Key Selection Criteria Research Articles

Abstract 2639: Preclinical evaluation and biomarker identification for the anti-LGR5 mAb BNC101 in K-Ras mutant CRC and other solid tumor indications

Abstract BNC101 is a monoclonal antibody (mAb) targeting LGR5 that has successfully completed IND-enabling studies in preparation for Phase I clinical studies in 2015. LGR5 is a validated cancer stem cell (CSC) receptor overexpressed in colorectal cancer (CRC), pancreatic cancer and most other solid tumors. Loss and gain-of-function studies indicate that LGR5 is a functional cancer receptor involved in tumor growth and survival. Sorted LGR5+ primary CRC are highly tumorigenic compared to LGR5- cells in limiting dilution in vivo xenograft studies. BNC101 was selected as the lead LGR5 candidate for clinical development using Bionomics’ CSC Rx Discovery™ platform. Key lead selection criteria for BNC101 were anti-tumor and anti-CSC activity in vitro and in vivo, in patient-derived xenograft (PDX) tumor models from multiple tumor types. CSC activity was evaluated by functional in vivo limiting dilution assays (LDA) using tumor cells treated with BNC101 +/- standard-of-care chemotherapy (SOC) combinations. In LDA studies with the K-Ras mutant CRC PDX tumors CT1 and CT3, 5/8 (63%) and 6/8 (75%) mice implanted with serially diluted cells from BNC101 treated tumors remained tumor free, compared to 1/8 (13%) and 2/8 (25%) in the control groups. Combination with SOC further improved BNC101 activity against CT3 tumors, where 8/8 mice re-implanted for LDA had 6 months progression-free-survival (vs 3/8 in chemo group). In the pancreatic PDX model JH109, BNC101 combined with SOC flat-lined established tumors in 3/7 mice, compared to 0/7 tumors eradicated with control SOC alone. BNC101 is also active in multiple pancreatic, triple-negative breast (TNBC) and small-cell lung (SCLC) cancer xenograft models. Ongoing translational studies have identified a panel of Wnt genes modulated by BNC101 treatment that could potentially be used to identify BNC101 responsive versus resistant patients in the clinic. Furthermore, BNC101 treatment significantly reduced LGR5+ HLA+ circulating-tumor-cells (CTCs) in the peripheral blood of tumor-bearing mice, providing a pharmacodynamic (PD) biomarker of target engagement to further evaluate in clinical studies. Altogether, the preclinical data package supports our therapeutic hypothesis that BNC101 targeting of LGR5+ CSCs will significantly improve PFS and OS in solid tumor indications. Additional translational biomarker data to support the clinical development of BNC101 will also be presented. Citation Format: Peter Chu, Kristen Smith, Farbod Shojaei, Colin Walsh, John Norton, Jose Iglesias, Christopher Reyes. Preclinical evaluation and biomarker identification for the anti-LGR5 mAb BNC101 in K-Ras mutant CRC and other solid tumor indications. [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 106th Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research; 2015 Apr 18-22; Philadelphia, PA. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2015;75(15 Suppl):Abstract nr 2639. doi:10.1158/1538-7445.AM2015-2639

Demand creating service

Purpose– The purpose of this paper is to develop a model not only for determining the key factors in selecting optimal international express suppliers, but also for extracting the priority strategic suggestions of management for international express suppliers.Design/methodology/approach– The proposed model comprises two parts. The first part identifies suitable criteria for evaluating international express supplier by reviewing studies from 1989 to 2009, after which the fuzzy analytic hierarchy process (AHP) is applied to determine the relative weights of the criteria. The second part adopts grey relational analysis to extract five priority managing strategies from which 16 strategies are developed based on three concern factors derived from the first part.Findings– The results show customers’ top three concerns when selecting international express companies. In addition, the results show the five priority strategic suggestions to international express suppliers.Research limitations/implications– The research has two major limitations. First, this study was conducted using a sample of companies operating in Taiwan. Thus, other countries such as Japan and South Korea should be examined in future research. Second, this study focuses on the application of fuzzy AHP techniques to identify key selection criteria and service strategies of international express suppliers. Other important aspects, such as performance evaluation and performance prediction in the selection of international express suppliers, were not involved in this study because of the limited research scope.Originality/value– The proposed model helps international express suppliers enhance their competitiveness and raise their customers’ satisfaction.

Whole genome sequences in pulse crops: a global community resource to expedite translational genomics and knowledge-based crop improvement.

