scholarly journals The Role of Geotechnical Investigation for Directionally Drilled River Crossings

1996 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. Peter Barlow ◽  
Drummond S. Cavers
Keyword(s):  
The United States ◽  
Directional Drilling ◽  
Cost Overruns ◽  
Geological Conditions ◽  
Bid Price ◽  
Drilling Technology ◽  
Additional Costs ◽  
The Cost ◽  
River Valleys

The use of directional drilling techniques for pipeline river crossings has increased sharply over the past few years in Canada and the United States. Improvements in drilling technology and increased experience among a growing number of specialty contractors has helped to reduce the cost of directionally drilled installations and to reduce the risks. The advantages associated with reducing disturbance of the water course by the use of directional drilling are often considered to outweigh the additional costs typically associated with the method. While the advantages of using directional drilling methods are compelling, the technique is not universally suited to all river valleys due to considerations of valley topography and geological setting. Specifically, there are certain geological and geometrical conditions that make the method completely unsuitable. In other cases, the geology beneath the river channel and the valley geometry may present a challenge to a drilled installation that can be overcome with adjustments to the design and drilling technique if anticipated. The implications of encountering unfavourable geological conditions during construction can be significant. The implications can range from substantial construction cost overruns up to several times the original bid price, to installations that cannot be safely put into service and must be abandoned. Under certain geological and geometrical conditions, the risk of blowout or fluid leakage to the water course during installation may be significant. The role of geotechnical and subsurface investigations to identify geological conditions prior to commencing construction is more critical for a drilled installation than for conventional trench techniques, as the consequences of encountering unanticipated conditions can be much more severe with drilled crossings. In addition, a trenched crossing is inherently more flexible than a directional crossing in terms of the ability of the contractor to adapt to different conditions than those anticipated at the start of the work.

Study on the Drilling Formation Selection and Risk Analysis of the Directional Drilling

2012 ◽  
Vol 461 ◽  
pp. 652-655
Author(s):  
Ying Wu ◽  
Peng Zhang ◽  
Xiao Li
Keyword(s):  
Site Investigation ◽  
Construction Site ◽  
Construction Process ◽  
Directional Drilling ◽  
Selection Methods ◽  
Related Literature ◽  
Literature Research ◽  
Geological Conditions ◽  
Drilling Technology ◽  
Pipeline Crossing

Directional drilling technology is an important and very promising trenchless pipeline crossing technology. On the basis of the related literature research at home and abroad and our pipeline construction site investigation, focuses on several common soil properties are introduced, and then the formation adaptability of directional drilling is analyzed. The drilling selection methods are made when drilling in the specific geological conditions, and the possible risks of the construction process have been classified in the directional drilling.

Expanded Function Orthodontic Auxiliaries; a Proposal for their Introduction in the UK

1988 ◽  
Vol 15 (4) ◽  
pp. 281-286 ◽  
Author(s):  
K. D. O'Brien ◽  
W. C. Shaw
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
United Kingdom ◽  
Cost Effectiveness ◽  
Orthodontic Treatment ◽  
The United States ◽  
The United Kingdom ◽  
Treatment Provision ◽  
The Uk ◽  
The Cost

The role of dental and orthodontic auxiliaries in Europe and the United States is reviewed, and the advantages of their employment in the United Kingdom are discussed in terms of increasing the cost-effectiveness of orthodontic treatment provision. A three-stage programme for the evaluation of Orthodontic Auxiliaries in the UK is proposed.

The Promise of All Things E? Expectations and Challenges of Emergent Electronic Government

2002 ◽  
Vol 1 (2) ◽  
pp. 193-212 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jeffrey Seifert ◽  
R. Eric Petersen
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Information Technology ◽  
Service Delivery ◽  
Citizen Participation ◽  
The United States ◽  
Electronic Government ◽  
Government Information ◽  
The Cost

AbstractThe ambiguous nature of electronic government (e-government) has resulted in hype and confusion, with little systematic consideration of the expectations and limitations of taking government online. This paper seeks to examine the role of e-government in the United States as an evolving process that manifests itself in three distinct sectors: government-to-government, government-to-business, and government-to-citizen. Using this typology as an organizing principle, we show how information technology has the potential to enhance government accessibility and citizen participation. We also show how the move toward a market-focused conceptualization of government information and service delivery raises the potential for blurring citizen and consumer roles, possibly at the cost of a robust, informed, and engaged citizenry.

scholarly journals Declared War and American Victory: A Search for Effective Commitment

2020 ◽  
Vol 9 (2) ◽  
pp. 261-322
Author(s):  
Slade Mendenhall
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Imperfect Information ◽  
Separation Of Powers ◽  
The United States ◽  
Institutional Commitment ◽  
Political Actors ◽  
Military Conflicts ◽  
The Cost ◽  
Commitment Device

