bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
An Enviromental Code of Practice for the New Zealand Petroleum Industry: Is One Needed?
Authors: Stickley D C 
Published: July 2017

All phases of the New Zealand petroleum industry (exploration, production, transportation, storage and distribution) are governed by various overlapping, if not conflicting, pieces of legislation. The separate treatment of petroleum under the Crown Minerals Act 1991 was a recognition that ownership and grants of right to mineral resources was a function of government that is distinct from protection of the environment. Nevertheless, the Resource Management Act 1991 is the central statute which co-ordinates conditions for prevention of marine pollution under the Marine Safety Authorities Act, Dangerous Goods Act, and the proposed Hazardous Substances and New Organisms legislation. On-the-ground compliance has largely been delegated to local authorities. The adoption of regional and district plans recognising petroleum exploration and production as a permitted activity subject to resource consent requirements presents the opportunity for the New Zealand petroleum industry to put forward a code of practice that integrates a system of compliance to meet many, if not all, statutory requirements and ease the administration of this legislation by local authorities.
Corporate Concentration in the Western Canadian Coal Industry
Authors: Jamieson Eric D. 
Published: July 2017

The Western Canadian coal industry went into crisis in 1992 as a result of the attritional effects of several years of low international prices for metallurgical and thermal coal products in a buyers' market. The adverse marketing conditions for producers were exacerbated by growing financial burdens imposed by increasing capital charges and high operating costs as well as operating problems stemming from a general lack of investment for development and equipment renewal. The crisis led to massive write-downs by several companies and bankruptcy of the largest producer in British Columbia. Co-incidentally with the financial crisis one of the less affected companies became involved in a prolonged strike so that the overall production loss for 1992 amounted to 8.5 Mt or 33% or normal BC coal output. As a result of these events the industry underwent comprehensive restructuring from which four diversified Canadian coal and mining companies emerged with substantially reduced collective capital liabilities as the new backbone of the industry. In the two years since the crisis, recovery of lost markets and redevelopment of the affected BC mines have restored production to 85% of pre-1992 levels on a much-improved financial basis, and expansion plans for 1995 call for a full return to pre-crisis production levels. However, the longer term outlook is grim for two operations and doubtful for a third as existing 15-year contracts expire in 1998 and are unlikely to be renewed under equivalent terms. Closure of the mines involved is a distinct possibility with permanent loss of 6–8 Mtpy of Western Canadian export capability.
On the Value of Options in Exploration Economics
Authors: MacKay J. A. , Lerche I. 
Published: July 2017

Representations are given of the value of optioning a buy-in position to an exploration project based on both the Cozzolino risk adjusted value (RAV) formula as well as on the parabolic RAV formula; numerical illustrations indicate that there is little difference between maximal option values based on either formula. For deterministic values of success probability, ps, gain, G, costs. C, corporate risk tolerance, RT, and working interest, W, illustrations are given of the maximum option value in relation to the RAV. In addition, when probability distributions for Ps, G, C, RT and W are taken to represent ±10% or ±20% variations around fixed mean parameter values, it is shown that the corresponding cumulative probability distributions for maximum option value are remarkably similar when based on either the Cozzolino or parabolic RAV formula. It is also shown that contributions of equal fractional variations of ps, G, C, RT and W to the variance in the maximum option value are extremely unequal in relative importance and, further, increasing the variations from ± 10% to ± 20% not only causes a four-fold increase of the volatility around the mean option value, but also causes a 20% decrease in the mean, as well as re-ordering the relative importance of factors contributing to the variance around the mean option value. For massive variations of ps, G, C, or RT, which occur outside of initial estimated ranges, it is shown that the maximum option value (or the desired working interest) has to be adjusted either to keep total project costs at a fixed level or, if the working interest is fixed, then while the total project costs increase, the RAV decreases faster than the maximum potential value, so that the maximum option value increases. The purpose of these computations has been to illustrate explicitly how one can quantify uncertainty in option decisions at the start of an exploration project, when information is normally inaccurate and imprecise, and also how one can use later unanticipated changes in success probability, costs, gains, or corporate risk tolerance to immediately re-evaluate both the RA V of the project, the maximum worth of the option, and a new working interest to minimize or hold constant total project costs including the option cost.
Flaming Eruptions and Ejections from Mud Volcanoes in Azerbaijan: Statistical Risk Assessment from the Historical Records
Authors: Bagirov E. , Nadirov R. , Lerche I. 
Published: July 2017

