paleocene-Eocene Reservoir Sandstones of the Taranaki Basin, New Zealand
Authors: van der Lingen G.J. , Challis G.A. , Robinson P.H. , Smale D. , Walters W.A.
Published: January 2017

Present-day producing hydrocarbon reservoirs in the Taranaki Basin occur in the Paleocene-Eocene Kapuni Group, both onshore and offshore. The Kapuni Group has been encountered only in drillholes, the top being at depths ranging from 2 to 4 km. It consists of fluvial, paralic, near-shore and shelf sediments, containing proven and prospective reservoir sandstones with variable grain-size, sorting, porosity and permeability. Compositionally, the sandstones are sub-feldsarenites to feldsarenites, derived from continental block source rocks.

Diagenetic features adversely affecting reservoir quality are compaction, pressure solution, clay neoformation, quartz overgrowth and neoformation, and carbonate neoformation. Secondary porosity development enhances reservoir quality, through dissolution of earlier (corroding) carbonate cement, dissolution of calcic plagioclase. quartz dissolution, and grain fracturing. Intrastratal solution of heavy minerals suggests that the Kapuni Group sedimentary sequence had progressed into the thermobaric hydrogeological regime.

Kaolinite is an early diagenetic clay mineral, while illite and chlorite are formed later (> 3 km). Quartz overgrowth has only been observed in samples from deeper than 3 km. Carbonate cemented horizons, although of relatively limited occurrence, have been observed over the entire studied depth range. Good secondary porosity development, due to (probable) carobate-cement dissolution has been observed in the gas/condensate reservoir of the Maui Field, and in the Witiora Sandstone (base Kapuni Group) in Tane-1, indicating that potential reservoirs can exist at depths of at least 3.5 km.
Soviet Oil Developments in the 1990s: International Implications of Domestic Market Changes
Authors: Khartukov Eugene M. , Surovtsev Dmitry A.
Published: January 2017

During the 90's oil developments in the USSR are sure to be palpably influenced by the market orientated reforms that have been started which could add to the dwindling exportable supplies of Soviet crude and its products - more than 3 mmbd in 1995 and up to 6 mmbd in 2000. In its turn, by the end of the century, the estimated difference in world oil price which may be caused even by a half of the perestroika-induced changes in Soviet oil exports could amount to $14/b (in constant 1990 dollars).
Electricity from Waste Heat Using the Organic Rankine Cycle (ORC)
Authors: Larjola Jaakko
Published: January 2017

In the conversion of low temperature heat into electricity the greatest efficiency is obtained in many cases by using an organic Rankine cycle (ORC). This paper deals with an ORC-design, in which a high-speed oil free turbogenerator-feed pump is used. Freedom from oil significantly increases the thermal stability of the organic fluid and makes a hermetic design possible.
A Dynamic Study of Coal Exploitation: The Case of the East China Region
Authors: Rongxing Guo
Published: January 2017

East China is the most developed area in China, but has scant energy resources. An SD model of coal exploitation was created to demonstrate the operational mechanism of the coal industrial system and the prospects of the coal industry of the East China Region, which includes: (a) the relations of coal supply and demand; (b) the early warning of coal industry; (c) the dynamic effects of policies on coal production; and (d) the rational exploitation of coal resources.
The Role of The European Bank in The Energy Sector
Authors: Coleman John
Published: January 2017

The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development was established in 1991 and is owned by the western industrialized countries, including Canada, and the former communist countries of Europe and Central Asia. Its purpose is to assist the latter countries to make the transition from command to market economies in a democratic framework. The Bank, with an initial capital of approximately US$1.2 billion, directs 60 per cent of its resources towards private enterprises and state-owned enterprises which are being privatized. The remainder of the EBRD's lending is directed to governments for infrastructure development.

The EBRD's lending, now at US$1.5 to 2 billion a year, is small in relation to the investment needs of its countries of operation. As a result, the Bank tries to maximize its leverage by limiting its share in total project financing to 35 per cent and encouraging co-financing by other lenders and investors. Through its lending it tries to create a demonstration effect and to encourage institutional reforms which increase private investment flows.

In the energy sector, most of the EBRD's lending has been in the oil and gas sector in Russia, but it is open for business in other sectors and in all countries of operation. Unlike other development banks, the EBRD is prepared to finance nuclear power projects, especially for improving the safety and extending the operating life of nuclear power stations built before the fall of communism. In this connection, it operates a Nuclear Safety Account established by the G-7 countries after the 1992 Munich Summit. The Bank also is prepared to finance conventional power plants where these would permit the closure of obsolete or unsafe nuclear plants.

