bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
World's First Cement Replacement with Metal Expandable Annular Sealing on a Highly Laminated, Deep Water Injector in West Africa
Authors: Hallaire Maximilien , Bagal Joseph , Hazel Paul , Vasques Ricardo , Prasad Bala , Onadeko Gbenga 
Published: February 2020

Abstract
The field is developed within a complex environment, located within deep water and operated from a TLP / FPU facility. The wells are targeting 2 reservoir structures at 4000m TVD, requiring long and deviated wells to achieve field coverage. The reservoir is highly laminated with complex lithology requiring approximately 3:2 producers to injectors. Existing lower completion design utilizes a combination of cement and metal expandable annular sealing technology, to ensure zonal isolation and annular sealing (liner to formation) during the high-pressure stimulation and to ensure sealing over the life of well for zonal water shut off requirements. The oil reservoir is located approximately 20m TVD above a highly-pressurized water zone, making the oil producers challenging to drill and cement. Existing wells were drilled with a long shoe track into the water zone creating a possible flow path for the water to migrate along the annulus if annular sealing is not achieved.
As part of a global efficiency drive, the operator issued a challenge to the service industry, to reduce the DRILLEX of these wells whilst maintaining the beneficial productivity index that has been achieved within the highly heterogeneous carbonate field, being prone to asphaltenes. One of the implemented solutions was cement replacement across the reservoir. The benefits of this solution impacted several areas; it removed the need for drilling 100m of rat hole, under reaming of the 6 ½″ hole, clean out of the 6 ½″ hole and most significantly, eliminating cementing of the 4 ½″ liner. This led to a substantial cost savings and reduction of rig time and because it simplified the operations, the operational risks were also reduced.
The scope of work to deliver the solution included the design, development and qualification of the metal expandable annular sealing system. The project included validation of both sealing and anchoring of the cement-less liner within the open hole. The solution was also required to maintain the synergies with the perforation, acid stimulation and diversion techniques to achieve the required Productivity Index (PI) and Injectivity Index (II). The first deployment was within a well that was converted from producer to water injector. This would help validate the technology for further deployment on oil producers. The lower liner with the metal expandable annular sealing system was deployed from the rig whilst the activation (expansion) and subsequent acid stimulation were completed offline. Production and injectivity data were analysed and compared to the PI / II to the prior cemented and perforated well designs.
This paper will discuss the project scope of work, first deployment of the metal expandable sealing system, data analysis and an estimate of the risk and cost reduction delivered.
High-Viscosity Liquid/Gas Flow Pattern Transitions in Upward Vertical Pipe Flow
Authors: Al-Safran Eissa , Ghasemi Mohammad , Al-Ruhaimani Feras 
Published: February 2020

Summary
High-viscosity liquid two-phase upward vertical flow in wells and risers presents a new challenge for predicting pressure gradient and liquid holdup due to the poor understanding and prediction of flow pattern. The objective of this study is to investigate the effect of liquid viscosity on two-phase flow pattern in vertical pipe flow. Further objective is to develop new/improve existing mechanistic flow-pattern transition models for high-viscosity liquid two-phase-flow vertical pipes. High-viscosity liquid flow pattern two-phase flow data were collected from open literature, against which existing flow-pattern transition models were evaluated to identify discrepancies and potential improvements. The evaluation revealed that existing flow transition models do not capture the effect of liquid viscosity, resulting in poor prediction. Therefore, two bubble flow (BL)/dispersed bubble flow (DB) pattern transitions are proposed in this study for two different ranges of liquid viscosity. The first proposed transition model modifies Brodkey's critical bubble diameter (Brodkey 1967) by including liquid viscosity, which is applicable for liquid viscosity up to 100 mPa·s. The second model, which is applicable for liquid viscosities above 100 mPa·s, proposes a new critical bubble diameter on the basis of Galileo's dimensionless number. Furthermore, the existing bubbly/intermittent flow (INT) transition model on the basis of a critical gas void fraction of 0.25 (Taitel et al. 1980) is modified to account for liquid viscosity. For the INT/annular flow (AN) transition, the Wallis transition model (Wallis 1969) was evaluated and found to be able to predict the high-viscosity liquid flow pattern data more accurately than the existing models. A validation study of the proposed transition models against the entire high-viscosity liquid experimental data set revealed a significant improvement with an average error of 22.6%. Specifically, the model over-performed existing models in BL/INT and INT/AN pattern transitions.
A convolutional neural network-based system to classify patients using FDG PET/CT examinations
Authors: Kawauchi Keisuke , Furuya Sho , Hirata Kenji , Katoh Chietsugu , Manabe Osamu , Kobayashi Kentaro , Watanabe Shiro , Shiga Tohru 
Published: February 2020

