Precision Polyolefins (United States)

Hepatitis B virus (HBV), an infectious disease of global significance, causes a significant health burden particularly in Africa. Medical and paramedical undergraduates are at increased risk of HBV exposure due to their academic and clinical responsibilities. Attitudes, perceptions and willingness to receive vaccination are determinants of protection and disease transmission. A descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted among medical and paramedical undergraduates using a structured, self-administered questionnaire. Data collected included socio-demographic characteristics, knowledge and perception of HBV, attitudes toward vaccination, and willingness to receive HBV vaccine. Data were analyzed using descriptive and inferential statistics. Level of statistical significance was set at p value <0.05. Of 277 consecutively recruited respondents, 18.8%, 24.5% and 13.7% were medical, medical laboratory science and nursing students respectively while 43.0% were pharmacy students. A total of 62.5% of the respondents strongly agreed that Hepatitis B poses a significant occupational hazard for medical and paramedical students, and 64.6% showed a positive attitude towards Hepatitis B and vaccination. More than three-quarters, 78.7% expressed their willingness to be vaccinated. Of these, 72.9% were very likely to recommend it to their peers. Positive attitude and willingness to be vaccinated was significantly associated with gender (p=0.001 & 0.030) and faculty of study (p=0.016 & < 0.001) respectively. The study demonstrated positive attitudes towards both Hepatitis B and vaccination among respondents. Willingness to vaccinate appears promising but hindered by logistic and financial constraints. Targeted health education, discounted vaccination programs, and curriculum integration are recommended to promote vaccine uptake among undergraduates in Nigerian universities.

Abstract Pakistan has been a major gas producer and self sufficient to meet domestic needs of the country owing to large hydrocarbon reserves in the sedimentary basins of Pakistan. One of the prominent sources of natural gas in Pakistan is the Sui Structure situated in Sulaiman sub-basin of Indus Basin. The Sui structure is a very large, gentle, ellipsoidal anticline exposed at surface, marked by rocky outcrops forming low hills and cliffs. The Sui gas field, discovered in 1952 by Pakistan Petroleum Limited has evolved into the largest natural gas reservoir in Pakistan, boosting reserves exceeding 9.0 trillion standard cubic feet (TSCF). As the demand of the gas in country escalated, production rates have been increased, leading to the drilling of a total of 115 wells since 1955. However, the gradual decline in pressure within the Sui Main Limestone (SML) reservoir has introduced a multitude of challenges when drilling into a depleted reservoir. These challenges encompass issues such as total circulation loss, reservoir damage, and extended non-productive time thus, requiring innovative solutions to overcome these obstacles. To effectively address these challenges the operator made the decision to utilize underbalanced drilling (UBD) technique for drilling SML, a depleted reservoir characterized by fractured carbonates. However, the presence of sour gas in the reservoir introduced the potential HSE risks associated with handling H2S gas at surface while drilling underbalanced. Considering these risks, it was sought to develop an innovative approach that would allow drilling with a multiphase fluid, maintaining the equivalent circulating density (ECD) slightly above reservoir pressure to prevent hydrocarbon release into the environment. The application of surface closed- loop system not only provided additional back pressure to manage ECD at the bottom but also enabled handling any reservoir flow during static conditions. Successful drilling of the SML formation in the SUI field was achieved by employing the subsequent technology, maintaining an ECD of 0.33 SG until reaching total depth (TD). In addition to drilling, formidable challenges were associated with running and cementing an unconventional liner measuring 9 5/8 inches within the fractured reservoir. Given the size of liner and complex nature of reservoir, conventional methods proved inadequate. Hence, it was devised to run and cement the liner under near-balanced conditions, ensuring that pressure differentials were carefully managed. The utilization of UBD techniques proved effective in drilling the well safely, running the unconventional liner, and successfully cementing it. The operator not only prevented formation losses but also managed to achieve higher rate of penetration compared to conventional methods. The study provides comprehensive details on planning, execution, deliverables, and statistical analysis. The application of this novel technology in an advance manner promises to unlock new horizons in efficient well construction.

Abstract This paper reviews the recently concluded first near balanced nitrified stiff foam drilling application to drill Sui Main Limestone in Sui field Pakistan. The target Sui Main Limestone formation presented numerous drilling challenges in this field. While drilling conventionally total irrecoverable losses were encountered and the resulting loss in head caused the well to kick in. Simultaneously dealing with both these problems resulted in a great amount of NPT, sometimes which extended to a period of months. To address the said problems in an effective and efficient manner, an application of a highly innovative method was considered. Thus a near balanced stiff foam system was designed and found to be highly applicable to drill the Sui Main Limestone formation. The design of a Near-Balanced Stiff Foam Drilling system (NBD) is first discussed in the paper, which is followed by an overview of the delivered results. While drilling the entire Sui Main Limestone formation no single event of circulation loss was recorded. Also throughout the entire drilling phase "near balanced" conditions were maintained successfully and no influx from the formation was allowed to enter the wellbore. In addition to completing these objectives, another remarkable achievement was that this section was drilled in a record time of 3 days with an average ROP of 14 m/hr while maintaining excellent hole cleaning and no other related drilling problems. In comparison of offset wells where drilling of the same formation would take sometimes up to 3 months, if drilled conventionally. To sum up, an innovative near balanced stiff foam system was designed to drill the extremely challenging Sui Main Limestone formation. All of the set objectives were delivered to expectations. The operator was able to successfully pass through a cumbersome formation in a record time for this field. This paper elaborates the process used to design a successful near balanced nitrified stiff foam system with applicability for the Sui Main Limestone formation in Sui Field, Baluchistan, Pakistan. The objective of this paper is to highlight all delivered drilling objectives and present lessons learnt while drilling the Sui Main Limestone formation. This will allow for efficient designing of a near balanced stiff foam system for forthcoming wells with similar formations and similar problems.

Federal funding for pedestrian and bicycle transportation has increased over the past 15 years, with a resulting increase in shared-use pathways, paved shoulders, bicycle lanes, and sidewalks in many parts of the United States. This has caused communities to ask questions: Where is pedestrian and bicycle activity taking place? What effect does facility construction have on levels of bicycling and walking? What are the characteristics of nonmotorized transportation users? How many miles of pedestrian and bicycle facilities are available? Where are existing facilities located? This paper provides a summary of recent research that was sponsored by FHWA and the Pedestrian and Bicycle Information Center to review and evaluate bicycle and pedestrian data collection methods throughout the United States. It uses a case study approach to evaluate pedestrian and bicycle data collection in 29 different agencies throughout the country in communities ranging in size from 6,000 residents (Sandpoint, Idaho) to 8 million residents (New York City). These case studies are analyzed in the following data collection categories: manual counts, automated counts, surveys targeting nonmotorized transportation users, surveys sampling a general population, inventories, and spatial analyses. The results provide information about the methods and the optimum timing for pedestrian and bicycle data collection; emerging technologies that can be used to gather and analyze data; the benefits, limitations, and costs of different data collection techniques; and implications for a national data collection strategy.

Expansion techniques have led to new tools for designing stellarators and interpreting experimental results. The stellarator expansion is coupled with Hamiltonian techniques to investigate the effect of plasma pressure on magnetic surface structure. An expansion for nonplanar-axis systems is described. A reduced-equation initial-value formalism is used to create three-dimensional heliac equilibria. A low-..beta.. expansion with an auxiliary expansion about the magnetic axis makes possible the determination of island widths in heliacs and allows analytic determination of the effect of equilibrium modifications associated with plasma pressure on radial transport.