bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Lotteries, Justice and Probability
Authors: Stone Peter
Published: June 2009

Intuition suggests that a fair lottery is the appropriate way to allocate a scarce good when two or more people have equally strong claims to it. This article lays out three conditions that any conception of justice compatible with this intuition must satisfy — efficiency of outcomes, fairness of outcomes, and fairness of treatment. The third, unlike the first two, manifests itself only in the intentions of the allocative agent, not in the final allocation itself. For this reason, while justice generally requires publicity — requires, that is, that the justice of public practices be as visible as possible — for fairness of treatment publicity is indispensable. This fact has implications for defining a fair lottery. On most accounts, fair lotteries must be equiprobable. But while some theories of probability facilitate the connection between the equiprobability of fair lotteries and the contribution they can make to justice, others do not.
Towards a Critical Pedagogy of International Business: The Application of Phronēsis
Authors: Śliwa Martyna , Cairns George
Published: June 2009

In this article, we contribute to debate on the possibilities and role of critical pedagogy in management education, with particular reference to the field of international business (IB). We engage with what we see as a focus on reproducing extant models of IB practice in the canon of IB textbooks. In these texts, we identify a concentration upon multinational enterprises (MNEs) and MNE managers as the key actors in IB, with a prioritization of their interests and marginalization of those of other involved and affected parties. In seeking to critically engage with these texts in the classroom context, we propose the need for a constructive critical pedagogy and posit the possibilities for this through application of contemporary interpretation of the concept of phronēsis .
Other Possibilities? The Contribution to Management Education of Alternative Organizations
Authors: Reedy Patrick , Learmonth Mark
Published: June 2009

Business education tends to reinforce the neo-liberal view that the best, perhaps the only desirable model of organization is the managed corporation. Furthermore, in competing to attract students, business schools frequently stress that lucrative careers and personal success can be achieved through management qualifications. All this arguably encourages the competitive and individualistic pursuit of wealth, status and power that reflects the dominant values underpinning much of contemporary western society. Our article suggests an antidote to these developments by proposing the more prominent study of `alternative organizations' within business schools. Alternative organizations pursue very different ends, in different ways from mainstream business corporations, so studying them has the potential to stimulate debate and raise questions about the individualistic and instrumental attitudes implicit in much business education and research. Importantly, the study of alternative organization also suggests a range of possibilities for radically rethinking organization(s)—including business schools—and the place of managers, along with others, within them.
A Brief Group Intervention for Young Children with Feeding Problems
Authors: Haywood Pennie , Mccann Judith
Published: June 2009

A brief, yet comprehensive group feeding intervention is described involving parents and children under 5 attending four weekly group sessions followed by 1 month follow-up. Families were referred by community-based professionals for a range of feeding difficulties, however, they were not known to local child and adolescent health mental health services. These families were from Tower Hamlets in the East End of London and considered `hard to reach'. Having not previously accessed mainstream services, an outreach-based approach was required. The group involves a focused and structured approach using educational, psychological and behavioural techniques. In addition, weekly food tasks allowed important observation of parental and child behaviours in relation to food. Interventions and challenges were developed on the basis of parent reports and often contrasting observations during food tasks. A feeding questionnaire has been used to evaluate the four groups completed to date. A single case study is presented here with reference to outcome measures. This is an evolving project showing good initial results on the basis of individual measures and parental reports.
An Object-Oriented Architecture for the Simulation of Networks of Cargo Terminal Operations
Authors: Mathew Reejo , Leathrum James F. , Mazumdar Saurav , Frith Taylor , Joines Joseph
Published: June 2009

A new object-oriented architecture to simulate a network of cargo terminals is presented. The architecture simulates the complete flow of military cargo at an entity level, from multiple U.S.-based installations to a set of destinations within a theater of operations located anywhere in the world. The architecture deals with resource and infrastructure allocations and competition within each terminal in the network, as well as between the terminals, to identify conflicts that may arise. The architecture is a hierarchical, nodal model moving individual pieces of cargo through a network of cargo terminals, and within an individual cargo terminal through a network of physical processing areas. The architecture is capable of simulating cargo terminals around the world under various scenario conditions. It is impractical and expensive to conduct actual exercises to study the efficiency of a deployment. Simulating this process provides a viable alternative for testing these strategies and for evaluating technologies. It also enables an analysis of the simulation results for improved efficiency and throughput within the confines of resources and infrastructure availability. The new architecture is described as well as an example case study to demonstrate the capabilities of the architecture. The architecture focuses on resources and infrastructure within a cargo terminal, and on transportation resources between cargo terminals.
UAV Swarm Control: Calculating Digital Pheromone Fields with the GPU
Authors: Walter Bryan , Sannier Adrian , Reiners Dirk , Oliver James
Published: June 2009