Information from approximately 220 mud volcanoes in Azerbaijan over the last 183 years has been used to assess the likelihood of: (a) new mud volcano formation; (b) new gryphon or salse formation: (c) mud flow parameters; (d) flame production and flame height distribution. These computations have been undertaken to provide a risk assessment for offshore rig siting based on historical information, with the offshore Chirag area, of major interest to oil exploration corporations, being used as an example of probable hazard evaluation. The results show that: over the past 100 years only four new mud volcanoes have been observed onshore in Azerbaijan. Furthermore, newly-formed mud volcanoes are usually very small, and their eruptions do not present a serious hazard. The most probable waiting time for the formation of a new volcano in the Chirag area is about 1600 years. The probability that a new volcano will not form in this area over the next 100 years is greater than 90%. The formation of new gryphons and salses is probable. These gryphons usually lie within the area of the crater field and along faults. In the volcanoes studied the average diameter of the crater field is about 120 m. The most probable waiting time for a first eruption is about 95 years, and for a powerful or average-strength eruption is about 270 years. On land there is a 95% probability that the length of mud flow from an eruptive center is less than about 340 m, and that the mud width does not exceed 260 m; the average values of these parameters are 74 m and 56 m, respectively. For the marine environment establishing the corresponding values presents particular hydrodynamic problems. The gas volume distribution during eruptions can be described by an exponential distribution with an average value of about 590 × 106m3. Small volumes of gas are also given off by degassing of volcanic breccia, but the mean value is only about 560 m3, many orders of magnitude lower than the gas volume emitted during the eruptive phase. The gas composition is mostly methane (averaging 95%), with smaller amounts of carbon dioxide (3.5%), and minor quantities of nitrogen, ethane, heavy hydrocarbons, hydrogen and helium. The hydrogen sulfide content is extremely low, of order of 10−5%. Gas ignition depends both on volume and on the rate at which gas moves along exit channels and is emitted from such channels. The ignition coefficient, characterizing the probability that the gas will self-ignite during an eruption, is about 42% which is the average likelihood that gas will flame spontaneously. The flame height, which can reach hundreds of meters, averages 77 m, and there is a 95% probability that a flame will be in the range 60 m to 100 m, although in the majority of eruptions there is no flame recorded.
Earthquakes, Mud Volcano Eruptions, and Fracture Formation Hazards in the South Caspian Basin: Statistical Inferences from the Historical Record
Authors: Bagirov E. , Nadirov R. , Lerche I. 
Published: July 2017

Based on data since 1832 from 533 earthquakes and 220 mud volcanoes in the Azerbaijan region, an analysis is given of: (a) the occurrence likelihood of weak, medium and strong earthquakes, the latter capable of causing significant damage; (b) the likely directions from which damaging earthquake waves can arrive; (c) the likelihood of a mud volcano hazard (ejected breccia and/or mud flows and/or flame ignition) in temporal association with an earthquake; and (d) the likelihood of fracture formation associated with mud volcanic eruptions. The Chirag region of the South Caspian Basin is used to illustrate application of the methods because of the potential significance of the region for hydrocarbon exploration involving rigs susceptible to the above hazards. The statistical information would indicate that the occurrence likelihood for a 7-balls or higher damaging earthquake in the Chirag region corresponds to an average waiting time of around 5,000 yrs; a medium strength (6-balls or higher) earthquake should occur, on average, in the region every 1,200 yrs, while a weak earthquake (5-balls or higher) is likely to occur, on average, every 110 years. The most likely direction of longitudinal seismic waves from earthquakes of sufficient strength to cause significant damage in the Chirag region, be the earthquake epicenter in the region or at a remote focus, is roughly east and west, with a slight prevalence for a westward origin. There is some correlation between earthquake actively and mud volcano activity, suggesting that mud volcanoes occur between zero to five years prior to earthquakes. But the correlation is not sharply delineated due to the paucity and quality of currently available data. For surface fractures, associated with mud volcano eruptions, which can be meters wide and can stretch for a kilometer or more, only volcanoes with five or more eruptions were used to estimate the likelihood of fracture occurrence, yielding an average of about 30% chance of occurrence. The low number and low quality of data did not permit any more detailed investigation of fracture parameters – such as average width, length or offset. In view of the potential hazards for oil rigs in the offshore South Caspian Basin, it would seem that organized, high quality, data collection both offshore and onshore should be rapidly undertaken as a vital adjunct to drilling operations in order to sharpen the assessments of risk factors presented here.
Discussion—The Role of “Other Information” in the Valuation of Foreign Income for U.S. Multinationals
Authors: Radhakrishnan Suresh 
Published: July 2017