In the oil and gas sector, most of the EBRD's lending has related to private sector, joint venture projects in Russia, aimed at oilfield rehabilitation and development. Three of the eight projects done so far have involved Canadian firms, reflecting their expertise in secondary and tertiary recovery, and cold weather operations. The private sector ventures supported by the Bank normally involve joint stock companies owned 50 per cent by western partners and 50 per cent by Russian state oil companies, which are being privatized or are operating according to private sector principles. The joint stock companies make up the difference between the EBRD's financing and total project cost through equity contributions in cash and kind, and through debt financing.

The EBRD adds value not simply through its own financing. Its involvement in a project promotes co-financing by other investors. Its influence on behalf of foreign and local investors can help overcome administrative and regulatory difficulties affecting projects. Furthermore, the EBRD can give potential clients the benefit of its accumulated knowledge on how to structure the deal to meet host country priorities and regulations and to benefit from the greatest possible financing from the EBRD and from other lenders and investors.
Ranges of Probable Uncertainty in Gas Resource Estimates for The Usa
Authors: Lerche I.
Published: January 2017

Estimates have been made by ten different groups of different categories contributing to potential gas resources for the USA. The estimates are evaluated using probabilistic methods to determine both the most likely values of potential reserves (or resources) in a given category, and also to assess the range of uncertainty of each category, i.e. the volatility of each estimate.

In the case of conventional existing gas fields, where the most copious and most accurate data are available from which an estimate can be constructed, the range of uncertainty is about 40%. In the cases of all other more speculative resource categories the range of uncertainty is at least 75% and as high as 160% for shale gas.

Estimates of the total Lower 40 States reserves are uncertain by about 80% and for the total 50 United States by 70%. A total reserve estimate, risk-weighted inversely with the volatility of each category, would suggest a likely discoverable gas reserve of greater than 110 Tcf (90% chance), less than 260 Tcf (90% change, and probably (2/3 chance) less than about 190 Tcf. It is also 5 times as likely that the majority of this discoverable gas will be in existing and discoverable fields in the Lower 48 States together with tight sands, as compared to anywhere else in the nation or in any other category.
Crunch Mining: The Logistics of Western Canadian Export Coal Supply
Authors: Jamieson Eric D.
Published: January 2017

Since its revitalization in 1968 the Western Canadian bituminous coal industry has operated almost exclusively in export markets. As a result, coal sales have been subject to external demand and pricing forces beyond the control of Canadian companies and governments.

The recession that affected all industrialized nations in the early 1980s compounded by the world oil price collapse of 1986 initiated a period of low coal prices, intensified competition among producers and oversupply of internationally traded coal.

The attritional effects of this adverse marketing regime became serious for Western Canadian metallurgical coal producers after 1989 and reached crisis proportions in 1992. Major coal industry restructuring involving corporate consolidation and substantial write-downs of financial assets quickly followed.

Four companies emerged from the restructuring process with 90–95% of potentially reduced regional production capacity and appear to be in reasonably solid positions to compete viably under current marketing conditions.

The next major crunch for the industry looms in 1998 when initial 15 year contracts come up for renewal at several mines and serious concerns arise over their ability to operate economically beyond then.
World Energy Demand Outlook
Authors: Kassler Peter
Published: January 2017

Shell's global scenarios include two very different energy futures extending to 2020. In New Frontiers, high economic growth in Asia-Pacific and elsewhere drives up consumption of oil, gas and coal in spite of energy-conserving life-style changes in the developed world. Energy prices continue at current levels for some years, then rise modestly towards a ceiling set by costs of alternatives. In Barricades, economic growth is constrained by political conflicts and uncertainties. Energy consumption is intensely regulated and taxed, energy markets stagnate and oil and gas prices remain indefinitely at current levels or lower.
Geopolitics of Energy
Authors: Skeet Ian
Published: January 2017

Geopolitics of Energy can be defined as ‘the effect that location of resources has on the politics of states’. The key activator of that effect is dependency, which applies both to producers (revenue) and consumers (energy needs). Historically it has been the threat to supply rather than to price which has caused most concern to the consumers, and this culminated in the Gulf war reaction to Iraq's seizure of Kuwait in 1990. In future the Middle East and OECD as a focus of energy geopolitics will be supplemented, it not replaced, by Russia, Central Asia, China, India and the Far East as those areas increasingly influence both the supply and demand balance for both oil and gas.
Changing the Approach to Canadian Energy Corporate Finance
Authors: Sayer Frank J.D.
Published: January 2017