Our future military force will be complex: a highly integrated mix of manned and unmanned units. These unmanned units could function individually or within a swarm. The readiness of future warfighters to work alongside and utilize these new forces depends on the creation of usable interfaces and training simulators. The difficulty is that current unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) control interfaces require too much operator attention, and common swarm control methods require expensive computational power. This paper begins with a discussion on how to improve upon current user interfaces and then reviews a swarm control method, the digital pheromone field. This method uses digital pheromones to bias the movements of individual units within a swarm toward areas that are attractive and away from areas that are dangerous or unattractive. Next, a more efficient method for performing pheromone field calculations is introduced, one that harnesses the power of the graphics processing unit (GPU) in today's graphics cards by reshaping the ADAPTIV swarm control algorithm into a form acceptable to the GPU's pipeline [1]. The GPU ADAPTIV implementation is tested in scenarios that involve up to 50,000 virtual UAVs. When compared to its counterpart CPU implementation, the GPU version performed over 30 times faster than the CPU version. This gain translates directly into lower costs for training the future warfighter today and fielding the swarms of tomorrow. Finally, this paper presents a vision of how to combine these new interface ideas and performance enhancements into an effective swarm control interface and training simulator.
Modeling the Lanchester Laws with System Dynamics
Authors: Artelli Michael J. , Deckro Richard F.
Published: June 2009

This study develops a framework using the Lanchester Laws in a hybrid system dynamics model. Two models of the Lanchester Laws are compared. The first is a traditional discrete event simulation and the other is a system dynamics model. System dynamics models are able to represent qualitative aspects of combat that are difficult to capture in a discrete event simulation. This is directly applicable to modeling combat since some key drivers within the expected environment are difficult to model. Additionally, the system dynamics construct allows for the modeling of continuous events and incorporating system feedback. Both of these properties are favored when modeling combat or asymmetrical operations. Results from the discrete event simulation and the system dynamics model are analyzed and contrasted.
Are Officers More Reticent of Games for Serious Training than Enlisted Soldiers?
Authors: Proctor Michael D. , Lucario Thomas , Wiley Carlos
Published: June 2009

Video games are continuing to draw attention as possible Human Performance Improvement technologies that young people will be drawn to. Roger Smith highlights how game technologies have already and are poised to disrupt the military simulation. Further, Smith identifies five forces behind the adoption of game technology by diverse industries. One of these forces is social acceptance. Through two case studies, this research considers the contribution of two video games toward improving human performance on two different tasks as well as within two different social-cultural groups – officers and enlisted. Data is collected and analyzed on control and experimental groups to evaluate the performance difference for these tasks between traditional training approaches and various implementations of video games. In addition, data on the use and expectations about video games is collected from two social cultural groups – college educated military officers and high school educated enlisted soldiers – and analyzed to identify differences in acceptance of video games as technology for serious Human Performance Improvement.
WARSIM 2000: A Case for Technological Subject Matter Experts
Authors: Giordano John , Reynolds Paul F.
Published: June 2009

WARSIM, the U.S. Army's next-generation simulation and intended land component of JSIMS is supposed to replace several existing “legacy” simulations. With the cancellation of JSIMS as a result of technological and organizational hurdles, we review the literature documenting the development of WARSIM's requirements specifications; analyze some particularly challenging requirements manifested in Operational Requirements Documents; describe the methodology through which those requirements were composed and drafted; and propose a framework that would integrate the analysis and input of technological subject matter experts who can adequately assess the feasibility of developing and fielding future systems.
PDU Bundling and Replication for Reduction of Distributed Simulation Communication Traffic
Authors: Vargas Juan J. , DeMara Ronald F. , Georgiopoulos Michael , Gonzalez Avelino J. , Marshall Henry
Published: June 2009

Communication bandwidth and latency reduction techniques are developed for Distributed Interactive Simulation (DIS) protocols. DIS Protocol Data Unit (PDU) packets are bundled together prior to transmission based on PDU type, internal structure, and content over a sliding window of up to C adjacent transmission requests, for 1 < C < 64. At the receiving nodes, the packets are replicated as necessary to reconstruct the original packet stream. Bundling strategies including Always-Wait, Always-Send, Type-Only prediction, Type-Length prediction, and Type-Length-Time prediction are developed and then evaluated using both heuristic parameters and a gradient descent back-propagation neural network.

Several communication case studies from the One Semi-Automated Forces (OneSAF) Testbed Baseline (OTB) are assessed for multiple-platoon, company, and battalion-scale force-on-force vignettes consistent with Future Combat Systems (FCS) Operations and Organizations (O&O) scenarios. Traffic is modeled using the OMNeT++ discrete-event simulator models and scripts developed for a hierarchical communication architecture consisting of eight en route C-17 aircraft, each carrying three Ethernet-connected M1A2 ground vehicles, a wireless flying LAN based on Joint Forces Command's Joint En route Mission Planning and Rehearsal System (JEMPRS) for Near-Term (JEMPRS-NT) and follow-on bandwidth capacities. The simulation traffic includes Opposing Force (OPFOR) control through a CONUS-based ground station via its corresponding satellite links. Different bandwidth capacities are simulated and analyzed for PDU travel time and slack time, router and satellite queue length, and number of packet collisions are assessed at 64 Kbps, 256 Kbps, 512 Kbps, and 1 Mbps capacities. Results indicate that a Type-Length prediction strategy is capable of improving travel time up to 85%, slack time up to 97%, and queue length up to 98% on bandwidth restricted channels of 64 Kbps.
Modeling Homeland Security
Authors: Pruitt Kristopher A. , Deckro Richard F. , Chambal Stephen P.
Published: June 2009

