Baseline socioeconomic profiles of coastal counties in the Washington-Oregon planning area (Coastal Washington) : final /

"MMS 88-0084"--Cover.

Environmental studies plan /

Mode of access: Internet.

Memoria científica sobre la naturaleza, usos y virtudes extraordinarias del balsamo samaritano ó aceite comun, del de Malats, Izquierdo y otros semejantes /

Mode of access: Internet.

Mémoire sur la culture de l'olivier et la manière d'extraire l'huile des olives. Pour servir de réponse à la question proposée par l'Académie des belles-lettres, sciences & arts de Marseille, pour le sujet du prix de 1782.

Goldsmiths'-Kress no. 12400.5-1, suppl.

Early assessment of Interior's area-wide program for leasing offshore lands : report to the chairman, Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations, Committee on Energy and Commerce, House of Representatives of the United States /

Mode of access: Internet.

Regional environmental impact statement, Gulf of Mexico /

At head of title : Draft.

Proposed St. George Basin, sale 89 : final environmental impact statement /

"MMS 85-0029"--Cover.

An adaptogenic role for omega-3 fatty acids in stress; a randomised placebo controlled double blind intervention study (pilot) [ISRCTN22569553]

Background There is evidence for an adaptive role of the omega -3 fatty acid, docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) during stress. Mechanisms of action may involve regulation of stress mediators, such as the catecholamines and proinflammatory cytokines. Prevention of stress-induced aggression and hostility were demonstrated in a series of clinical trials. This study investigates whether perceived stress is ameliorated by DHA in stressed university staff. Methods Subjects that scored ≥ 17 on the Perceived Stress Scale were randomised into a 6-week pilot intervention study. The diet reactive group was supplemented with 6 g of fish oil containing 1.5 g per day DHA, while the placebo group was supplemented with 6 g a day of olive oil. The groups were compared with each other and a wider cross sectional study population that did not receive either active or placebo intervention. Results There was a significant reduction in perceived stress in both the fish oil and the placebo group from baseline. There was also a significant between-group difference between the fish oil group and the no-treatment controls in the rate of stress reduction (p < 0.05). However, there was not a significant between-group difference between the fish oil and the placebo group, nor the placebo group and the control group. These results are discussed in the context of several methodological limitations. The significant stress reductions in both the fish oil and the placebo group are considered in view of statistical regression, an effect likely to have been exaggerated by the time course of the study, a large placebo effect and the possibility of an active effect from the placebo. Conclusion There were significant differences (p < 0.05) in the fish oil group compared with no-treatment controls. This effect was not demonstrated in the placebo group. As a pilot study, it was not sufficiently powered to find the difference between the fish oil group and the placebo group significant. Further work needs to be undertaken to conclusively demonstrate these data trends. However, the findings from this research support the literature in finding a protective or 'adaptogenic' role for omega-3 fatty acids in stress.

Similarity solution of axisymmetric flow in porous media

Applications of the axisymmetric Boussinesq equation to groundwater hydrology and reservoir engineering have long been recognised. An archetypal example is invasion by drilling fluid into a permeable bed where there is initially no such fluid present, a circumstance of some importance in the oil industry. It is well known that the governing Boussinesq model can be reduced to a nonlinear ordinary differential equation using a similarity variable, a transformation that is valid for a certain time-dependent flux at the origin. Here, a new analytical approximation is obtained for this case. The new solution,, which has a simple form, is demonstrated to be highly accurate. (c) 2005 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Multiple attribute decision making approach to petroleum pipeline route selection

Petroleum pipelines are the nervous system of the oil industry, as this transports crude oil from sources to refineries and petroleum products from refineries to demand points. Therefore, the efficient operation of these pipelines determines the effectiveness of the entire business. Pipeline route selection plays a major role when designing an effective pipeline system, as the health of the pipeline depends on its terrain. The present practice of route selection for petroleum pipelines is governed by factors such as the shortest distance, constructability, minimal effects on the environment, and approachability. Although this reduces capital expenditure, it often proves to be uneconomical when life cycle costing is considered. This study presents a route selection model with the application of an Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP), a multiple attribute decision making technique. AHP considers all the above factors along with the operability and maintainability factors interactively. This system has been demonstrated here through a case study of pipeline route selection, from an Indian perspective. A cost-benefit comparison of the shortest route (conventionally selected) and optimal route establishes the effectiveness of the model.