Abstract
Background: As the number of PET/CT scanners increases and FDG PET/CT becomes a common imaging modality for oncology, the demands for automated detection systems on artificial intelligence (AI) to prevent human oversight and misdiagnosis are rapidly growing. We aimed to develop a convolutional neural network (CNN)-based system that can classify whole-body FDG PET as 1) benign, 2) malignant or 3) equivocal. Methods: This retrospective study investigated 3,485 sequential patients with malignant or suspected malignant disease, who underwent whole-body FDG PET/CT at our institute. All the cases were classified into the 3 categories by a nuclear medicine physician. A residual network (ResNet)-based CNN architecture was built for classifying patients into the 3 categories. In addition, we performed a region-based analysis of CNN (head-and-neck, chest, abdomen, and pelvic region). Results: There were 1,280 (37%), 1,450 (42%), and 755 (22%) patients classified as benign, malignant and equivocal, respectively. In the patient-based analysis, CNN predicted benign, malignant and equivocal images with 99.4%, 99.4%, and 87.5% accuracy, respectively. In region-based analysis, the prediction was correct with the probability of 97.3% (head-and-neck), 96.6% (chest), 92.8% (abdomen) and 99.6% (pelvic region), respectively. Conclusion: The CNN-based system reliably classified FDG PET images into 3 categories, indicating that it could be helpful for physicians as a double-checking system to prevent oversight and misdiagnosis.
Effect of inspiratory muscle-loaded exercise training on peak oxygen uptake and ventilatory response during incremental exercise under normoxia and hypoxia
Authors: Ogawa Takeshi , Nagao Maiko , Fujii Naoto , NIshiyasu Takeshi 
Published: February 2020

Abstract
Background: Although numerous studies have reported the effect of inspiratory muscle training for improving exercise performance, the outcome of whether exercise performance is improved by inspiratory muscle training is controversial. Therefore, this study investigated the influence of inspiratory muscle-loaded exercise training (IMLET) on peak oxygen uptake (VO2peak), respiratory responses, and exercise performance under normoxic (N) and hypoxic (H) exercise conditions. We hypothesised that IMLET enhances respiratory muscle strength and improves respiratory response, thereby improving VO2peak and work capacity under H condition.Methods: Sixteen university track runners (13 men and 3 women) were randomly assigned to the IMLET (n=8) or exercise training (ET) group (n=8). All subjects underwent 4 weeks of 20-min 60% VO2peak cycling exercise training, thrice per week. IMLET loaded 50% of maximal inspiratory pressure during exercise. At pre- and post-training periods, subjects performed exhaustive incremental cycling under normoxic (N; 20.9 ± 0%) and hypoxic (H; 15.0 ± 0.1%) conditions. Results: Although maximal inspiratory pressure (PImax) significantly increased after training in both groups, the extent of PImax increase was significantly higher in the IMLET group (from 102 ± 20 to 145 ± 26 cmH2O in IMLET; from 111 ± 23 to 127 ± 23 cmH2O in ET; P<0.05). In both groups, VO2peak and maximal work load (Wmax) similarly increased both under N and H conditions after training (P<0.05). Further, the extent of Wmax decrease under H condition was lower in the IMLET group at post-training test than at pre-training (from -14.7 ± 2.2% to -12.5 ± 1.7%; P<0.05). Maximal minute ventilation in both N and H conditions increased after training than in the pre-training period. Conclusions: Our IMLET enhanced the respiratory muscle strength, and the decrease in work capacity under hypoxia was reduced regardless of the increase in VO2peak.
High Contribution and Impact of Resistant Gram Negative Pathogens Causing Surgical Site infections at a Multi-Hospital Healthcare System in Saudi Arabia, 2007-2016
Authors: El-Saed Aiman , Balkhy Hanan , Alshamrani Majid M. , Aljohani Sameera , Alsaedi Asim , Nasser Wafa Al , Gammal Ayman El , Almohrij Saad A. , Alyousef Ziyad , Almunif Sara , Alzahrani Mohammad 
Published: February 2020