Unprecedented developments in legume genomics over the last decade have resulted in the acquisition of a wide range of modern genomic resources to underpin genetic improvement of grain legumes. The genome enabled insights direct investigators in various ways that primarily include unearthing novel structural variations, retrieving the lost genetic diversity, introducing novel/exotic alleles from wider gene pools, finely resolving the complex quantitative traits and so forth. To this end, ready availability of cost-efficient and high-density genotyping assays allows genome wide prediction to be increasingly recognized as the key selection criterion in crop breeding. Further, the high-dimensional measurements of agronomically significant phenotypes obtained by using new-generation screening techniques will empower reference based resequencing as well as allele mining and trait mapping methods to comprehensively associate genome diversity with the phenome scale variation. Besides stimulating the forward genetic systems, accessibility to precisely delineated genomic segments reveals novel candidates for reverse genetic techniques like targeted genome editing. The shifting paradigm in plant genomics in turn necessitates optimization of crop breeding strategies to enable the most efficient integration of advanced omics knowledge and tools. We anticipate that the crop improvement schemes will be bolstered remarkably with rational deployment of these genome-guided approaches, ultimately resulting in expanded plant breeding capacities and improved crop performance.

An application of hybrid data envelopment analytical hierarchy process approach for supplier selection

Purpose – The problem of supplier selection gets complicated when a company looks for various criteria to evaluate different suppliers. The decision criteria used for supplier selection process can be different for different organizations due to a large number of factors. Hence, it can be said that supplier selection is basically, a multiple criteria decision-making (MCDM) problem. The purpose of this paper is to propose a hybrid data envelopment analytical hierarchy process (DEAHP) approach to solve the supplier selection problem for an automobile company. Design/methodology/approach – In this study, the data envelopment analysis (DEA) approach is embedded into analytic hierarchy process (AHP) methodology. Literature review suggested that majority of researches found it appropriate using DEA and AHP methodologies for supplier selection process; hence it is felt that a hybrid DEAHP would be a useful methodology to offer a MCDM model for supplier selection problem. Findings – First, the key criteria of the supplier selection problem for the company are identified. Then a model is developed and implemented for supplier selection using DEAHP approach. This study concluded that quality, cost and service are the most crucial criteria for an automobile company operational in a developing country like India. Sensitivity analysis further helped to evaluate suppliers based on each criterion. Research limitations/implications – As this analysis and findings are based on only one case study of an Indian automobile company, and this necessitates caution in interpreting the results. The limited number of interviewed managers in a company restricts the generalizability of the results. Though the company selected for this study is typical of developing country businesses, the findings of the paper may not be readily extensible to other companies. Second, this study used retrospective settings, based on the interviewed feedback after the events had occurred. This method naturally poses limitations due to respondent recall and the accuracy of information provided. Third, the problem chosen for this study is based in a single country context and further additional research will be required to examine if the findings could be extended to other automobile companies in other developing nations. Also in some cases technique used in the study may pose some extra computational efforts. Practical implications – This study points out the importance of the supplier selection problem. It provides key criteria for supplier selection in Indian context also proposes a framework to deal with multiple criteria. proposed model deals with two crucial criteria long term relationships and flexibility which were relatively less discussed and considered in the literature in past. Originality/value – The proposed MCDM model can provide the guidelines and directions for the decision makers to effectively choose suppliers in the current competitive environment.

Decision Making for Third Party Logistics Supplier Selection in Semiconductor Manufacturing Industry: A Nonadditive Fuzzy Integral Approach

The semiconductor industry has a unique vertically disintegrated structure that consists of various firms specializing in a narrow range of the value chain. To ensure manufacturing and logistics efficiency, the semiconductor manufacturers considerably rely on 3PL suppliers to achieve supply chain excellence. However, 3PL supplier selection is a complex decision-making process involving multiple selection criteria. The goal of this paper is to identify the key 3PL selection criteria by employing the nonadditive fuzzy integral approach. Unlike the traditional multicriterion decision-making (MCDM) methods which often assume independence among criteria and additive importance weights, the nonadditive fuzzy integral is a more effective approach to solve the dependency among criteria, vagueness in information, and essential fuzziness of human judgment. In this paper, we demonstrate an empirical case that employs the nonadditive fuzzy integral to evaluate the importance weight of selection criteria and choose the most appropriate 3PL supplier. The research result can become a valuable reference for manufacturing companies operating in comparable situations. Moreover, the systematic framework presented in this study can be easily extended to the analysis of other decision-making domains.