Knowledge management in the energy sector:review and future directions

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to examine the state of knowledge management (KM) in the energy sector and more broadly, and consider future directions for research and practice. Design/methodology/approach – The paper reviews the literature on KM and the practice of KM as relevant to the energy sector. Findings – There are many examples of good practice in KM in the sector, and some organisations, especially in the oil industry, are seen as leaders in KM practice. However, other organisations have yet to embark on explicit KM initiatives or projects at all. In addition, some parts of the energy sector discuss KM without any reference to the more general KM literature. Originality/value – Although some parts of the energy sector have justifiably earned a good reputation for KM, other parts are completely unaware of the field, as is apparent from the literature. This review helps to raise awareness and guide future work.

Downregulation of ubiquitin-dependent proteolysis by eicosapentaenoic acid in acute starvation

A number of acute wasting conditions are associated with an upregulation of the ubiquitin-proteasome system in skeletal muscle. Eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) is effective in attenuating the increased protein catabolism in muscle in cancer cachexia, possibly due to inhibition of 15-hydroxyeicosatetraenoic acid (15-HETE) formation. To determine if a similar pathway is involved in other catabolic conditions, the effect of EPA on muscle protein degradation and activation of the ubiquitin-proteasome pathway has been determined during acute fasting in mice. When compared with a vehicle control group (olive oil) there was a significant decrease in proteolysis of the soleus muscles of mice treated with EPA after starvation for 24 h, together with an attenuation of the proteasome 'chymotryptic-like' enzyme activity and the induction of the expression of the 20S proteasome α-subunits, the 19S regulator and p42, an ATPase subunit of the 19S regulator in gastrocnemius muscle, and the ubiquitin-conjugating enzyme E214k. The effect was not shown with the related (n-3) fatty acid docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) or with linoleic acid. However, 2,3,5trimethyl-6-(3-pyridylmethyl)1,4-benzoquinone (CV-6504), an inhibitor of 5-, 12- and 15-lipoxygenases also attenuated muscle protein catabolism, proteasome 'chymotryptic-like' enzyme activity and expression of proteasome 20S α-subunits in soleus muscles from acute fasted mice. These results suggest that protein catabolism in starvation and cancer cachexia is mediated through a common pathway, which is inhibited by EPA and is likely to involve a lipoxygenase metabolite as a signal transducer. © 2001 Academic Press.

Hidden state models for time series

Amongst all the objectives in the study of time series, uncovering the dynamic law of its generation is probably the most important. When the underlying dynamics are not available, time series modelling consists of developing a model which best explains a sequence of observations. In this thesis, we consider hidden space models for analysing and describing time series. We first provide an introduction to the principal concepts of hidden state models and draw an analogy between hidden Markov models and state space models. Central ideas such as hidden state inference or parameter estimation are reviewed in detail. A key part of multivariate time series analysis is identifying the delay between different variables. We present a novel approach for time delay estimating in a non-stationary environment. The technique makes use of hidden Markov models and we demonstrate its application for estimating a crucial parameter in the oil industry. We then focus on hybrid models that we call dynamical local models. These models combine and generalise hidden Markov models and state space models. Probabilistic inference is unfortunately computationally intractable and we show how to make use of variational techniques for approximating the posterior distribution over the hidden state variables. Experimental simulations on synthetic and real-world data demonstrate the application of dynamical local models for segmenting a time series into regimes and providing predictive distributions.

A systems approach to strategic manpower planning for technological development under conditions of manpower scarcity and centralised control

This thesis deals with the integration of the manpower criterion with the strategic decision making processes of technological projects in developing countries. This integration is to be achieved by ensuring the involvement of the actors, who have relevant roles and responsibilities along the whole life cycle of the project, in the strategic decision making phases of the project. The relevance of the actors is ascertained by the use of a responsibility index which relates their responsibility to the project's constituent stages. In the context of a technological project in a typical centrally-planned developing environment, the actors are identified as Arbiters, Planners, Implementors and Operators and their roles, concerns and objectives are derived. In this context, the actors are usually government and non-government organisations. Hence, decision making will involve multiple agencies as well as multiple criteria. A methodology covering the whole decision-making process, from options generation to options selection, and adopting Saaty's Analytical Hierarchy Process as an operational tool is proposed to deal with such multiple-criteria, multipleagency decision situations. The methodology is intended to integrate the consideration of the relevant criteria, the prevailing environmental and policy factors, and the concerns and objectives of the relevant actors into a unifying decision-making process which strives to facilitate enlightened decision making and to enhance learning and interaction. An extensive assessment of the methodology's feasibility, based on a specific technological project within the Iraqi oil industry is included, and indicates that the methodology should be both useful and implementable.