Change is constant. 1995 was likely to be a consolidation year with a number of medium sized companies disappearing and growth in the larger companies over $1 billion in size. The increased and larger international activities means that the world capital markets will have an increasing impact on the Canadian oil industry.
Gas Prices Will Fluctuate
Authors: Tussing Arlon R.
Published: January 2017

Price patterns for the future are likely to be similar to the recent past when changes ranged from down to nearly $1.00 per million BTu to more than $3.00.
Canada – Gas Supply, Demand and Current Issues
Authors: Vollman Kenneth W.
Published: January 2017

The paper examines the trends in natural gas supply and demand during the decade since deregulation, and provides an assessment of the degree to which the goals of the deregulation agreement have been met. The author then turns to a discussion of current issues in the natural gas industry as seen from a regulator's perspective. The issues discussed include: excess deliverability and price; pipeline integrity; the Canadian Environmental Assessment Act; new pipeline certification; pipeline jurisdiction; export licensing; financial regulation; and electronic information exchange.
The Impact of Forecast Disclosure and Accuracy on Equity Pricing: The IPO Perspective
Authors: How Janice C. Y. , Yeo Julian J. L.
Published: January 2017

In a relatively less litigious environment like Australia, it is common to find IPO firms that voluntarily provide forecasts in their prospectus. Using 158 Australian industrial IPOs listed from 1991 to 1997, we examine the impact of the disclosure and accuracy of earnings and dividend forecasts on equity pricing. Our results show that IPO firms' disclosure policy is not related to their initial and long-run valuation. However, the market appears to price managers' ability to forecast: firms with inaccurate earnings and dividend forecasts, especially those that fall short of their forecasts, experience adverse price reactions surrounding the day when the actual figures are released. Our results also show a significant relationship between forecast errors and IPO firms' postlisting performance. Further analysis shows that this relationship is driven mainly by the announcement effect.
Empirical Characteristics of Debenture Conversions: The Issue of Equivalency
Authors: Knauf Janine B. , Vasarhelyi Miklos A.
Published: January 2017

Stock market and corporate valuation decisions are often based on the earnings-per-share (EPS) figure. With the advent of a large number of different types of equity or semi-equity securities, the concept of common stock equivalency became essential. Despite extensive regulatory consideration, only arbitary rules came into being in the assessment of this concept.

This paper empirically examines the conversion of debentures into common stock. This conversion process is divided into three types: (1) forced conversion, (2) semi-forced conversion, and (3) voluntary conversion. Nonparametric and discriminant analyses are used for hypothesis testing and conversion prediction.

Statistical analysis supports simple relationships between market values and convertible debenture characteristics which were found significant in all three types of conversion.
A Survey on the Effects of Defeasing Debt
Authors: Mielke David E. , Seifert James
Published: January 2017

Defeasance of debt is a relatively new tool for the management of the corporate balance sheet. The accounting rules for reporting these transactions have generated a great deal of controversy. Critics claim that the ability to record an extraordinary gain from the defeasance of debt permits the reporting of paper profits. Additionally, some were concerned about the disclosure requirements and with potential for the promotion of wholesale major changes in corporate capital structure. A survey was conducted to gain insight as to why companies might defease debt, to examine the impact of defeasance on the firm's financial characteristics, and to investigate the type of disclosure provided in the annual reports. Analysis of the results indicates that the critics have little practical concern. The paper profits and balance sheet changes in this sample were relatively minimal. The major problem found was with the relatively little information that corporations provided regarding these transactions.
The Implicit Criteria for the Recognition, Quantification, and Reporting of Accounting Events
Authors: Sorter George H. , Ingberman Monroe
Published: January 2017

Professor Ingberman recently lost a 30-year valiant battle against Hodgkin's disease. During those 30 years, and despite almost continuous chemotherapy, Professor Ingberman earned his Ph.D. in mathematics from Northwestern University, writing a notable dissertation, taught mathematics, and was considered by many the best bridge theoretician in the world. A few years ago, he was persuaded to devote his rigorous analytical ability, keen insight, and high standards to research and teaching in accounting. The world of accounting theory sorely needed his talents and will miss him greatly, but not nearly as much as his colleagues and countless friends, and none as much as I, who was privileged to enjoy his friendship for almost 30 years. G.H.S.