The events of September 11, 2001, have propelled the topic of homeland security to the forefront of national concern. The threat of terrorism within the United States has reached an unprecedented level. The potential vulnerabilities present in the nation's critical infrastructure, coupled with the destructive capabilities and deadly intentions of modern terrorists, pose extraordinary risks. The United States must mitigate these risks while at the same time balancing the associated costs and impact on civil liberties.

Currently, there is a need for effective methods and measures for assessing the security of the homeland from acts of terrorism at the aggregate, national level. This study develops a first-cut decision-analysis-based methodology for identifying and structuring key homeland security capabilities and facilitating the measurement of the United States' capability to execute these required capabilities.
Dynamic Decision Support in the Advanced Tactical Architecture for Combat Knowledge System
Authors: Momen Faisal , Rozenblit Jerzy W.
Published: June 2009

As modern military systems demand faster reactions and become more mobile, the difference between planning and execution will fade until the planning process appears to merge with the battle management process. Continuous planning systems must be fast, intuitive, and accurate. In particular, the amount of information will be overwhelming and the number of options unmanageable for many future tactical environments. The Advanced Tactical Architecture for Combat Knowledge System (ATACKS) has been designed to incorporate both visualization tools and intelligent algorithms to allow for rapid visualization and decision making in these military environments.

The work presented in this paper demonstrates how an external, intelligent system, in this case a system based on the Discrete Event System Specification (DEVS) framework, was adapted and successfully integrated with ATACKS to produce dynamic decision support for battlefield visualization in a distributed environment. The DEVS decision support application was designed to provide recommendations on the feasibility of proposed courses of action enacted in ATACKS. By querying the appropriate unit models, it derives the state of the current battle. Subsequently, DEVS uses its wargaming rules to formulate a Go or No-Go decision, which is communicated back to the commander working with ATACKS.
System Architectures: Legacy Tools/Methods, DoDAF Descriptions and Design Through System Alternative Enumeration
Authors: Couretas J. M.
Published: June 2009

The System Entity Structure (SES) Enterprise Alternative Evaluator (SEAE) provides a “next step” to government mandated architecture frameworks by augmenting pictorial views into structured system representations for making design decisions. The Department of Defense Architecture Framework (DoDAF), a documentation tool used to portray operational concepts and supporting system details, is presently void of a malleable design description that structures processes and technologies for automatic enumeration of alternatives. DoDAF architecture views contain entity-like nodes; each representing documented processes and technologies. The SEAE leverages both DoDAF view nodes and computer science–based operations research to provide an evaluation technique that generates an operational concept's alternative architectures for future evaluation.
Use of Control Variates in a Large-Scale Aggregated Combat Model
Authors: Bednar Earl M. , Bauer Kenneth W. , Miller J. O.
Published: June 2009

In early fall 2004, the Air Force Studies and Analyses Agency (AFSAA) forwarded a proposed research topic, endorsed by the Air Force Chief of Staff, to the Department of Operational Sciences at the Air Force Institute of Technology. This topic requested an examination of potential variance reduction techniques (VRTs) for use with the THUNDER combat model. THUNDER is a large-scale, highly aggregated, discrete-event simulation of campaign-level military operations used to examine issues involving the utility and effectiveness of air and space power in a theater-level, joint warfare context. A new, state of the art combined multiple recursive generator was incorporated into THUNDER to synchronize the random inputs for common random numbers (CRN) and antithetic variates (AV). This work discusses the application of CRN, AV, and control variates (CV), within THUNDER, and the resulting variance reductions obtained for an example scenario.
Fatty acid patterns early after premature birth, simultaneously analysed in mothers' food, breast milk and serum phospholipids of mothers and infants
Authors: Sabel Karl-Göran , Lundqvist-Persson Cristina , Bona Elsa , Petzold Max , Strandvik Birgitta
Published: June 2009

Background

The supply of long-chain polyunsaturated fatty acids via the placenta is interrupted in premature infants, making them exclusively dependent on breast milk, which varies in fatty acid (FA) concentrations depending on the mother's diet.

Objective

To in a longitudinal study explore the relation between FA status in mothers and infants from an unselected cohort of prematures, not requiring intensive care.

Design

Breast milk and mothers' and infants' plasma phospholipid FA concentrations from birth to 44 weeks of gestational age were analysed and compared with mothers' food intake, assessed using a 3-day diary. Fatty acids were analysed by capillary gas-liquid chromatography.