AbstractThis Article argues that the act of formally declaring war entails a measure of explicit commitment on the part of American political actors that raises the cost of failure and motivates politicians to see engagements through to a decisive end, fulfilling the role of a contract or institutional commitment device. It argues that undeclared conflicts, lacking such a device, are more likely to end on less decisive and less favorable terms to the United States. On this basis, it explains the emergence of a decades-long trend of protracted, unsuccessful, and indecisive military engagements by the United States as having emerged from the erosion of a constitutionally established separation of powers with respect to the initiation and administration of foreign military conflicts. In defense of this theory, it uses case studies to assess the relevance of its predictions and to weigh potential objections involving selection bias and imperfect information.

scholarly journals On the contribution of immune 42 mechanisms to the pathogenesis of diabetic nephropathy

1996 ◽  
Vol 42 (5) ◽  
pp. 42-47
Author(s):  
О. I. Kamayeva ◽  
V. V. Sura
Keyword(s):  
Renal Failure ◽  
Diabetic Nephropathy ◽  
Western Europe ◽  
Kidney Tissue ◽  
The United States ◽  
Chronic Hemodialysis ◽  
Patients With Diabetes ◽  
End Stage ◽  
The Cost

Diabetic nephropathy (NF) came first among all the specified causes of end-stage renal failure. Patients with type 1 diabetes mellitus (DM) make up more than half of all patients treated with chronic hemodialysis in the United States and Western Europe. Among patients with diabetes with terminal renal failure, 60% are people over 50 years old, so hemodialysis is not always prescribed. However, hemodialysis is increasingly used in elderly and senile patients; therefore, the proportion of patients with diabetes, especially type II diabetes, in hemodialysis centers will increase, significantly increasing the cost of treating diabetes. Currently, along with metabolic, hemodynamic and genetic theories, the role of immune disorders in the formation and progression of DNs is being discussed. The prerequisites for the formation of a hypothesis about the immune genesis of DNs were the frequent detection of increased levels of circulating immune complexes (CICs) and immunoglobulins in the blood, as well as deposits of immunoglobulins and complement in the kidney structures of patients with diabetes. However, among researchers there is no unanimity in the explanation of these facts. Many consider indisputably existing immune abnormalities inherent in DN as non-specific epiphenomes. The immune hypothesis of the pathogenesis of DN was formulated back in the 70s. The currently accumulated data suggest the participation of the immunocomplex mechanism in the development of DN. Immunofluorescence examination of the kidney tissue of patients with diabetes almost always reveals a luminescence of IgG, IgM, less often IgA, SZ and other complement fractions along the basal membranes of the glomeruli (BMC) and tubules of focal granular and linear in nature.

Advanced directional CwD system pushes integration envelope to elevate efficiencies and reduce costs

2017 ◽  
Vol 57 (2) ◽  
pp. 676
Author(s):  
Geertjan van Og ◽  
Jeroen Burgerhout
Keyword(s):  
Cost Effective ◽  
Full Potential ◽  
Directional Drilling ◽  
Seamless Integration ◽  
Drilling Technology ◽  
Bottom Hole Assembly ◽  
Level 3 ◽  
Drilling Rigs ◽  
The Cost ◽  
Casing Drilling

The evolution of casing while drilling (CwD) illustrates the economic, efficiency and health, safety and environment benefits achievable with the seamless integration of downhole tools and surface drilling equipment. However, several technology gaps have restricted CwD from reaching its full potential to optimise the well construction process. This paper describes the integrated development and application of a retrievable Enhanced Casing Installation (ECI) system, engineered to take directional (Level 3) casing drilling technology to another level and further expand the functionality of both specialised and standard land drilling rigs. The system, which enables directional drilling with composite casing and standard mud motors, differs from typical Level 3 CwD methodologies in that the composite option allows bottom hole assembly (BHA) placement inside the shoetrack, thus helping reduce vibrations and wear on the reamer and other downhole tools. Along with increased well stability and allowing simultaneous logging/measuring while drilling, the ECI device is configured with a comparably lightweight BHA, requiring fewer components, such as jars and roller reamers, making it easily retrievable with cable. As discussed, the cost-effective integration of downhole and surface equipment is clearly reflected in the capacity to rerun the retrieved bit and reamer – a marked difference between the sacrificial bits required for the commonly used Level 2 (vertical) CwD technique. Moreover, the authors will present results of a specialised test stand evaluation and subsequent field trial, where the system was integrated on a fit-for-purpose rig and used for casing drilling at a 45° angle with the BHA pulled intact from 1800 m MD.

scholarly journals Are the U.S. Patent Priority Rules Really Necessary?