The value-relevance of earnings components is an important issue for accounting regulators because it can help them assess the benefit of mandating disclosures with respect to value-relevant earnings components (see, e.g., Barth et al. [2001]). Hope and Kang (hereafter HK) examine the value-relevance of earnings components—specifically, foreign and domestic earnings—by building on Bodnar and Weintrop (1997; hereafter BW). BW show that while both domestic and foreign earnings are value- relevant, the foreign earnings response coefficient is higher than the domestic earnings response coefficient. They also find that the foreign earnings response coefficient is higher than the domestic earnings response coefficient because of higher growth opportunities in foreign operations relative to domestic operations. The objective of HK is to provide an alternative explanation for BW's finding. Specifically, they argue that BW's result could be a statistical artifact due to the omission of an explanatory variable that is correlated with the foreign earnings in BW's research design. HK make the case for the omission of “other information” that is correlated with foreign earnings in BW's research design. They include a variable for “other information” based on analysts' future earnings forecasts in BW's research design and find that the foreign and domestic earnings response coefficients are similar in magnitude. My discussion centers, first, on certain limitations of the research design and proxy for other information employed by HK; second, I will then interpret the results in light of these limitations. For highlighting the limitations of the research design and proxies employed, I begin by providing a simple framework of stock valuation that provides insights into the drivers of earnings response coefficients. Finally, I will state my conclusions and suggest future research directions.
Earnings Management Under Pension Accounting Standards: SFAS 87 versus APB 8
Authors: Ali Ashiq , Kumar Krishna R. 
Published: July 2017

This study presents evidence indicating a greater influence of accounting incentives on reported pension cost under the current pension accounting standard, Statement of Financial Accounting Standards Number 87 (SFAS 87), relative to the preceding standard, Accounting Principles Board Opinion Number 8 (APB 8). Accounting incentives refer to managerial incentives arising from income smoothing and contractual arrangements that use accounting numbers. This study uses the difference between the income reported under SFAS 87 and APB 8 in the adoption year as a measure that incorporates the difference between the discretionary components of pension cost under the two regimes and shows that this difference is associated with proxies for managers' accounting incentives. This finding has important implications for accounting regulatory agencies. Even though SFAS 87 appears to have been successful in moving pension accounting away from cash basis and toward accrual basis, the increased influence of accounting incentives may have hampered the comparability across firms of the reported pension numbers and hence their usefulness.
The Effects of Lowballing on Audit Quality: An Experimental Markets Study
Authors: Dopuch Nicholas , King Ronald R. 
Published: July 2017