Results

The energy intake was low in 75% of mothers, and 90% had low intake of essential FAs (EFAs). Dietary linoleic acid (LA, 18:2w6), but not w3 FAs, correlated to concentrations in breast milk. Infants' plasma and breast milk correlated for arachidonic (AA, 20:4w6), eicosapentaenoic (EPA, 20:5w3) and docosahexaenoic (DHA, 22:6w3) acids. A high concentration of mead acid (20:3w9) in the infants at birth correlated negatively to the concentrations of LA, AA and w3 FAs. Infants of mothers who stopped breastfeeding during the study period showed decreased DHA concentrations and increased w6/w3 ratios, with the opposite FA pattern seen in the mothers' plasma.

Conclusion

Although dietary w3 FAs were insufficient in an unselected cohort of mothers of premature infants, breastfeeding resulted in increased levels of DHA in the premature infants at the expense of the mothers, suggesting a general need to increase dietary w3 FAs during pregnancy and lactation.
Characterization of a potent non-cytotoxic shRNA directed to the HIV-1 co-receptor CCR5
Authors: Shimizu Saki , Kamata Masakazu , Kittipongdaja Panyamol , Chen Kevin N , Kim Sanggu , Pang Shen , Boyer Joshua , Qin F Xiao-Feng , An Dong Sung , Chen Irvin SY
Published: June 2009

Background

The use of shRNAs to downregulate the expression of specific genes is now relatively routine in experimentation but still hypothetical for clinical application. A potential therapeutic approach for HIV-1 disease is shRNA mediated downregulation of the HIV-1 co-receptor, CCR5. It is increasingly recognized that siRNAs and shRNAs can have unintended consequences such as cytotoxicities in cells, particularly when used for long term therapeutic purposes. For the clinical use of shRNAs, it is crucial to identify a shRNA that can potently inhibit CCR5 expression without inducing unintended cytotoxicities.

Results

Previous shRNAs to CCR5 identified using conventional commercial algorithms showed cytotoxicity when expressed using the highly active U6 pol III promoter in primary human peripheral blood derived mononuclear cells. Expression using the lower activity H1 promoter significantly reduced toxicity, but all shRNAs also reduced RNAi activity. In an effort to identify shRNAs that were both potent and non-cytotoxic, we created a shRNA library representing all potential CCR5 20 to 22-nucleotide shRNA sequences expressed using an H1 promoter and screened this library for downregulation of CCR5. We identified one potent CCR5 shRNA that was also non-cytotoxic when expressed at a low level with the H1 promoter. We characterized this shRNA in regards to its function and structure. This shRNA was unique that the use of commercial and published algorithms to predict effective siRNA sequences did not result in identification of the same shRNA. We found that this shRNA could induce sequence specific reduction of CCR5 at post transcriptional level, consistent with the RNA interference mechanism. Importantly, this shRNA showed no obvious cytotoxicity and was effective at downregulating CCR5 in primary human peripheral blood derived mononuclear cells.

Conclusion

We report on the characterization of a rare shRNA with atypical structural features having potent RNAi activity specific to CCR5. These results have implications for the application of RNAi technology for therapeutic purposes.
Rock2 controls TGFβ signaling and inhibits mesoderm induction in zebrafish embryos
Authors: Zhang Yu , Li Xiang , Qi Jingjing , Wang Jialu , Liu Xingfeng , Zhang Haiwen , Lin Sheng-Cai , Meng Anming
Published: June 2009

The Rho-associated serine/threonine kinases Rock1 and Rock2 play important roles in cell contraction, adhesion, migration, proliferation and apoptosis. Here we report that Rock2 acts as a negative regulator of the TGFβ signaling pathway. Mechanistically, Rock2 binds to and accelerates the lysosomal degradation of TGFβ type I receptors internalized from the cell surface in mammalian cells. The inhibitory effect of Rock2 on TGFβ signaling requires its kinase activity. In zebrafish embryos, injection of rock2a mRNA attenuates the expression of mesodermal markers during late blastulation and blocks the induction of mesoderm by ectopic Nodal signals. By contrast, overexpression of a dominant negative form of zebrafish rock2a, dnrock2a, has an opposite effect on mesoderm induction, suggesting that Rock2 proteins are endogenous inhibitors for mesoderm induction. Thus, our data have unraveled previously unidentified functions of Rock2, in controlling TGFβ signaling as well as in regulating embryonic patterning.
The F-BAR protein CIP4 promotes GLUT4 endocytosis through bidirectional interactions with N-WASp and Dynamin-2
Authors: Hartig Sean M. , Ishikura Shuhei , Hicklen Rachel S. , Feng Yanming , Blanchard Elisabeth G. , Voelker Kevin A. , Pichot Christina S. , Grange Robert W. , Raphael Robert M. , Klip Amira , Corey Seth J.
Published: June 2009

