Well P&A Tubing Compaction Method Evaluation and Modelling

Master's thesis in Petroleum engineeringThe number of aged fields in the North Sea is increasing, and in few years, and there will be a significant increase in number of wells that need to be permanently plugged and due to low oil prices and other reasons, there is a push from the industry to reduce the cost of P&A operations as much as possible, and using rig-less equipment for P&A has proven to be a reliable alternative to drilling rigs, but this solution requires the development of new technologies to overcome the challenges that come up with it. The presence of tubing in the area where the permeant plug should be set is still a thorny issue for P&A rig-less operation for many reasons. Recently there are many approaches for removing tubing in place without pulling it to surface, one of these alternative ideas is downhole tubing disposal (DHTD). The main scope of this thesis is to give an insight into DHTD method, its advantages and the challenges to translate this idea into practice. In this work as well, different approaches are incorporated to estimate the required tubing crushing force, including FEM, analytical estimation and experimental work. Results are reported for an analytical estimation and FEM (ABAQUS) analysis of a slotted tubular subjected to compression axial load. The results showed different kinds of correlations with experimental test data. On the other hand, they showed that FEM is a powerful method to solve this kind of problems

Convalescent plasma in patients admitted to hospital with COVID-19 (RECOVERY): a randomised controlled, open-label, platform trial

SummaryBackground Azithromycin has been proposed as a treatment for COVID-19 on the basis of its immunomodulatoryactions. We aimed to evaluate the safety and efficacy of azithromycin in patients admitted to hospital with COVID-19.Methods In this randomised, controlled, open-label, adaptive platform trial (Randomised Evaluation of COVID-19Therapy [RECOVERY]), several possible treatments were compared with usual care in patients admitted to hospitalwith COVID-19 in the UK. The trial is underway at 176 hospitals in the UK. Eligible and consenting patients wererandomly allocated to either usual standard of care alone or usual standard of care plus azithromycin 500 mg once perday by mouth or intravenously for 10 days or until discharge (or allocation to one of the other RECOVERY treatmentgroups). Patients were assigned via web-based simple (unstratified) randomisation with allocation concealment andwere twice as likely to be randomly assigned to usual care than to any of the active treatment groups. Participants andlocal study staff were not masked to the allocated treatment, but all others involved in the trial were masked to theoutcome data during the trial. The primary outcome was 28-day all-cause mortality, assessed in the intention-to-treatpopulation. The trial is registered with ISRCTN, 50189673, and ClinicalTrials.gov, NCT04381936.Findings Between April 7 and Nov 27, 2020, of 16 442 patients enrolled in the RECOVERY trial, 9433 (57%) wereeligible and 7763 were included in the assessment of azithromycin. The mean age of these study participants was65·3 years (SD 15·7) and approximately a third were women (2944 [38%] of 7763). 2582 patients were randomlyallocated to receive azithromycin and 5181 patients were randomly allocated to usual care alone. Overall,561 (22%) patients allocated to azithromycin and 1162 (22%) patients allocated to usual care died within 28 days(rate ratio 0·97, 95% CI 0·87–1·07; p=0·50). No significant difference was seen in duration of hospital stay (median10 days [IQR 5 to >28] vs 11 days [5 to >28]) or the proportion of patients discharged from hospital alive within 28 days(rate ratio 1·04, 95% CI 0·98–1·10; p=0·19). Among those not on invasive mechanical ventilation at baseline, nosignificant difference was seen in the proportion meeting the composite endpoint of invasive mechanical ventilationor death (risk ratio 0·95, 95% CI 0·87–1·03; p=0·24).Interpretation In patients admitted to hospital with COVID-19, azithromycin did not improve survival or otherprespecified clinical outcomes. Azithromycin use in patients admitted to hospital with COVID-19 should be restrictedto patients in whom there is a clear antimicrobial indication