The purpose of this study is to investigate the potential effects of low-balling on audit quality. Critics of the audit industry often allege that the practice of lowballing (charging fees below the marginal cost of an audit) provides a potential incentive for auditors to reduce their audit quality in order to be retained for future engagements with a client. We investigated this issue using experimental methods that had subjects (verifiers) providing a verification service for sellers of assets. Our results indicate that lowballing did not materially reduce service quality, relative to benchmark settings without lowballing when subjects interacted in markets. However, lowballing did have a material effect in a setting with the combined conditions of a high degree of lowballing and no competitive market for the services.
The Hypocholesterolemic Effects of β‐Glucan in Oatmeal and Oat Bran M.H. DAVIDSON, L.D. DUGAN, J.H. BURNS, J. BOVA, K. STORY, K.B. DRENNAN JAMA 265:1833–1839, 1991
Authors: Heimburger Douglas C. 
Published: July 2017

This study addresses the important issue of whether oat bran has an effect on serum cholesterol levels, independent of and additive to, that of a low‐fat diet. Patients were maintained on the American Heart Association Step 1 diet for at least 8 weeks. This allowed stability to the low‐fat, low‐cholesterol diet. Two hundred eleven patients entered the initial 8‐week dietary instruction/ stabilization phase. After the initial 8‐week period, two qualifying serum lipid profiles were determined within 1 week. One hundred fifty‐six men and women volunteers, ages 30 to 65 years, with mild to moderate hypercholesterolemia, as defined by LDL‐cholesterol levels greater than 4.14 mmol/L (160 mg/dL) or between 3.37 and 4.14 mmol/L (130 and 160 mg/dL), qualified for entering the study. Patients were randomized in a parallel fashion into seven equal groups. Three groups received oat bran in either 1‐, 2‐, or 3‐oz doses per day; three groups received oatmeal in either 1‐, 2‐, and 3‐oz doses per day; and one control group received 1 oz of dry farina per day. All groups were followed for 6 weeks on the dietary supplements, with serum lipid measurements carried out after 3 and 6 weeks. After this, supplements were discontinued and serum lipid profiles were determined after a 6‐week “washout” period.Of the 156 randomized patients, 148 completed the 12‐week study (dropout rate: 5%). The data from eight patients who completed the study were not analyzed because of less than 80% compliance. Therefore, 140 patients were used for data analysis. After 6 weeks of treatment, there were significant decreases in total and low‐density lipoprotein cholesterol levels in all groups receiving oat bran or oatmeal, when compared with the farina (control) group. A significant dose‐response relationship was observed between total β‐glucan intake, whether from oat bran or oatmeal, and change in low‐density lipoprotein cholesterol level from baseline. The 2‐oz oat bran and 3‐oz oatmeal supplements seemed to produce maximal effect, with the 3‐oz oat bran supplementation resulting in no additional cholesterol lowering. There was no change in cholesterol levels in the control group. During the 6 weeks after discontinuation of the supplement, cholesterol levels returned to their prestudy levels in all patient groups. Nutrient analysis showed no difference in dietary fat content among the treatment groups. The authors thus concluded that the higher β‐glucan content of oat bran most likely resulted in the significantly greater reduction in serum low‐density lipoprotein cholesterol levels.
Oxidation of Carbon Monoxide Over Alumina-supported Metal Oxide Catalysts
Authors: Youssef A.M. , El-Sharkawy E.A. 
Published: July 2017

Catalysts of the type CuO/Al2O3, NiO/Al2O3 and Co3O4/Al2O3 with different chemical compositions and subjected to different calcination temperatures were prepared using the impregnation technique. The crystal structure of the calcination products was determined by X-ray diffraction (XRD) while the textural properties were determined from nitrogen adsorption at 77 K. The activity of the catalysts towards the oxidation of carbon monoxide with O2 at different temperatures was also investigated. XRD indicated that calcination of these systems at ≤1073 K did not lead to the formation of spinel. Moreover, no characteristic lines indicating the existence of any metal oxide were observed when the concentration of the latter was less than 10 mol%. The catalytic oxidation of CO followed first-order kinetics with the catalytic activity depending on the metal oxide loading and its dispersion on the surface of the alumina. In most cases, Co3O4/Al2O3 catalysts exhibited the highest activity.
Design and analysis issues in cluster-randomized trials of interventions against infectious diseases
Authors: Hayes R J , Alexander N DE , Bennett S , Cousens S N 
Published: July 2017