Abstract
BACKGROUND Despite being largely preventable, surgical site infections (SSIs) are still one of the most frequent healthcare-associated infections. The presence of resistant pathogens can further augment their clinical and economic impacts. The objective was to estimate the distribution and resistance in SSI pathogens in Saudi Arabia and to compare them to the US National Healthcare Safety Network (NHSN) hospitals. METHODS Targeted SSI surveillance was prospectively conducted on several surgical procedures done between 2007 and 2016 in four hospitals of Ministry of National Guard Health Affairs. Definitions and methodology of SSI and bacterial resistance were based on NHSN. RESULTS A total 492 pathogens causing 403 SSI events were included. The most frequent pathogens were Staphylococcus aureus (22.8%), Pseudomonas aeruginosa (20.1%), Klebsiella spp. (12.2%), and Escherichia coli (12.2%), with marked variability between surgeries. Approximately 30.3% of Staphylococcus aureus was methicillin-resistant (MRSA), 13.0% of Enterococcus spp. was vancomycin-resistant (VRE), and 5.5% of Enterobacteriaceae were carbapenem resistant (CRE). The highest multidrug-resistant (MDR) GNPs were Acinetobacter spp. (58.3%), Klebsiella spp. (20.4%) and Escherichia coli (16.3%). MRSA was significantly less frequent while cephalosporin-resistant Klebsiella spp., MDR Klebsiella spp., and MDR Escherichia coli were significantly more frequent in our hospitals compared with NHSN hospitals. CONCLUSION GNPs in a tertiary care setting in Saudi Arabia are responsible for more than 60% of SSI with more resistant patterns than Western countries. This information may be critical to secure resources and ensure support for caregivers and healthcare leaders in implementing antimicrobial stewardship programs and evidence-based SSI preventive practices.
Secular trend analysis of antibiotic consumption in China’s hospitals 2011-2018, a retrospective analysis of sales data
Authors: Wushouer Haishaerjiang , Zhou Yue , Zhang Xi , Fu Mengyuan , Fan Daiming , Shi Luwen , Guan Xiaodong 
Published: February 2020

Abstract
Background: This study was aimed to explore the secular trends of antibiotic sales over an 8-year period. Methods: We retrospectively analysed aggregated monthly surveillance data on antibiotic sales to 586 hospitals from 28 provinces in China from January 2011 to December 2018. Information including generic name, sales amount, dosage form, strength, the route of administration, and geographical data were collected. Population weighted antibiotic sales were expressed in DDD per 1,000 inhabitants per day (DID). WHO’s ‘Access, Watch, Reserve’ categorization was also adopted to analyse antibiotic sales. Results: Between 2011 and 2018, total antibiotic sales in China’s hospitals increased by 39.6% (from 4.8 DID in 2010 to 6.7 DID in 2018). Antibiotic sales were stable or had moderately decreased in 13 provinces, while in the other 15 provinces they had substantially increased. Cephalosporins were the most consumed antibiotics, accounting for 26.9% of the total antibiotic sales (1.8 DID/6.7 DID). In 2018, antibiotics in the Access category comprised 19.4% of the total sales (1.3 DID/6.7 DID), where antibiotics in the Watch category comprised the largest proportion of 71.6% (4.8 DID/6.7 DID). Population-weighted antibiotic sales were greater in secondary hospitals than in tertiary hospitals (7.3 DID vs 6.6 DID). The antibiotics sales of oral form were almost two times the sales of parenteral forms in secondary hospitals, whereas in tertiary hospitals the amounts were about the same. Conclusions: Although efforts were made towards restricting antibiotics in the past decade by the Chinese government, antibiotic sales demonstrated an upward trend during the study period. More efforts are needed to explore whether the antibiotics are prudently used.
The EMPOWER-SUSTAIN e-Health Intervention to improve patient activation and self-management behaviours among individuals with Metabolic Syndrome in primary care: study protocol for a pilot randomised controlled trial
Authors: Daud Maryam Hannah , Ramli Anis Safura , Abdul-Razak Suraya , Isa Mohamad Rodi , Yusoff Fakhrul Hazman , Baharudin Noorhida , Mohamed-Yassin Mohamed Syarif , Badlishah-Sham Siti Fatimah , Nikmat Azlina Wati , Jamil Nursuriati , Mohd-Nawawi Hapizah 
Published: February 2020