2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mark Lemley
Keyword(s):  
File System ◽  
The United States ◽  
First Person ◽  
Court Cases ◽  
Priority Rules ◽  
Legal Standards ◽  
System P ◽  
The Cost ◽  
The U.S

The United States is the only country in the world that awards patents tothe first person to invent something, rather than the first to file apatent application. In order to determine who is first to invent, theUnited States has created an elaborate set of "interference" proceedingsand legal standards to define invention and decide how it may be proven.Supporters of this system claim that it is necessary to protect smallinventors, who may not have the resources to file patent applicationsquickly, and may therefore lose a patent race to large companies whoinvented after they did. Advocates of global patent harmonization havesuggested, however, that the first inventor is usually also the first tofile, and that the first-to-invent standard is unnecessary and wasteful.In this Article, we study U.S. Patent and Trademark Office ("PTO")interference proceedings and court cases in which the parties dispute whois first to invent. We find that the first person to file is usually, butby no means always, also the first to invent. In over 40% of the cases, thefirst to invent is last to file. We also find that the long-standing rulethat discriminated against foreign inventors by requiring proof ofinventive activity in the U.S. had surprisingly little effect on outcomes;that a large number of priority disputes involve near-simultaneousinvention; and that the vast majority of such disputes could be resolvedwithout reliance on much of the evidence the law permits. Finally, we studythe role of small inventors to see whether they are disproportionately thebeneficiaries of the first to invent system. While the evidence is mixed,it does not appear that small inventors particularly benefit from the firstto invent system.Part I describes the legal background for the international debate over howto determine patent priority. Part II describes our studies and discussesour results in detail. Finally, Part III draws conclusions forpolicy-makers from the data. There is some truth to the arguments of bothsides in this debate. The first to invent system does produce significantlydifferent results in individual cases than a first to file system would.But it is not clear that those different results are particularly fairer,or that they are worth the cost. We suggest some possible ways to modifythe U.S. system to take account of these facts without changing entirely toa first-to-file system.

Western versus Asian Laws on Corporate Governance

2015 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hideki Kanda
Keyword(s):  
Corporate Governance ◽  
Insider Trading ◽  
The United States ◽  
Corporate Law ◽  
Legal Rules ◽  
Accounting Rules ◽  
International Convergence ◽  
The Cost ◽  
The Relationship

This chapter examines the issue of when laws do and do not converge in the field of corporate governance, with particular emphasis on the cost of enforcement and the role of enforcement in international convergence. Focusing on Western versus Asian laws on corporate governance, it considers when, how, and why legal rules change and whether transplantation of legal rules from Western countries has been successful. It also explores the relationship between enforcement and substantive legal rules, mainly by comparing laws in Japan and the United States. Finally, it discusses three areas relating to corporate governance: the regulation of insider trading, financial disclosure and accounting rules, and corporate law rules on governance.

scholarly journals The Cost of Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) in Compliant Versus Non-Compliant Patients

2021 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Kimberly Stephens Rudd ◽  
Tiffany Jackman
Keyword(s):  
Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease ◽  
Pulmonary Disease ◽  
The United States ◽  
Chronic Obstructive ◽  
Healthcare Outcomes ◽  
Obstructive Pulmonary Disease ◽  
Copd Patients ◽  
Additional Costs ◽  
The Cost ◽  
The Relationship

A literature review conducted, on the cost of Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) between patients who are compliant versus non-compliant, reflects on the data for the United States with an emphasis on the areas within the Florida Panhandle. An overview of costs associated with noncompliant COPD patients and strategies for encouraging patients to adhere to treatment and improve healthcare outcomes is provided. A review of recent peer-reviewed articles was performed to determine the additional costs associated with non-compliance. The direct cost of COPD was estimated at $6,246 per patient annually. Nationally projected expenditures for COPD were $49.9 billion in 2010, while costs in Florida were $2.5 billion. Florida’s costs for COPD management ranks much higher than the national average. Potential causes for the differentiation are associated with newer medications and devices that contribute to a higher out-of-pocket expense for patients, patient denial about the seriousness of their illness, and/or inability to understand compliance with treatment. The relationship between the primary care provider and COPD patient is critical for adherence to therapy.

Challenges in Using Habitat Equivalency Analysis for Scaling Compensatory Restoration

2003 ◽  
Vol 2003 (1) ◽  
pp. 791-796 ◽  
Author(s):  
Richard W. Dunford ◽  
Poh Boon Ung ◽  
Jeremy A. Cook ◽  
Gary S. Mauseth
Keyword(s):  
Natural Resource ◽  
Oil Spills ◽  
The United States ◽  
Ecological Services ◽  
Ecological Service ◽  
Habitat Equivalency Analysis ◽  
Compensatory Habitat ◽  
The Cost ◽  
Compensatory Restoration

ABSTRACT Some oil spills cause losses of ecological services in coastal wetlands, other shoreline environments, intertidal ecosystems, and upland environments. In the United States, habitat equivalency analysis (HEA) is being used frequently in natural resource damage assessments for such oil spills to determine the scale of compensatory-restoration projects needed to offset the ecological service losses. The cost of the scaled compensatory-restoration project(s) that offset the ecological service losses is the measure of natural resource damages for the lost ecological services. Our paper describes the HEA process and provides an example of its application. Then we examine several challenges that arise in some HEA applications, including the role of leasing versus purchasing compensatory habitat, increasing values of compensatory habitat over time due to decreasing availability, accounting for service gains from compensatory habitat in the distant future when the present value of those services is essentially zero, and addressing uncertainties in estimating HEA inputs (such as the magnitude of annual service losses and gains). The final section of our paper provides our conclusions with respect to these challenges.

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