The editor wishes to associate himself with the comments of Professor Sorter concerning Professor Ingberman, and like everyone else who knew him, feels his loss keenly.
The Effects of Inflation: How they Persist
Authors: Hauworth William P. , Lembke Valdean C. , Sharp Robert F.
Published: January 2017

This article summarizes an investigation of the effects of past high inflation on future performance measures if inflation were to disappear. Computer simulations were used to estimate continuing differences between historical cost and current cost measures and their patterns of convergence over time. Current cost accounting and three combinations of historical cost accounting were applied to an average manufacturer and an average retailer, each company being based on empirical price data and average financial characteristics for its industry. Results for the period of stable prices show that, even for the average retailer, historical cost rates of return can differ from current-cost returns by material amounts (at least 10 percent higher) for more than a decade. The findings suggest a need to reconsider the increasingly popular belief that inflation is no longer high enough to bother with current cost disclosures.
Stock Splits: Tests of the Earnings Signaling and Attention Directing Hypotheses Using Analyst Forecasts and Revisions
Authors: Doran David T.
Published: January 2017

The major findings of this study are: (1) earnings performance of splitting firms is favorable relative to preevent longterm analyst (Value Line) forecasts; (2) analysts significantly revise earnings forecasts upward in response to stock split announcements; and (3) in the case of stock split announcing firms, there is a high correlation between future earnings performance and analyst forecast revision.

These findings indicate that stock split announcements convey “permanent” earnings information to the market, and security analysts scrutinize the earnings signal at the firm specific level. The results support both the earnings signaling hypothesis and the attention directing hypothesis concerning stock split events.
Acquisition of Failing Firms and Stockholder Returns
Authors: Bae Sung C. , Park Jae R.
Published: January 2017

The effects of stock-exchanged acquisitions of failing firms on shareholder returns of acquiring firms are examined. This study finds that stocks of acquiring firms, on average, do not experience any significant positive abnormal returns during the announcement period. A further analysis, however, shows that there is a striking difference in the announcement effects between nonbank and bank acquisitions of failing target firms. Although nonbank acquisitions are associated with significant positive abnormal returns, bank acquisitions are associated with negative, although insignificant, abnormal returns during the announcement period. These findings are robust to the choice of a particular event-study technique. The overall results of this study suggest that investors do not perceive the acquisition of failing firms, particularly that of failing target banks, as favorable, and that the market for failing firms is overall competitive and efficient.
An Empirical Examination of the Relationship between Bond Risk Premiums and Loss Contingency Disclosures
Authors: Backmon Ida Robinson , Vickrey Donn W.
Published: January 2017

Prior research on the relationship between loss contingency disclosures and equity market parameters implies that such disclosures may provide useful information to equity market participants. However, there is no empirical evidence on the relationship between loss contingency data and bond market parameters. Using methods from continuous-finance theory, we model risk premiums on new issues as a function of default risk, issue traits, the risk-free rate, the severity level of loss contingency disclosures, and the frequency of such disclosures. Our results imply that both the severity-level and frequency of reported contingencies are positively related to the magnitude of risk premiums assessed on new bond issues. In economic terms, a one-unit increase in the severity level of a contingency disclosure increases the yield premium by 0.034 percentage points. Similarly, each additional contingency reported by the firm during our sample period increased the yield premium by 0.305 percentage points.
Proceedings of the 2016 Clinical Nutrition Week Research Workshop—The Optimal Dose of Protein Provided to Critically Ill Patients
Authors: Heyland Daren K. , Rooyakers Olav , Mourtzakis Marina , Stapleton Renee D.
Published: January 2017

Recent literature has created considerable confusion about the optimal amount of protein/amino acids that should be provided to the critically ill patient. In fact, the evidentiary basis that directly tries to answer this question is relatively small. As a clinical nutrition research community, there is an urgent need to develop the optimal methods to assess the impact of exogenous protein/amino acid administration in the intensive care unit setting. That assessment can be conducted at various levels: (1) impact on stress response pathways, (2) impact on muscle synthesis and protein balance, (3) impact on muscle mass and function, and (4) impact on the patient's recovery. The objective of this research workshop was to review current literature relating to protein/amino acid administration for the critically ill patient and clinical outcomes and to discuss the key measurement and methodological features of future studies that should be done to inform the optimal protein/amino acid dose provided to critically ill patients.