F-BAR proteins are a newly described family of proteins with unknown physiological significance. Because F-BAR proteins, including Cdc42 interacting protein-4 (CIP4), drive membrane deformation and affect endocytosis, we investigated the role of CIP4 in GLUT4 traffic by flow cytometry in GLUT4myc-expressing L6 myoblasts (L6 GLUT4myc). L6 GLUT4myc cells express CIP4a as the predominant F-BAR protein. siRNA knockdown of CIP4 increased insulin-stimulated 14C-deoxyglucose uptake by elevating cell-surface GLUT4. Enhanced surface GLUT4 was due to decreased endocytosis, which correlated with lower transferrin internalization. Immunoprecipitation of endogenous CIP4 revealed that CIP4 interacted with N-WASp and Dynamin-2 in an insulin-dependent manner. FRET confirmed the insulin-dependent, subcellular properties of these interactions. Insulin exposure stimulated specific interactions in plasma membrane and cytosolic compartments, followed by a steady-state response that underlies the coordination of proteins needed for GLUT4 traffic. Our findings reveal a physiological function for F-BAR proteins, supporting a previously unrecognized role for the F-BAR protein CIP4 in GLUT4 endocytosis, and show that interactions between CIP4 and Dynamin-2 and between CIP4 and NWASp are spatially coordinated to promote function.
Synthesis and Structural Characterization of a Novel Three-dimensional Molybdenum–Oxygen Framework Constructed from Mo3O9 Units
Authors: Zhao Junwei , Ma Pengtao , Wang Jingping , Niu Jingyang
Published: June 2009

A novel three-dimensional molybdenum oxide Mo3O9·H2O (1) constructed from Mo3O9 units has been successfully synthesized under hydrothermal conditions and structurally characterized by IR spectrum, inductively coupled plasma (ICP) analysis, powder X-ray diffraction (PXRD), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), and single-crystal X-ray diffraction.
The Effect of Teaching PECS to a Child With Autism on Verbal Behaviour, Play, and Social Functioning
Authors: Jurgens Anneke , Anderson Angelika , Moore Dennis W.
Published: June 2009

The Picture Exchange Communication System (PECS) is a widely used intervention strategy designed to teach communication skills to children with developmental delays, including autism. The Picture Exchange Communication System incorporates the teaching of mand initiations that are thought to be pivotal response behaviours, and have been demonstrated to lead to generalised improvements in other nontargeted behaviours. The aim of the present study was to assess the acquisition of PECS with a 3-year-old boy with autism using the established PECS training program, and to evaluate concomitant changes in spoken language, social–communicative behaviours, and functional play. Results indicated that the participant rapidly acquired the criterion behaviours for Phases 1 to 3 of the PECS program. Although PECS exchanges were rarely observed in the generalisation settings, clear increases were evident in verbal mands and other initiations in both home and kindergarten generalisation settings. Increases in spoken vocabulary and in the length of comprehensible spoken utterances in free-play were observed as were gains in time spent in developmentally appropriate play. Implications of these results and directions for future research are discussed.
State Classification and Its Discontents: The Struggle Over Bawean Ethnic Identity in Vietnam
Authors: Stokhof Malte , Salemink Oscar
Published: June 2009

This paper presents a group of Muslim descendants of Bawean people living in Hồ Chí Minh City who formalized their citizenship status and as a consequence their official ethnic identity. Much current scholarly literature presents state classification as a state's hegemonic instrument, as an instrument of state power alone. This case study balances the widespread view of the contemporary Vietnamese state as classifying the "motley crowds" within its boundaries, showing that the state leaves room for "indiscipline." Rather than denying their agency in terms of ethnic identification, sympathetic local officials helped these people of Bawean origin to "classify back."
Mild temperature stress modulates cytokinin content and cytokinin oxidase/dehydrogenase activity in young pea plants
Authors: Vaseva I. , Todorova D. , Malbeck J. , Travničkova A. , Machačkova I.
Published: June 2009

Cytokinin oxidase/dehydrogenase (CKX: EC 1.5.99.12) is able to provide a means for the rapid turnover of its substrate and it has been considered responsible for changes in the cytokinin pool in an adverse environment. Mild temperature stresses (10°C and 33°C average) were applied to young pea plants of two varieties (cvs. Manuela and Scinado) in order to assess the response of the cytokinin pool and CKX activity to altered growth conditions. Both temperature treatments increased the isopentenyl adenine (iP) and isopentenyl adenine riboside (iPR) contents in stressed plants. This trend was far more pronounced in the leaves. Low temperature additionally resulted in elevated
cis
zeatin riboside (
cis
ZR) and CKX activity. Heat did not influence the enzymatic activity in the leaves, while opposing trends were observed in the root-derived CKX activity of the two tested varieties. The data suggest that variance in the temperature provokes adaptive reactions in the cytokinin pool, which is maintained by CKX activity.
Prevalence of precancerous skin lesions and non-melanoma skin cancer in Japanese-Brazilians in Bauru, São Paulo State, Brazil
Authors: Ishioka Priscila , Marques Sílvio Alencar , Hirai Amélia Toyomi , Marques Mariangela E. A. , Hirata Sérgio Henrique , Yamada Sérgio
Published: June 2009

