Simplified ultrasonic damage detection in fluid filled pipes

The location and extent of damage in a pipe can be remotely determined from weld and internal damage reflections using a single acoustic emitter/sensor pair. The use of normalised reflections yields single numbers enabling long distance data collection techniques such as wireless hopping. The attenuation is twice as high for opposite inner and outer fluids (whether air and water, or water and air) as compared to identical inner and outer fluids. The absolute recorded signals in the water-filled pipe are attenuated by a factor two compared to the empty pipe. The axial length of detection is reduced by a half. The reduction of &gt;90% in sensors and the longer axial detection (&gt;10× current state-of- the-art- technology) means that permanent fixed sensor pairs for whole pipelines are on the horizon of possibility. The greatest advantage is envisioned in submersed pipelines.</p

Simplified ultrasonic damage detection in fluid filled pipes

The location and extent of damage in a pipe can be remotely determined from weld and internal damage reflections using a single acoustic emitter/sensor pair. The use of normalised reflections yields single numbers enabling long distance data collection techniques such as wireless hopping. The attenuation is twice as high for opposite inner and outer fluids (whether air and water, or water and air) as compared to identical inner and outer fluids. The absolute recorded signals in the water-filled pipe are attenuated by a factor two compared to the empty pipe. The axial length of detection is reduced by a half. The reduction of &gt;90% in sensors and the longer axial detection (&gt;10× current state-of- the-art- technology) means that permanent fixed sensor pairs for whole pipelines are on the horizon of possibility. The greatest advantage is envisioned in submersed pipelines.</p

Enhanced viscosity reduction in heavy oils by subcritical water

We determine the chemical changes associated with viscosity reduction when heavy oil is cracked in subcritical water. The viscosity reduction has a temperature threshold for onset of 290 °C—this suggests an enhanced acid cracking regime associated with the maximisation of water dissociation at these conditions aided by the already increased solubility. The mean molecular weight is reduced by nearly 50%. Oxygen and sulphur are reduced by about half of this—either by expelled gas effluent (H 2S) or by conversion into mono-aromatic base sulphur-containing structures. The amount of lower branched paraffins is increased.</p

Reservoir resilience of viscoelastic surfactants

Viscoelastic solutions are notoriously sensitive to temperature and ionic strength. In order to be applicable for use in oil reservoirs, they need to be resilient to higher temperatures as well as to saline content. We define the essential characteristics required. Refractory properties obtained under Couette testing do not necessarily provide the same performance under pressure-driven flow. Nonetheless, it is possible to formulate solutions which clearly indicate that subsurface application is practicable. We show examples where salinity enables significantly enhanced viscoelasticity above ambient temperatures

Enhanced viscosity reduction in heavy oils by subcritical water

We determine the chemical changes associated with viscosity reduction when heavy oil is cracked in subcritical water. The viscosity reduction has a temperature threshold for onset of 290 °C—this suggests an enhanced acid cracking regime associated with the maximisation of water dissociation at these conditions aided by the already increased solubility. The mean molecular weight is reduced by nearly 50%. Oxygen and sulphur are reduced by about half of this—either by expelled gas effluent (H 2S) or by conversion into mono-aromatic base sulphur-containing structures. The amount of lower branched paraffins is increased.</p

"I am your mother and your father!": In vitro derived gametes and the ethics of solo reproduction

In this paper, we will discuss the prospect of human reproduction achieved with gametes originating from only one person. According to statements by a minority of scientists working on the generation of gametes in vitro, it may become possible to create eggs from men’s non-reproductive cells and sperm from women’s. This would enable, at least in principle, the creation of an embryo from cells obtained from only one individual: ‘solo reproduction’. We will consider what might motivate people to reproduce in this way, and the implications that solo reproduction might have for ethics and policy. We suggest that such an innovation is unlikely to revolutionise reproduction and parenting. Indeed, in some respects it is less revolutionary than in vitro fertilisation as a whole. Furthermore, we show that solo reproduction with in vitro created gametes is not necessarily any more ethically problematic than gamete donation—and probably less so. Where appropriate, we draw parallels with the debate surrounding reproductive cloning. We note that solo reproduction may serve to perpetuate reductive geneticised accounts of reproduction, and that this may indeed be ethically questionable. However, in this it is not unique among other technologies of assisted reproduction, many of which focus on genetic transmission. It is for this reason that a ban on solo reproduction might be inconsistent with continuing to permit other kinds of reproduction that also bear the potential to strengthen attachment to a geneticised account of reproduction. Our claim is that there are at least as good reasons to pursue research towards enabling solo reproduction, and eventually to introduce solo reproduction as an option for fertility treatment, as there are to do so for other infertility related purposes

Children with lesbian parents: A community study

Existing research on children with lesbian parents is limited by reliance on volunteer or convenience samples. The present study examined the quality of parent-child relationships and the socio-emotional and gender development of a community sample of 7-year-old children with lesbian parents. Families were recruited through the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children, a geographic population study of 14,000 mothers and their children. Thirty-nine lesbian-mother families, 74 two-parent heterosexual families, and 60 families headed by single heterosexual mothers were compared on standardized interview and questionnaire measures administered to mothers, co-mothers/fathers, children, and teachers. Findings are in line with those of earlier investigations showing positive mother-child relationships and well-adjusted children

Love and Truth: What Really Matters for Children Born Through Third‐Party Assisted Reproduction

Abstract: Ever since the birth of the first baby born through in vitro fertilization in 1978, advances in reproductive technologies have raised new concerns about the outcomes for children. In this article, I summarize research on children born through assisted reproduction involving a third party, that is, children born through egg donation, sperm donation, and surrogacy, with particular attention to the findings of a longitudinal study of children born to heterosexual couples in the United Kingdom. The assisted reproduction families generally showed high levels of family functioning and children's adjustment from early childhood through to adolescence, suggesting that biological relatedness is less important than positive parent–child relationships for the well‐being of children conceived by third‐party assisted reproduction. Similarly, studies of families created by third‐party reproduction with two mothers, single mothers, two fathers, and single fathers have shown that these families function well