INTERPRETATION OF CLAY SWELLING VIA NON- CONTACT LINEAR DISPLACEMENT METER (NC-LDM)

Shale instability is one of the ongoing major problems when drilling oil/gas wellbores. The interaction of aqueous drilling fluids or fracturing fluids, with reactive clay minerals in shales causes swelling, in turn causing costly wellbore instabilities. In this study, the swelling of compacted commercial Na-bentonite clay mineral cores was investigated using a novel non-contact displacement meter with various organic solvents and salt solutions as the electrolyte. Swelling results with organic solvents were correlated with the dielectric constant, dipole moment, surface tension and viscosity of the solvent. It was found that swelling rate and total swelling were proportional to dielectric constant and inversely proportional to viscosity, representing the chemical and capillary components of swelling, respectively. Results of swelling tests with salt solutions are discussed in the context of diffuse double layer (DDL) theory. Swelling behaviour of smectite clay minerals were found to be highly affected by cation concentration. Tests with CaCl2 solutions showed that divalent cations were effective at suppressing swelling at low concentrations. At high concentrations KCl and KI solutions were more effective at inhibiting swelling owing to the lower hydration enthalpy of K+ cations. Repeats of selected tests with non-swelling illite rich shale compacted cores were compared with the swelling Na-bentonite clay mineral compacted cores. Comparison between Na-bentonite and illite swelling shows that, for reconstituted compacted cores, the initial stage of clay swelling is dominated by capillary action. Then, depending on the reactivity of the clay and the medium, chemical swelling occurs. Consequently, the swelling behaviour of compacted clay cores, as used by many drilling fluid research laboratories, is highly dependent on the domination of different swelling components in different time periods as an artefact of the sample preparation and care should be taken when using ground and compacted shales to assess either reactivity of shale formations to drilling fluids or the effectiveness of swelling inhibitor systems

The Efficacy of pneumatic balloon dilatation treatment on achalasia: Single center experience

Achalasia is one of the most common motility disorders of esophagus characterized by deterioration of the lower esophageal sphincter due to loss of myenteric plexus. The main symptoms are progressive dysphagia towards fluids and solids, regurgitation of food, weight loss, aspiration pneumonitis. Methods such as pneumatic dilatation, pharmacological agents, laparoscopic heller myotomy, and peroral endoscopic myotomy are used in the treatment. We want to present our results of pneumatic dilatation in this study. 31 newly diagnosed patients who underwent pneumatic dilatation at Inonu University Turgut Ozal Medical Center between 2008 and 2016 , were included in the study. Pneumatic dilatation was applied once on 17 (55%) patients, twice on 6 (19%) patients, and thrice and over on 8 (26%) patients. In 27 (87%) patients, success was achieved with pneumatic dilatation and in 4 patients (13%) with laparoscopic Heller myotomy. Pneumatic dilatation being a less invasive method among available treatment methods, still maintains its efficacy when considering low complications and ease of administration. [Med-Science 2018; 7(4.000): 940-2

Influences of aminosilanization of halloysite nanotubes on the mechanical properties of polyamide-6 nanocomposites

The main purpose of this study was to explore effects of silanization of halloysite nanotubes (HNT) on the mechanical properties of polyamide 6 by using aminopropyltriethoxysilane. Effects of two silanization parameters; initial silane concentration and pH of reaction solution were also investigated. Nanocomposites were compounded via melt mixing method in a twin-screw extruder, while specimens were shaped by injection molding. Formation of aminosilane molecules on the edges and defected surfaces of HNTs were revealed mainly by Fourier-Transform infrared spectroscopy. Scanning electron microscopy and mechanical tests indicated that even the use of unmodified HNTs could be homogenously distributed in the matrix leading to increased mechanical properties as much as more than 30%. Aminosilanization of HNTs with optimum silanization parameters resulted in effective amounts of AlOSi bridging bonds between the matrix and reinforcement, making composite strengthening mechanisms more operative. In this condition, increases in the mechanical properties were as much as more than 50%. POLYM. COMPOS., 35:1350-1361, 2014. (c) 2013 Society of Plastics Engineer

GEOCHEMICAL EVALUATION OF THE LATE MAASTRICHTIAN SUBDUCTION-RELATED VOLCANISM IN THE SOUTHERN NEOTETHYS IN VAN AREA, AND A CORRELATION ACROSS THE TURKISH-IRANIAN BORDER

