Making the best use of consultants in the GCC

Falling oil prices have forced the GCC countries to revise or, in the case of Saudi Arabia, launch their economic visions, creating a potentially important role for consultants. According to Global Research Saudi Arabia’s consulting market expanded by 14.8 percent to $1.25 billion in 2015, accounting for almost half of the robust GCC consulting market, which itself grew by 9.4 percent. How can the GCC countries get the best out of the expert advice on offer

Investigating the impact of reservoir properties and injection parameters on carbon dioxide dissolution in saline aquifers

CO2 injection into geological formations is considered one way of mitigating the increasing levels of carbon dioxide concentrations in the atmosphere and its effect on and global warming. In regard to sequestering carbon underground, different countries have conducted projects at commercial scale or pilot scale and some have plans to develop potential storage geological formations for carbon dioxide storage. In this study, pure CO2 injection is examined on a model with the properties of bunter sandstone and then sensitivity analyses were conducted for some of the fluid, rock and injection parameters. The results of this study show that the extent to which CO2 has been convected in the porous media in the reservoir plays a vital role in improving the CO2 dissolution in brine and safety of its long term storage. We conclude that heterogeneous permeability plays a crucial role on the saturation distribution and can increase or decrease the amount of dissolved CO2 in water around ± 7% after the injection stops and up to 13% after 120 years. Furthermore, the value of absolute permeability controls the effect of the Kv/Kh ratio on the CO2 dissolution in brine. In other words, as the value of vertical and horizontal permeability decreases (i.e., tight reservoirs) the impact of Kv/Kh ratio on the dissolved CO2 in brine becomes more prominent. Additionally, reservoir engineering parameters, such as well location, injection rate and scenarios, also have a high impact on the amount of dissolved CO2 and can change the dissolution up to 26%, 100% and 5.5%, respectively

Choroid plexus-targeted NKCC1 overexpression to treat post-hemorrhagic hydrocephalus

Post-hemorrhagic hydrocephalus (PHH) refers to a life-threatening accumulation of cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) that occurs following intraventricular hemorrhage (IVH). An incomplete understanding of this variably progressive condition has hampered the development of new therapies beyond serial neurosurgical interventions. Here, we show a key role for the bidirectional Na-K-Cl cotransporter, NKCC1, in the choroid plexus (ChP) to mitigate PHH. Mimicking IVH with intraventricular blood led to increased CSF [

Mammy\u27s Lullaby / music by Pete Bontsema and Jacobi, Marty Petro, Julius; words by Al Cameron and Julius Seidor

Cover: photo of Al Cameron and Pete Bontsema; Publisher: Milton Weil Music Co. (Chicago)https://egrove.olemiss.edu/sharris_d/1106/thumbnail.jp

In-situ strain softening and strain hardening of natural geomaterials on the microscale

Gas shale has proven to be a good candidate for mechanical characterization using nanoindentation. However, this natural material composed of nano-granular clay and microscale non-clay minerals also includes within its matrix a polymeric material. This kerogen biopolymer is interbedded and intertwined with the clay and non-clay minerals at almost all scales. Figure 1(a) demonstrates the nature of interlacing that occurs between shale rock and organic matter. Kerogen within the shale matrix has been mechanically characterized using nanoindentation to determine Young’s modulus and hardness such as in the work by Zeszotarski et al. 2004. As a polymer kerogen not only has a Young’s modulus in compression but also has a substantial Young’s modulus value in tension and much higher tensile strength than rocks in general! This fact has now been observed at the micro- and nanoscale during nanoindentation while monitoring in situ via scanning electron microscopy (SEM). Load and unload experiments with micro-Newton forces (µN) and nanometer (nm) displacements have clearly shown the elastic nature of kerogen in the shale gas matrix. This unique experimental setup provided us not only the ability to load and fracture micro- and nano-scale kerogen-rich shale structures but also the advantage of visualizing the initiation, propagation, and ultimate failure of the beams. Subsequent high resolution imaging of the support and beam fracture faces as well as complementary EDS allowed us to analyze the grains/minerals and non-minerals associated with the fracture. Strain softening behavior was measured on this composite at the micro scale in cantilever micro-beam as shown in Figure 1 (b) and (c). This behavior of gas shale could never be captured at the macro-scale

Priority Outcomes in Critically Ill Children: A Patient and Parent Perspective

BACKGROUND: Outcomes in pediatric critical care research are typically selected by the researcher. OBJECTIVES: (1) To identify outcomes prioritized by patients and their families following a critical illness and (2) to determine the overlap between patient-centered and researcher-selected study outcomes. METHODS: An exploratory descriptive qualitative study nested within a longitudinal cohort study conducted in 2 pediatric intensive care units (PICUs). Participants were purposively sampled from the primary cohort to ensure adequate demographic representation. Qualitative descriptive approaches based on naturalistic observation were used to collect data and analyze results. Data were coded by using the International Classification of Functioning, Disability, and Health Children and Youth (ICF-CY) framework. RESULTS: Twenty-one participants were interviewed a mean of 5.1 months after PICU discharge. Outcomes fell into 2 categories: patient-centered and family-centered. In the former, diagnosis, survival, and prognosis were key priorities during the acute critical illness. Once survival appears possible, functioning (physical, cognitive, and emotional), and factors that influence recovery (ie, rehabilitation, environment, and quality of life) are prioritized. Family-centered outcomes consisted of parents\u27 psychosocial functioning and experience of care. Patient-centered outcomes were covered well by the selected study measures of functioning, but not by the clinical outcome measures. CONCLUSION: Functioning and quality of life are key patient-centered outcomes during recovery from critical illness. These are not well captured by end points typically used in PICU studies. These results justify the importance of patient- and family-centered outcomes in PICU research and a need to determine how these outcomes can be comprehensively measured