Quality practices in design organizations

Design organizations play a major role in the construction industry: they are the media that transfer the requirements of the client to the contractor and ensure that they are met. Thus they need to provide a high quality of service to ensure that their client's project achieves the best possible standards of cost, time and quality. Seventy quality practices (QP) were identified as having a bearing on the quality of service provided by the local design organizations. These quality practices were grouped into fifteen sections termed quality sections (QS). The prevalence of these practices among the local design organizations was surveyed and determined. The results indicate a significant need for improvement in the quality sections 'working relationship', 'employee training and education', and 'performance quality audit'. The study reveals the need for the establishment of a design code, and evaluation standards for local design organizations.Design Organizations, Quality Practices, Saudi Arabia,

Transplantation of insulin-secreting clusters generated from mesenchymal stem cells to control induced diabetes in rats

Diabetes mellitus (D.M) is a disease with a high and increasing prevalence. Insulin-producing cells (IPCs) generated from mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) have shown immense potential for therapy. This study aimed to compare the differentiation potential of 2 kinds of MSCs obtained from human bone marrow (BM), and umbilical cord blood (UCB) into IPCs. In addition, their therapeutic efficiency to control streptozotocin (STZ) – induced diabetic rats was investigated. MSCs were isolated from human BM and UCB, expanded and differentiated to IPCs. The Cells were evaluated by flow cytometry analysis for MSCs markers, RT-PCR for insulin gene expression and ELISA detection of C-peptide release. IPCS were transplanted into the liver of diabetic rats and then evaluated by weekly measurement of the fasting blood glucose (FBG) levels, and detection of in vivo release of C-peptide. This study demonstrated that FBG levels were reduced in diabetic rats transplanted with IPCs, but in rats transplanted with UCB-derived cells were significantly lower than in those transplanted with BM-derived cells. The amount of Cpeptide released from transplanted IPCs derived from BM-MSCs and UCB-MSCs was non-significantly different. The results indicate that UCB- MSCs and BM-MSCs are promising stem cell sources for IPCs that help in the development of a new strategy for treatment of D.M. However, transplantation of IPCs derived from UCB brings better results than BM-derived cells

Molecular recognition of tripeptides containing tryptophan by cucurbit[8]uril: A computational study

In this work, molecular dynamics (MD) simulations and time-dependent density functional theory (TD-DFT) calculations were applied to study the formation of binary and ternary complexes between cucurbit[8]uril (CB8) and three tryptophan-containing tripeptides (WGG, GWG, and GGW), as well as heteroternary complexes of the tripeptides in the presence of methyl viologen (MV) as an auxiliary ligand. All complexes were stable in water, and exhibited encapsulation of the indole moiety of W. Analysis of the MD trajectories of the homoternary complexes revealed π-π stacking within the CB8 cavity between the indole rings. MM-PBSA analysis indicated higher binding energy for tripeptides containing W residue at the N-terminus. The heteroternary complexes showed two binding modes, one with MV fully included (and π-π stacked with the indole ring) and the other with MV mostly excluded. The computed UV–Visible spectra of the free guests and their heteroternary complexes exhibited new bands emerged in the spectra of the complexes, which resulted from the transitions from HOMO and HOMO–1 to LUMO related to W–MV charge transfer (CT) complexes

A Clash of Emotions:The Politics of Humiliation and Political Violence in the Middle East

After the attacks of 9/11 Americans asked, 'Why do they hate us so much?' The answer has been framed in terms of a range of 'clashes', none of which has addressed emotion, which is at the centre of the question. Emotion, and particularly humiliation, has begun to be addressed within the literature of IR. Numerous scholars have highlighted the pervasiveness of a discourse of humiliation in the Middle East and its relationship to the swelling ranks of recruits who are willing to act as human bombs. The purpose of this article is to examine the emotional dynamics of this relationship. The first section undertakes a conceptual analysis of humiliation and betrayal. The second section explores how these emotions have been given coherent meaning in the narrative of Islamists from the region. This is followed by an historical analysis of how this narrative has provided a framework for giving meaning to a range of national, regional and international interactions, particularly since 1967, and has contributed to the emergence of Islam as the basis for transnational identity in what had become a highly secular region. Section three examines flaws in the logic of both militant Islamists and the US-led 'War on Terrorism', arguing that both have exacerbated feelings of humiliation in the region rather than contributing to a restoration of dignity. The conclusion builds on the principle of human dignity to rethink the international approach to political violence.</p