Field Laboratory in the Osage Reservation -- Determination of the Status of Oil and Gas Operations: Task 1. Development of Survey Procedures and Protocols

Procedures and protocols were developed for the determination of the status of oil, gas, and other mineral operations on the Osage Mineral Reservation Estate. The strategy for surveying Osage County, Oklahoma, was developed and then tested in the field. Two Osage Tribal Council members and two Native American college students (who are members of the Osage Tribe) were trained in the field as a test of the procedures and protocols developed in Task 1. Active and inactive surface mining operations, industrial sites, and hydrocarbon-producing fields were located on maps of the county, which was divided into four more or less equal areas for future investigation. Field testing of the procedures, protocols, and training was successful. No significant damage was found at petroleum production operations in a relatively new production operation and in a mature waterflood operation

Federal Environmental Regulations Impacting Hydrocarbon Exploration, Drilling, and Production Operations

Waste handling and disposal from hydrocarbon exploration, drilling, and production are regulated by the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) through federal and state regulations and/or through implementation of federal regulations. Some wastes generated in these operations are exempt under the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) but are not exempt under the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA), Superfund Amendments and Reauthorization Act (SARA), and other federal environmental laws. Exempt wastes remain exempt only if they are not mixed with hazardous wastes or hazardous substances. Once mixture occurs, the waste must be disposed as a hazardous material in an approved hazardous waste disposal facility. Before the Clean Air Act as amended in 1990, air emissions from production, storage, steam generation, and compression facilities associated with hydrocarbon exploration, drilling, and production industry were not regulated. A critical proposed regulatory change which will significantly effect Class II injection wells for disposal of produced brine and injection for enhanced oil recovery is imminent. Federal regulations affecting hydrocarbon exploration, drilling and production, proposed EPA regulatory changes, and a recent significant US Court of Appeals decision are covered in this report. It appears that this industry will, in the future, fall under more stringent environmental regulations leading to increased costs for operators

Effects of crystalline glucocorticoid triamcinolone acetonide on cultered human supraspinatus tendon cells

Background Rotator cuff tears are a common cause of shoulder pain and impairment. Subacromial glucocorticoid injections are widely used for treatment of epiphenomenons of chronic impingement syndrome with the possible side effects of tendon rupture and impaired tendon healing

Promoting the achievement in schools of children and young people in care

As of March 2017, there were 72,670 children and young people in care in England. The number of looked after children has continued to increase steadily over the last eight years. Sixty per cent of these children are in care because of abuse or neglect and three-quarters are placed in foster care arrangements. Children and young people who are in or have experienced care remain one of the lowest performing groups in terms of educational outcomes. The average Attainment 8 score for children in care is 19.3 compared to 44.5 for non-looked after children and 19.3 for children in need. In 2017 there was an increase in the percentage of children in care achieving a pass in English and Mathematics from 17.4% to 17.5% and also in entering EBacc. Care leavers can experience poorer employment and health outcomes after leaving school compared to their peers. They are over-represented amongst the offender population and those who experience homelessness. However, research is emerging to show that children and young people in care can have very positive experiences of school if they are supported effectively to reach their full potential academically and socially. The purpose of this report is to share practice in local authorities (LA) from across England and Wales that is contributing to improved outcomes and school experiences for children and young people in care. The case studies were all undertaken as part of the Promoting the Achievement of Looked after Children (PALAC) programme between 2014 and 2017. This report presents an account of the programme, including the activities undertaken by the participants and the outcomes of the programme to date for pupils in care and staff in the participating virtual schools (VS) and local authorities

The Eurace@Unibi Model: An Agent-Based Macroeconomic Model for Economic Policy Analysis

Dawid H, Gemkow S, Harting P, van der Hoog S, Neugart M. The Eurace@Unibi Model: An Agent-Based Macroeconomic Model for Economic Policy Analysis. Working Papers in Economics and Management. Vol 05-2012. Bielefeld: Bielefeld University, Department of Business Administration and Economics; 2012.This document provides a description of the modeling assumptions and economic features of the Eurace@Unibi model. Furthermore, the document shows typical patterns of the output generated by this model and compares it to empirically observable stylized facts. The Eurace@Unibi model provides a representation of a closed macroeconomic model with spatial structure. The main objective is to provide a micro-founded macroeconomic model that can be used as a unified framework for policy analysis in different economic policy areas and for the examination of generic macroeconomic research questions. In spite of this general agenda the model has been constructed with certain specific research questions in mind and therefore certain parts of the model, e.g. the mechanisms driving technological change, have been worked out in more detail than others. The purpose of this document is to give an overview over the model itself and its features rather than discussing how insights into particular economic issues can be obtained using the Eurace@Unibi model. The model has been designed as a framework for economic analysis in various domains of economics. A number of economic issues have been examined using (prior versions of) the model (see Dawid et al. (2008), Dawid et al. (2009), Dawid et al. (2011a), Dawid and Harting (2011), van der Hoog and Deissenberg (2011), Cincotti et al. (2010)) and recent extensions of the model have substantially extended its applicability in various economic policy domains, however results of such policy analyses will be reported elsewhere. Whereas the overall modeling approach, the different modeling choices and the economic rationale behind these choices is discussed in some detail in this document, no detailed description of the implementation is given. Such a detailed documentation is provided in the accompanying document Dawid et al. (2011b)

‘Caution! The Bread is Poisoned’: The Hong Kong Mass Poisoning of January 1857

This article examines the Hong Kong mass poisoning of 15 January 1857, in which bread from a Chinese bakery that supplied the colonial community was adulterated with arsenic. Even though there is a wealth of printed and manuscript documentation available many vital aspects of the poisoning remain unclear. What kind of incident was it: an act of terrorism and attempted mass murder, a war crime, a criminal conspiracy, an act of commercial sabotage, an accident or even an imagined or imaginary event? Throughout, our focus remains firmly fixed on the central act of the poisoning itself and on what it reveals about the precarious nature of early colonial Hong Kong. Interpretations have swarmed over the available ‘facts'. Equally ironic is what happened to the afterlife of how the event was understood. This article seeks to rescue the Hong Kong poisoning from being a freakish and isolated footnote of only local interest. Accepting this historical verdict would be a mistake as it is of significance not only at a local level, but geopolitically in Britain and across the empire