Optimizing random write performance of FAST FTL for NAND flash memory

The NAND flash memory has gained its popularity as a storage device for consumer electronics due to its higher performance and lower power consumption. In most of these devices, an FTL (Flash Translation Layer) is adopted to emulate a block device interface to support the conventional disk-based file systems that make the flash management much easier. Among various FTLs, the FAST (Fully-Associative Sector Translation) FTL has shown superior performance, becoming one of the state-of-the-art approaches. However, the FAST FTL performs poorly while dealing with a huge number of small-sized random writes brought by upper applications such as database transaction processing workloads. The two important reasons are the absence of efficient selection schemes for the reclaiming of random log blocks that leads to large overhead of full merges, and the sequential log block scheme which no longer applies to random writes due to the large costs of partial merges. To overcome the above two defects in the presence of random writes, two techniques have been proposed. The first technique reduced full merge costs by adopting a novel random log block selection algorithm, based on the block associativity and the relevant-valid-page-amount of random log blocks as the key block selection criterion. The second technique replaced the sequential log block with a random log block to eliminate the overhead of partial merges. Experimental results showed that our optimizations can outperform FAST FTL significantly in three aspects: erase counts, page migration amount, and response time. The maximum improvement level in these cases could reach up to 66.8%, 98.2%, and 51.0%, respectively.

M148 Investigating The Feasibility Of An Online Health Resource With Nurse Coaching To Support Self-management In Copd

Introduction Pulmonary rehabilitation includes self-management support for COPD but is not suitable for or accessible to all. Web based approaches have potential to provide self-management support but effectiveness is not consistently demonstrated and issues of reach and adoption are relatively unstudied. We performed a mixed methods before-and-after study of an intervention comprising web-based health promotion for LTC self-management, The Prevention Plan TM (TPP), with integrated nurse coach support. This report describes the qualitative evaluation. The aim was to understand the benefits gained and the characteristics of patients most likely to benefit. Method Nineteen patients were recruited in two waves from May 2012–January 2013. Key selection criteria included for group 1 FEV 1 1 Semi-structured interviews were scheduled for one month and three months after recruitment and were focused around experiences of the programme, benefits and self-management behaviours. Qualitative data were imported into NVivo 10 and analysed through thematic content analysis. Two researchers discussed the themes and subthemes to ensure non-redundant categorization. Results Fifteen patients were interviewed. Key benefits: increased motivation for self-management, use of self-management skills, increased access to resources and enhanced understanding of lifestyle risk factors. Benefits were facilitated by use of action plans within TPP, nurse coach support to on-going motivation and completion of a health risk assessment by those with little awareness of lifestyle risks. Barriers to gaining benefit included preference for one-to-one contact, insufficient tailoring of website content and difficulties with website navigation. Patients most likely to benefit were those who: wanted to change but had no behavioural strategy; had little previous disease education; had an autonomous sense of self-determination. Conclusions The programme provided good support for the action phase of behaviour change, but less so for the motivational phase. Patients who were ready to change but did not have knowledge, skills or strategies benefited the most. When implementing a behaviour change programme providers should identify whether it addresses motivation and/or behaviour and assess potential participants accordingly. People who are not ready or able to change may derive little benefit from a behavioural programme.

Comparing pharmacy practice faculty perceptions of first-year post-graduate residency (PGY1) selection criteria to those reported by PGY1 residency directors

ObjectivesThis study characterizes the professional opinions of residency directors and pharmacy faculty members regarding the relative importance of first-year post-graduate pharmacy (PGY1) residency interview selection criteria. MethodsTwo survey instruments were distributed to PGY1 residency directors of all ASHP-accredited PGY1 programs and to pharmacy practice faculty members. Respondents identified and ranked the perceived importance of the interview selection criteria used in their application review process or student mentoring approaches, respectively. ResultsResponse rates for completion of the survey instruments were 14.4% for faculty members and 25.5% for residency directors. Both groups of respondents indicated the importance of the synergy between a candidate’s letter of intent and a residency program, as well as for letters of recommendation. PGY1 residency directors identified more criteria used for screening purposes, including cumulative grade point averages (GPAs) (94.4% versus 86.7%, p = 0.0017), previous work experience (85.3% versus 66.4%, p < 0.0001), and synergy between the candidate and the residency (80.6% versus 71.5%, p = 0.0081). ConclusionsResidency directors and faculty members consistently identify key criteria for residency selection, but better aligning faculty members’ mentoring of students prior to the residency application process with interview selection criteria used by residency directors may increase students’ success with obtaining residency interviews.