Abstract
Background: Epidemiological studies from various parts of the world have clearly demonstrated that Metabolic Syndrome (MetS) is an increasing global health problem, not only in the western societies but also in the Asian populations. Web-based and mobile phone-based self-management applications have been proven to be effective in improving self-management behaviour in patients with MetS components i.e. diabetes or hypertension. However, evidence is lacking in terms of its effectiveness specifically for patients with MetS. The aim of this pilot study is to evaluate the feasibility and potential effectiveness of the EMPOWER-SUSTAIN © Self-Management e-Health Intervention in improving patient activation and self-management behaviours among patients with MetS. This paper presents the study protocol. Methods: A pilot randomised controlled trial will be conducted in a university primary care clinic. A total of 232 patients aged 18-60 years old with MetS will be recruited; 116 will be randomised to receive the EMPOWER-SUSTAIN © intervention for 6 months and another 116 patients will continue with usual care. The EMPOWER-SUSTAIN © intervention is a multifaceted chronic disease management strategy based on the Chronic Care Model and persuasive technology theory. It consists of training primary care physicians, nurse and patients to use the EMPOWER-SUSTAIN web-based self-management mobile app © , strengthening patient-physician relationship and reinforcing the use of relevant clinical practice guidelines to guide management and prescribing. The primary outcome is the mean change in patient activation score using the Patient Activation Measure ® short form Malay version (PAM ® -13-M) questionnaire. The secondary outcomes include the change in waist circumference, body mass index, blood pressure, patients’ physical activity level, eating behavior, patients’ perception on chronic illness care, satisfaction in patient-physician interaction and perceived absolute 10-year cardiovascular disease risk. Feasibility of implementing the intervention will be evaluated. These include acceptability of the intervention, estimating the likely rate of participant recruitment and retention, appropriateness of the outcome measures, calculation of sample size, and its potential effectiveness. Conclusion: To our knowledge, this is the first study in Malaysia that aims to determine the feasibility of a multifaceted e-health intervention, as well as to indicate more useful aspects of this intervention for further exploration in a larger trial.
Overexpression of GmNFYA5 confers drought tolerance to transgenic Arabidopsis and soybean plants
Authors: Ma Xiao-Jun , Yu Tai-Fei , Li Xiao-Hui , Cao Xin-You , Ma Jian , Chen Jun , Zhou Yong-Bin , Chen Ming , Ma You-Zhi , Zhang Jun-Hua , Xu Zhao-Shi 
Published: February 2020

Abstract
Background: Crop productivity is challenged by abiotic stresses, among which drought stress is the most common. NF-Y genes, especially NF-YA genes, regulate tolerance to abiotic stress.
Results: Soybean NF-Y gene GmNFYA5 was identified to have the highest transcript level among all 21 NF-YA genes in soybean ( Glycine max L.) under drought stress. Drought-induced transcript of GmNFYA5 was suppressed by the ABA synthesis inhibitor naproxen (NAP). GmNFYA5 transcript was detected in various tissues at vegetative and reproductive growth stages with higher levels in roots and leaves than in other tissues, which was consist with the GmNFYA5 promoter:GUS fusion assay. Overexpression of GmNFYA5 in transgenic Arabidopsis plants caused enhanced drought tolerance in seedlings by decreasing stomatal aperture and water loss from leaves. Overexpression and suppression of GmNFYA5 in soybean resulted in increased and decreased drought tolerance, respectively, relative to plants with an empty vector (EV). Transcript levels of ABA-dependent genes ( ABI2 , ABI3 , NCED3 , LEA3 , RD29A , P5CS1 , GmWRKY46 , GmNCED2 and GmbZIP1 ) and ABA-independent genes ( DREB1A , DREB2A , DREB2B , GmDREB1 , GmDREB2 and GmDREB3 ) in transgenic plants overexpressing GmNFYA5 were higher than those of wild-type plants under drought stress; suppression of GmNFYA5 transcript produced opposite results. GmNFYA5 probably regulated the transcript abundance of GmDREB2 and GmbZIP1 by binding to the promoters in vivo.
Conclusions: Our results suggested that overexpression of GmNFYA5 improved drought tolerance in soybean via both ABA-dependent and ABA-independent pathways.
Keywords: ABA sensitivity, Glycine max , Nuclear Factor YA, resistance mechanisms
Is menopause still evolving? Evidence from a longitudinal study of multiethnic populations and its relevance to women's health
Authors: Chan Shirley , Gomes Alyssa , Singh Rama Shankar 
Published: February 2020