The Yuksekova melange to the NE of Van, close to the Turkish-Iranian border is part of the Berit-Elazig-Van ophiolitic belt. It structurally overlies the Bitlis-Puturge metamorphic complex and includes the remnants of the southern Neotethys. The melange complex comprises mantle rocks together with massive and pillowed lavas and dykes associated with late Maastrichtian micritic limestones and radiolarian cherts. The lavas are trachyandesite/basaltic, whereas the dykes are alkali basalt in composition. Both rock types were probably formed by low-degree partial melting of a mixed source including primitive mantle and depleted MOR mantle components, which were subsequently affected by subduction modification. The geochemical character constrains the formation of these basalts, yet the youngest ones dated in the Yuksekova melange to an intra-oceanic subduction zone within the Neotethys at the end of Cretaceous. The new ages and the tectonic setting of the volcanic rocks are correlated with other oceanic assemblages (e.g., Khoy and Inner Zagros ophiolites in Iran) across the Turkish-Iranian border

A Discovery and Analysis Engine for Semantic Web

The Semantic Web promotes common data formats and exchange protocols on the web towards better interoperability among systems and machines. Although Semantic Web technologies are being used to semantically annotate data and resources for easier reuse, the ad hoc discovery of these data sources remains an open issue. Popular Semantic Web endpoint repositories such as SPARQLES, Linking Open Data Project (LOD Cloud), and LODStats do not include recently published datasets and are not updated frequently by the publishers. Hence, there is a need for a web-based dynamic search engine that discovers these endpoints and datasets at frequent intervals. To address this need, a novel web meta-crawling method is proposed for discovering Linked Data sources on the Web. We implemented the method in a prototype system named SPARQL Endpoints Discovery (SpEnD). In this paper, we describe the design and implementation of SpEnD, together with an analysis and evaluation of its operation, in comparison to the aforementioned static endpoint repositories in terms of time performance, availability, and size. Findings indicate that SpEnD outperforms existing Linked Data resource discovery methods

Does addition of 'mud-pack and hot pool treatment' to patient education make a difference in fibromyalgia patients? A randomized controlled single blind study

The aim of this randomized controlled single-blind study is to explore whether addition of mud-pack and hot pool treatments to patient education make a significant difference in short and mild term outcomes of the patients with fibromyalgia. Seventy women with fibromyalgia syndrome were randomly assigned to either balneotherapy with mud-pack and hot pool treatments (35) or control (35) groups. After randomization, five patients from balneotherapy group and five patients from control group were dropped out from the study with different excuses. All patients had 6-h patient education programme about fibromyalgia syndrome and were given a home exercise programme. The patients in balneotherapy group had heated pool treatment at 38 A degrees C for 20 min a day, and mud-pack treatment afterwards on back region at 45 A degrees C. Balneotherapy was applied on weekdays for 2 weeks. All patients continued to take their medical treatment. An investigator who was blinded to the intervention assessed all the patients before and after the treatment, at the first and the third months of follow-up. Outcome measures were FIQ, BDI and both patient's and physician's global assessments. Balneotherapy group was significantly better than control group at after the treatment and at the end of the first month follow-up assessments in terms of patient's and physician's global assessment, total FIQ score, and pain intensity, fatigue, non-refreshed awaking, stiffness, anxiety and depression subscales of FIQ. No significant difference was found between the groups in terms of BDI scores. It is concluded that patient education combined with 2 weeks balneotherapy application has more beneficial effects in patients with fibromyalgia syndrome as compared to patient education alone

The flavonoid apigenin reduces prostate cancer CD44(+) stem cell survival and migration through PI3K/Akt/NF-kappa B signaling

Aims: Cancer stem cells (CSCs) are involved in drug resistance, metastasis and recurrence of cancers. The efficacy of apigenin on cell survival, apoptosis, migration and stemness properties were analyzed in CSCs

Ambulatory blood pressure monitoring in living kidney donors: What changes in 10 years?

In renal transplantation, living donations have more significant benefits compared to cadaveric donations. However, a probable increase in blood pressure following donation should also be kept in mind. In this study, we investigated the long-term changes in blood pressure in living kidney donors using ambulatory blood pressure monitoring and we explored the e-GFR and albuminuria/proteinuria measurements at 3 time points. Twenty-eight living kidney donors and 39 healthy individuals were evaluated and compared at the baseline and later at the 10th year. At the 10th year, creatinine levels were higher and eGFR levels were lower in the donors, whereas the systolic and diastolic measurements of the donors and controls and the prevalence of non-dipping in the donors and controls were similar. Our study may be underpowered due to its small population size. However, our results at the 10th year follow-up indicated that the risk of hypertension might not seem to have increased in the well-selected donors. In addition, the majority of our donors had preserved their GFR values. Therefore, we can suggest that living kidney donation appears to be safe in well-selected patients over a 10-year time frame