Precancerous lesions and skin cancer are infrequent in Asians, and have received little documentation in the literature. Brazil has the world's largest contingent of Japanese immigrants and their descendants, and 70% live in the State of São Paulo. The prevalence of such skin lesions in Japanese-Brazilians is unknown. This study aimed to assess the prevalence of actinic keratoses and non-melanoma skin cancer in first and second-generation Japanese-Brazilians over 30 years of age, without miscegenation, living in the city of Bauru, São Paulo State, in 2006. Of the 567 Japanese-Brazilians that underwent dermatological examination, actinic keratosis was diagnosed in 76, with a mean age of 68.9 years, and a single case of basal cell carcinoma was detected in a 39-year-old female patient. In Japan, prevalence of actinic keratosis varies from 0.76% to 5%, and the incidence of non-melanoma skin cancer is 1.2 to 5.4/100 thousand. Japanese-Brazilians from Bauru showed a 13.4% prevalence of actinic keratoses and earlier age at onset. Proximity to the Equator and a history of farming contribute to these higher rates. Presence of solar melanosis was associated with a 1.9-fold risk of developing actinic keratosis.
Análise espacial da ocorrência de dengue e condições de vida na cidade de Nova Iguaçu, Estado do Rio de Janeiro, Brasil
Authors: Machado Juliana Pires , Oliveira Rosely Magalhães de , Souza-Santos Reinaldo
Published: June 2009

A reemergência da dengue, sua disseminação e manutenção vêm desafiando o sistema de saúde brasileiro. Fatores relacionados às condições de vida da população têm sido abordados na compreensão de diferentes desfechos em saúde. Este trabalho analisa a ocorrência da dengue e sua relação com as condições de vida no Município de Nova Iguaçu, Rio de Janeiro, Brasil, de 1996 a 2004. Os dados sobre ocorrência de dengue foram obtidos no Sistema de Informação de Agravos de Notificação (SINAN). Para caracterização das condições de vida, foi construído um indicador composto com variáveis sócio-econômicas e de infra-estrutura urbana coletadas no Censo Demográfico de 2000. Operações entre camadas foram utilizadas para identificar associações espaciais entre o indicador composto e a incidência de dengue por bairros. Apesar de não se evidenciar uma relação linear entre condições de vida ruins e ocorrência da doença, os padrões espaciais observados indicaram maior suscetibilidade de áreas com desigualdades nas condições de vida e localizadas próximas às vias de acesso. Os achados sugerem ainda que, além de outros fatores relacionados à ocorrência da doença, as desigualdades observadas podem interferir na tendência temporal da dengue. Assim, modelos que considerem a interação entre variáveis sócio-econômicas e não apenas a quantificação de indicadores sociais isolados podem ser úteis para a vigilância da dengue.
Behaviour of two reinforced test embankments on soft clay
Authors: Magnani H. O. , Almeida M. S. S. , Ehrlich M.
Published: June 2009

The paper presents the behaviour of two reinforced test embankments built on a normally consolidated soft clay deposit underlying a top sand layer. The embankments were constructed close to undrained conditions in about 60 days. The embankments were well instrumented, including measurements of tension forces in the reinforcement. The mobilised tension forces in the reinforcements were shown to increase with embankment height and larger values of tension forces were measured in the embankment built on a shallower clay layer. The critical failure surfaces obtained in limit equilibrium stability analyses were close to the observed field failure surfaces. These analyses used measured reinforcement forces and resulted in Bjerrum correction factors around μ = 0.60 for the two embankments. These analyses considered the measured reinforcement forces and three-dimensional effects. Consistent correlations were obtained between embankment loadings, factors of safety, measured reinforcement forces and inclinometer readings.
Lifetime cost and performance of slope erosion control products for construction
Authors: Li M.-H. , Yi Y.-J. , McFalls J.
Published: June 2009

This study investigated the relationship between cost and performance of slope erosion control products in the Texas Department of Transportation's Approved Products List. Using (1) the erosion control performance data, (2) product cost data collected from surveys and (3) predicted product longevity based on material composition, a lifetime product performance, which estimated the potential soil amount protected by the product over time, was quantified. The study also examined the relationship between product price, soil loss performance and predicted longevity. The results indicate that product price was highly associated with predicted longevity. Products that could offer the longest protection cost more than those offering short or temporary protection. Results also show that price did not correlate with initial soil protection performance. Rather, price significantly correlated with lifetime product performance, which indicates that marketed product prices well represent the lifetime worth.
Design of prefabricated vertical drains considering soil disturbance
Authors: Basu D. , Prezzi M.
Published: June 2009