This paper discusses the application of the cluster-randomized trial (CRT) design to evaluate the effectiveness of interventions against infectious diseases. In addition to the usual rationale for this design, there are a number of other advantages that are peculiar to the study of infectious diseases. In particular, CRTs are able to measure the overall effect of an intervention at the population level, capturing both the direct effect of an intervention on an individual's susceptibility to infection, and also the indirect effects due to changes in risks of transmission to other individuals, or to the mass effect or `herd immunity' resulting from intervening in a large proportion of the population. We briefly review published CRTs of interventions against infectious diseases, most of which have been conducted in the developing countries where such diseases predominate. The focus is on trials in which communities or other large groupings are randomized, and in which impacts on infectious disease incidence or mortality are assessed. We then discuss three issues that are of special relevance to CRTs of infectious diseases. First, issues relating to the definition and size of clusters; secondly, the role of matching or stratification, and the choice of matching factors; and thirdly, the definition of direct and indirect effects of intervention, and methods of assessing these components in a CRT. We conclude by outlining some areas for future research.
Stability of Hydrocortisone Oral Suspensions Prepared from Tablets and Powder
Authors: Fawcett J Paul , Boulton David W , Jiang Ruoying , Woods David J 
Published: July 2017

Objective: To assess the stability, dosage uniformity, and clinical acceptability of hydrocortisone oral suspensions prepared from tablets and powder. Design: Hydrocortisone 2.5 mg/mL oral suspensions were stored in the dark for 91 days at 5, 25, and 40 &#x00B0;C. Dosage uniformity was assessed by repeated sampling of the formulation prepared from tablets at 5 and 25 &#x00B0;C. The formulation was clinically evaluated in 2 pediatric patients. Setting: A university pharmacy school and affiliated urban teaching hospital. Participants: A brother (4 y old) and sister (1 y old) with congenital adrenal hyperplasia maintained on a commercially available hydrocortisone cypionate suspension. Main Outcome Measures: Samples removed at 5 time points were analyzed for hydrocortisone to assess decomposition over 90 days. Dosage uniformity was evaluated by intra- and interday variability. Palatability was examined in the 2 children and urinary cortisol concentrations were measured in the boy before and 5 days after commencing the formulation prepared from tablets. Results: Decomposition of hydrocortisone was not significant except in the formulation that was prepared from tablets and stored at 40 &#x00B0;C. Dosage uniformity gave coefficients of variation less than 4.5%. The formulation was well-tolerated and resulted in satisfactory urinary Cortisol concentrations in the boy. Conclusions: The hydrocortisone oral suspensions supply a uniform dose and are chemically stable when stored in the dark at 5 and 25 &#x00B0;C for at least 30 days. They provide flexible and convenient dosage forms for pediatric patients.
Sumatriptan in the Treatment of Cyclic Vomiting
Authors: Benson John M , Zorn Sherri L , Book Linda S 
Published: July 2017

Objective: To describe a patient with cyclic vomiting who was treated successfully with sumatriptan, a serotonin, agonist. Case Summary: A patient with a 4-year history of cyclic vomiting was treated for an episode of nausea, vomiting, and abdominal pain. This patient had been hospitalized numerous times for cyclic vomiting over the previous 4 years, each hospitalization lasting from 3 to 11 days. Following a single subcutaneous injection of sumatriptan 6 mg, the patient ceased vomiting and was discharged 40 hours from the time of admission. Discussion: The efficacy of sumatriptan in migraine headache appears to be mediated through its agonist activity at the serotonin1D receptor, resulting in constriction of dural blood vessels. According to published reports, therapeutic attempts at controlling cyclic vomiting often have included antimigraine therapies. Consistent with these reports, sumatriptan also appears effective in the treatment of cyclic vomiting. Conclusions: The pathogenesis of cyclic vomiting appears to share similarities with classic migraine, both of which may respond to sumatriptan therapy according to this report and previous work. Further study of the use of sumatriptan in the treatment of cyclic vomiting appears warranted.