Abstract
To reflect on the impact of changing patterns of delayed marriage and reproduction and to seek evidence as to whether menopause is still evolving, characteristics of the menopause transition were investigated within and between ethnic populations in this study. A cross-sectional analysis was conducted using data on 747 middle-aged women obtained from the Study of Women’s Health Across the Nation (SWAN) from 1996 to 2008. The ethnic groups included: Afro-American, Chinese, Japanese, Caucasian, and Hispanic. Perimenopause age and duration, menopause age, and hormonal indicators of menopause were examined across five ethnicities. We found a similar window of menopause age within populations, but no significant difference in perimenopause and menopause age between populations. The rate of increase of follicle-stimulating hormone and testosterone differed significantly in Hispanics and African-Americans during the menopause transition period. The broad window of variation in age at menopause within the population (45-60 years) and the absence of significant differences between populations, in combination with population variation in menopause symptoms, suggest that menopause is a relatively recently evolved and still evolving trait. Under the mate choice theory of menopause, menopause is the result of the accumulation of infertility mutations in older women due to men’s preference for younger mates. We propose a shifting mate choice-shifting menopause model which posits that, as the age of mate choice/marriage shifts to older age, so will the age at menopause, and that menopause is a transient phase of female fertility; it can de-evolve, be delayed, if not disappear completely. Integrated longitudinal menopausal studies linked with genomics and hormonal studies on diverse ethnic populations can provide valuable information bearing on women’s health and personalized medicine.
Identification of a virulence tal gene in the cotton pathogen, Xanthomonas citri pv. malvacearum strain Xss-V2-18
Authors: Haq Fazal , Xie Shiwang , Huang Kunxuan , Shah Syed Mashab Ali , Ma Wenxiu , Cai LuLu , Xu Xiameng , Xu Zhengyin , Wang Sai , Zou Lifang , Zhu Bo , Chen Gongyou 
Published: February 2020

Abstract
Background: Bacterial blight of cotton (BBC), which is caused by the bacterium Xanthomonas citri pv. malvacearum (Xcm), is a destructive disease in cotton. Transcription activator-like effectors (TALEs), encoded by tal-genes, play critical roles in the pathogenesis of xanthomonads. Characterized strains of cotton pathogenic Xcm harbor 8-12 different tal genes and only one of them is functionally decoded. Further identification of novel tal genes in Xcm strains with virulence contributions are prerequisite to decipher the Xcm-cotton interactions.
Results: In this study, we identified six tal genes in Xss-V2-18, a highly-virulent strain of Xcm from China, and assessed their role in BBC. RFLP-based Southern hybridization assays indicated that Xss-V2-18 harbors the six tal genes on a plasmid. The plasmid-encoded tal genes were isolated by cloning BamHI fragments and screening clones by colony hybridization. The tal genes were sequenced by inserting a Tn5 transposon in the DNA encoding the central repeat region (CRR) of each tal gene. Xcm TALome evolutionary relationship based on TALEs CRR revealed relatedness of Xss-V2-18 to MSCT1 and MS14003 from the United States. However, Tal2 of Xss-V2-18 differs at two repeat variable diresidues (RVDs) from Tal6 and Tal26 in MSCT1 and MS14003, respectively, inferred functional dissimilarity. The suicide vector pKMS1 was then used to construct tal deletion mutants in Xcm Xss-V2-18. The mutants were evaluated for pathogenicity in cotton based on symptomology and growth in planta. Four mutants showed attenuated virulence and all contained mutations in tal2. One tal2 mutant designated M2 was further investigated in complementation assays. When tal2 was introduced into Xcm M2 and expressed in trans, the mutant was complemented for both symptoms and growth in planta, thus indicating that tal2 functions as a virulence factor in Xcm Xss-V2-18.
Conclusions: Overall, the results demonstrated that Tal2 is a major pathogenicity factor in Xcm strain Xss-V2-18 that contributes significantly in BBC. This study provides a foundation for future efforts aimed at identifying susceptibility genes in cotton that are targeted by Tal2.