In the present study, the effect of soil disturbance on prefabricated vertical drain (PVD)-enhanced soft soil consolidation was studied using finite element (FE) analysis. Both square and triangular PVD installation arrangements were considered. The actual shapes of the PVD, disturbed zone and unit cell were preserved in the FE analysis. A parametric study for a wide range of possible hydraulic conductivity profiles with a sigmoidal shape indicated that the degree of disturbance in the immediate vicinity of the PVD and the extent of the disturbed zone are the two factors that significantly affect the consolidation rate. Proper evaluation of these factors is therefore necessary for satisfactory PVD design. A comparison was made between the degree of consolidation calculated using an analytical solution assuming a bilinear hydraulic conductivity profile and FE analysis assuming a sigmoidal hydraulic conductivity profile in the disturbed zone surrounding the PVD. The curves of degree of consolidation plotted against time factor that were obtained from these solutions were in reasonably good agreement. Based on the analytical solution, design charts for a variety of conditions and hydraulic conductivity profiles were developed. They can be easily used in practice to determine the required PVD spacing for the desired degree of consolidation and specified time. The design charts can also be used for conditions in which overlapping of disturbed zones occurs.
Diffusion modelling of OIT depletion from HDPE geomembrane in landfill applications
Authors: Rimal S. , Rowe R. K.
Published: June 2009

The results of a diffusion modelling study to evaluate experimental data on oxidative induction time (OIT) depletion from high-density polyethylene (HDPE) geomembrane (GM) in accelerated ageing tests are presented. The paper provides: (1) results of diffusion modelling of OIT depletion from a GM immersed in leachate and in a composite liner with leachate above the liner at different incubation temperatures; (2) a comparison of the results of the diffusion model and the conventional first-order (exponential) antioxidant depletion model; (3) estimates of diffusion and partitioning coefficients at typical landfill temperatures based on Arrhenius-type relationships; and (4) an application of the estimated parameters to model a composite liner with 30 cm thick sand layer. The antioxidant diffusion coefficients ranged from 2.1 × 10−15 (at 26°C) to 1.6 × 10−13 m2/s (at 85°C) and the partitioning coefficients ranged from 720 (at 26°C) to 4 (at 85°C). The antioxidant depletion time obtained using the first-order model was similar to that predicted using the diffusion model for tests where the OIT was depleted during the test period. However the first-order model gave smaller predictions of depletion time than the diffusion model in cases where there was only limited OIT depletion and in these cases the diffusion model is likely to the give more accurate predictions. Arrhenius modelling provided a means of estimating diffusion and partitioning coefficients at field temperatures. At a typical landfill temperature of 35°C the calculated antioxidant depletion time for the geomembrane considered was about 130 years for a case where there was a 1.5 cm sand protection layer and 230 years for the case when 30 cm sand protection layer was used. Thus these results suggest that the use of a 30 cm sand protection layer in addition to the typical geotextile protection layer between the geomembrane and a coarser granular leachate drainage layer would provide potential benefits in terms of extending the geomembrane service life by reducing the rate of outward diffusion of antioxidants from the geomembrane (as well as providing good physical protection of the liner). This paper has also illustrated how diffusion modelling can be used for considering a range of situations different from those under which the basic experimental data was obtained.
Designing a Simultaneous Water Alternating Gas Process for Optimizing Oil Recovery
Authors: Al-Ghanim Wafaa , Gharbi Ridha , Algharaib Meshal
Published: June 2009

Recently there has been an increasing interest in simultaneous water-alternating-gas (SWAG) in oil recovery operations. This method involves the simultaneous injection of water at the top of the reservoir formation and injecting gas at the bottom of the formation. The difference in water and gas densities will provide a sweeping mechanism in which water tends to sweep hydrocarbons downward and the gas tends to sweep the hydrocarbons upward. It is expected that the two displacement mechanisms will work on establishing a flood front, which will increase the sweep efficiency and thus the oil recovery. This study investigated the performance of SWAG in oil recovery operations.

A three-dimensional finite-difference black oil reservoir simulator has been used to determine the reservoir management strategies in order to optimize the oil recovery using SWAG injection technique. A specific strategy that was studied includes the use of horizontal injectors in conjunction with vertical producers. This well configuration has been shown to yield the best oil recovery compared to other well configurations. The management strategies involved studying different design parameters to maximize the recovery performance. Such parameters include; mobility ratio between oil and water phases, viscosity ratio between gas and oil phases, location of the water and the gas injectors, and injection rates of water and gas. Results showed the investigated parameters are critical in the success of the proposed injection SWAG scheme. The study provides the conditions under which this SWAG injection technique may yield higher recovery performance.
Utilization of the GRM (Geological Representative Models) to Integrate Different Types of Uncertainties in the Decision Making Process
Authors: Silveira Márcio A. , Costa Ana Paula A. , Zamora Gonzalo Javier A.
Published: June 2009

Decision analysis applied to the development of petroleum fields must take into account the risk associated to several types of uncertainties. The combination of these uncertainties can be used to quantify the risk related to the decision process. The objective of this study was to evaluate the impact of the integration of different types of uncertainties, especially geological and economics on the complementary development project of an offshore field located 34 Km of Rio Grande do Norte coast in a water depth of 46 meters. It was applied a methodology, involving quantification of uncertainty and risk analysis (Costa, 2003), that proposes the use of models representing the geological uncertainties, called Geological Representative Models (GRM), to integrate with economic uncertainties (oil price, investment value, project start, etc.) and improved the decision making process of the project.

