MODIFICATION OF A CURRENT COALBED METHANE PERMEABILITY MODEL FOR HORIZONTAL STRAIN ONLY

Cleat permeability of coal is the most critical parameter affecting the amount of production from a coalbed methane (CBM) reservoir. As a result, there have been many studies about how cleat permeability changes over the life of a reservoir, leading to the development over time of several different permeability models. Most permeability models used today consider volumetric strain as an input parameter; however, permeability is impacted primarily by the increase in cleat aperture, resulting from matrix shrinkage in the horizontal direction. Recent work has shown that coal exhibits transverse isotropy, with total strain in the vertical direction being significantly higher than either horizontal direction. Hence, the inclusion of vertical strain through use of the volumetric strain parameter could be predicting inaccurate permeability variation results. The objective of this study was to determine the difference in permeability modeling with volumetric strain compared to permeability modeling with only horizontal strain, and assess the degree to which different parameters affect results from modeling using only horizontal strain. Experimental results showed that matrix strain remained consistent with transversely isotropic results of previous works. When included into the Palmer and Mansoori (P&M) permeability model, modeling results showed that permeability with horizontal strain is significantly lower than that with volumetric strain. The three unmeasured parameters in the Palmer and Mansoori permeability model have a major effect on the final results and need to be history matched in order to improve the level of accuracy in their estimation

EGG PRICES REVISITED

Recent egg price quotes are evaluated in a vector autoregression. The results indicate that empirical relationships observed over the period 1975-1976 differ from those observed over the period 1979-1982.Demand and Price Analysis,

Student perspectives on using Google Glass recordings to assess their communicative and clinical skills with standardized patients

Introduction This exploratory study evaluated student perceptions of their ability to self- and peer assess (i) interpersonal communication skills and (ii) clinical procedures (a head and neck examination) during standardised patient (SP) interactions recorded by Google Glass compared to a static camera. Methods Students compared the Google Glass and static camera recordings using an instrument consisting of 20 Likert-type items and four open- and closed-text items. The Likert-type items asked students to rate how effectively they could assess specific aspects of interpersonal communication and a head and neck examination in these two different types of recordings. The interpersonal communication items included verbal, paraverbal and non-verbal subscales. The open- and closed-text items asked students to report on more globally the differences between the two types of recordings. Descriptive and inferential statistical analyses were conducted for all survey items. An inductive thematic analysis was conducted to determine qualitative emergent themes from the open-text questions. Results Students found the Glass videos more effective for assessing verbal (t22 = 2.091, P = 0.048) and paraverbal communication skills (t22 = 3.304, P = 0.003), whilst they reported that the static camera video was more effective for assessing non-verbal communication skills (t22 = −2.132, P = 0.044). Four principle themes emerged from the students' open-text responses comparing Glass to static camera recordings for self- and peer assessment: (1) first-person perspective, (2) assessment of non-verbal communication, (3) audiovisual experience and (4) student operation of Glass. Discussion and conclusion Our findings suggest that students perceive that Google Glass is a valuable tool for facilitating self- and peer assessment of SP examinations because of students’ perceived ability to emphasise and illustrate communicative and clinical activities from a first-person perspective

Cisplatin exposure acutely disrupts mitochondrial bioenergetics in the zebrafish lateral-line organ

Cisplatin is a commonly used chemotherapeutic agent that causes debilitating high-frequency hearing loss. No targeted therapies currently exist to treat cisplatin ototoxicity, partly because the underlying mechanisms of cisplatin-induced hair cell damage are not completely defined. Zebrafish may offer key insights to cisplatin ototoxicity because their lateral-line organ contains hair cells that are remarkably similar to those within the cochlea but are optically accessible, permitting observation of cisplatin injury in live intact hair cells. In this study, we used a combination of genetically encoded biosensors in zebrafish larvae and fluorescent indicators to characterize changes in mitochondrial bioenergetics in response to cisplatin. Following exposure to cisplatin, confocal imaging of live intact neuromasts demonstrated increased mitochondrial activity. Staining with fixable fluorescent dyes that accumulate in active mitochondria similarly showed hyperpolarized mitochondrial membrane potential. Zebrafish expressing a calcium indicator within their hair cells revealed elevated levels of mitochondrial calcium immediately following completion of cisplatin treatment. A fluorescent ROS indicator demonstrated that these changes in mitochondrial function were associated with increased oxidative stress. After a period of recovery, cisplatin-exposed zebrafish demonstrated caspase-3-mediated apoptosis. Altogether, these findings suggest that cisplatin acutely disrupts mitochondrial bioenergetics and may play a key role in initiating cisplatin ototoxicity

The DST and psychiatry : possible effects on decision making, diagnosis and treatment

The introduction of a technique that purports to increase our understanding of a particular disorder leads inevitably to a reassessment of the existing body of knowledge about that disorder. Sometimes a re-evaluation of the methods of the discipline may occur. When one such innovation, the dexamethasone suppression test (DST), was introduced into clinical psychiatry at the Royal Adelaide Hospital, a study was conducted into its effects on diagnosis and treatment of depression. The results of this study, which are detailed in chapter Three of this dissertation, indicate that considerable changes in management (and also perhaps in thinking about clinical problems) occurred concurrently with the introduction of the DST. Specifically, the study showed increases in the diagnosis of biological depression and treatment with antidepressants. There htas no association between DST results and particular management plans. There was, however, a very strong association between requesting the DST and subsequent management with antidepressants . These results Ied to a re-evaluation of the literature of the development of the DST as a specific laboratory test for melancholia. Chapter Two follows Rubin and Mandell's hypothesis that elevated cortisol levels were a specific concomitant of depression, through nearly 20 years of research. In particular, the rapid increase in the literature on the DST in the early '80s is reviewed. The chapter ends with a discussion of Some very recent cautionary articles about the application of the DST to psychiatry. The results of the DST study led also to a re-evaluation of one of the fundamental processes of psychiatry and of all medicine, the process of clinical judgment. chapter one is concerned with decision making in psychiatry and how the process in psychiatry differs from that in general medicine. Issues of diagnosis are considered, along with the relevance of diagnosis to treatment. The notion of a psychiatrist's "set" with respect to management is commented upon, along with the notion of maximising utility with respect to diagnosis and treatment. The dissertation concludes with only conjectures to explain the results. Studies to address these conjectures could lead to a greater understanding, not only of the DST, but also to the process of clinical judgment in psychiatry.Thesis (M. Clin. Sc.)--University of Adelaide, Dept. of Psychiatry, 198