In the risk methodology, many models are created and it is not viable to use all these models to integrate with other types of uncertainties. Therefore, some representative models are selected to continue the analysis. These models are selected based on the variation of net present value (NPV), oil production (Np), oil recovery (RF), water production (Wp), etc. The basic idea is to plot NPV (main objective function) against secondary objective-function (RF, Np, etc.) choosing models that are close to the values of P10, P50 and P90 that have significant variation in the other attributes. The adoption of this premise, which includes aspects of the amount and the speed of the recovery, is useful in sizing the later production facilities as well as in detailing the development plans and evaluating the flexibility of these plans. The adoption of this process as well as the use of an automated tool provided detailed information, contributing to the decision making process.
Innovated Simulation History Matching Approach Enabling Better Historical Performance Match and Embracing Uncertainty in Predictive Forecasting
Authors: Elrafie Emad , Agil Mohammed , Abbas Tariq , Idroos Boy , Colomar François-Michel
Published: June 2009

The purpose of the simulation history match phase in a study is to achieve a simulation model calibrated to historical performance for predictive production forecasting while preserving reservoir understanding in terms of reservoir characterization and fluid flow mechanisms. The classical history match simulation approach involves running a number of history match simulation cases with modified simulation model variables to obtain only one of the many probable match models to the field data.

Undoubtedly, the conventional simulation history match approach does not normally handle the uncertainty of all model variables, nor the possibility to identify and carry forward a set of multiple equi-probable history match model scenarios to predictive forecasting. Furthermore, the conventional history match approach lacks a rigorous mechanism to ensure that the original reservoir characterization and understanding is preserved after achieving only one of the many probable history match models.

This paper presents an innovative history match approach as part of Saudi Aramco's integrated "Event Solution1" study workflow. This approach was developed to enable faster simulation history match under uncertainty, in terms of static and dynamic variables. The history matching process is performed with the aid of assisted history matching software 2 that tracks the match quality of hundreds of history match cases and analyzes the impact of each variable and its range of uncertainty on model match quality to historical field data. Finally, a proxy (statistical History Match solution surface including all uncertainty variables) is created that combines model learnings to provide directional guidance to a most likely history match model design. As the history match process progresses, history match variables are characterized into three distinct categories; (1) critical variables to history match, (2) non critical variables to history match but with significant impact on prediction, and (3) non critical variables to history match but with less impact on prediction. The impact of the variables on prediction is concluded by concurrently running prediction runs under uncertainty. The uncertainty range of the variables categorized in groups (1) and (3) are set to a single realizations or narrower range of uncertainty for each variable while group (2) variables are carried forward with a more restricted range of uncertainty (defined by history match quality analysis) setting the stage for prediction under uncertainty modeling.

This paper presents the application of an innovative history match approach that provides all project stakeholders with a shared understanding of critical and non critical uncertainties (static and dynamic) in history match as carried forward to prediction runs under uncertainty.
Optimised Combined Underground Gas Storage and Enhanced Oil Recovery
Authors: Yanze Yannick , de Kok Joop , Clemens Torsten
Published: June 2009

The Schoenkirchen Tief reservoir is located in the Vienna Basin. The reservoir contained 19 mn m3 oil originally in place. The current recovery factor after 46 years of production is 59 %. The field was produced by water injection. The wells, located at the crest of the high relief structure are exhibiting a high water cut.

2006-2008, a comprehensive study was performed to optimise the future development of the field. The study showed that this field can be used for high performance Underground Gas Storage. Due to gas/oil gravity drainage, oil will be mobilised and can be produced resulting in enhanced oil recovery.

The field development of this fractured dolomite reservoir can be optimised by using vertical dewatering wells. Completing the vertical wells far down in the structure results in minimising gas coning and fast build up of the working volume of gas. To reduce water handling costs, these water wells will produce the water out of the reservoir into a highly permeable aquifer located above the reservoir. This means, no water will be produced to surface.

The drainage of oil in the matrix of this dual-porosity dual-permeability reservoir model is lagging behind the downward movement of the gas/oil contact in the fractures in this high relief reservoir. Once the oil rim reached the original oil/water contact in the matrix, horizontal wells can be drilled to produce additional oil.

Processes which had to be considered in this field development are the fracture-matrix interaction, hysteresis and fluctuations of the oil rim in the fractures during the gas cycles.