A Factorial Study of Contractor Selection Criteria in Oil Industry

This paper was designed to investigate the various contractors’ selection criteria and information sources on contractors so as to determine the common significant ones used for the selection of contractors within the oil industry in the Niger- Delta. The study employed a survey approach, using the Rensis Likert’s attitudinal scale, to generate respondents data matrix that was analysed with principal component analysis (PCA), and which was facilitated by statistiXL software which clustered the fifty variables into fourteen fewer dimensions and the ten information variables into three dimensions. Our findings showed that the key selection criteria are acculturation, outsourcing management, duration of work, worker welfare and adherence to clients health. Others include safety and environment (HSE) programme, delivery capability, contractors responsiveness, quality assurance, innovation and drive to complete work and installation skill. Overall, this study has been successful in providing broad guide for contractors/vendors selection decisions for improved service delivery in the oil and gas industry. http://dx.doi.org/10.4314/njt.v33i4.14

Lung cancer adrenal gland metastasis: Optimal fine-needle aspirate and touch preparation smear cellularity characteristics for successful theranostic next-generation sequencing.

Multigene molecular testing to guide personalized therapy for oncology patients is of increasing clinical relevance. Molecular testing of fine-needle aspiration samples is underused, but when acquired with minimally invasive techniques could become the standard of care to obtain theranostic specimens. The aims of the current study were to identify key cytology specimen selection criteria suitable for next-generation sequencing (NGS) and to determine the prevalence and spectrum of pathogenic alterations in a cohort of patients with AJCC stage IV lung cancer. A total of 70 adrenal gland cytology specimens with direct smears were screened to identify 56 patients with a single slide containing at least 300 total cells and 20% tumor nuclei. After DNA extraction, the NGS protocols were used to simultaneously detect mutations in >2800 exonic regions in 50 key cancer genes. A total of 28 specimens produced acceptable NGS results. Specimens with a combined critical cell mass (>5000 viable cells) and a DNA concentration >5 ng/µL resulted in a 95% chance of successful sequencing. A total of 37 pathogenic alterations were identified in 10 genes and in 25 patients (85%). A pathogenic alteration (≥1) linked to available or developing targeted therapies was revealed in 50% of cases. The data from the current study demonstrate that theranostic NGS can be applied to adrenal gland metastasis using routine cytologic smear specimens. The characteristics of such smears could be evaluated during onsite adequacy assessment by cytopathology professionals. This model greatly augments the opportunity for customized genotype-directed therapy from minimally invasive techniques.

Structure-Based Prediction of Asparagine and Aspartate Degradation Sites in Antibody Variable Regions

Monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) and proteins containing antibody domains are the most prevalent class of biotherapeutics in diverse indication areas. Today, established techniques such as immunization or phage display allow for an efficient generation of new mAbs. Besides functional properties, the stability of future therapeutic mAbs is a key selection criterion which is essential for the development of a drug candidate into a marketed product. Therapeutic proteins may degrade via asparagine (Asn) deamidation and aspartate (Asp) isomerization, but the factors responsible for such degradation remain poorly understood. We studied the structural properties of a large, uniform dataset of Asn and Asp residues in the variable domains of antibodies. Their structural parameters were correlated with the degradation propensities measured by mass spectrometry. We show that degradation hotspots can be characterized by their conformational flexibility, the size of the C-terminally flanking amino acid residue, and secondary structural parameters. From these results we derive an accurate in silico prediction method for the degradation propensity of both Asn and Asp residues in the complementarity-determining regions (CDRs) of mAbs.

F-26 Free Communication/Poster - Injury Epidemiology

During the last century several studies (i.e. Kassel, 1929) have thoroughly described that young people with eminent performance have a tendency to be born early in the year. Succeeding studies in sport (i.e. Musch & Grondin, 2001; Cobley et al., 2009) have documented the relative age effect (RAE). Selection of team handball players are often based on physical and cognitive criteria (e.g. play intelligence), making it an advantage to be bigger, faster, stronger and have more experience. However, there have been few studies about RAE in youth handball, and especially whether the age effect lasts. Sánchez-Rodríguez et al. (2013) have investigated RAE in male handball; findings indicate an age effect in several national teams. The Norwegian national handball team for women has been world leading the last decade. PURPOSE: To examine the relative age effect over time in three different Norwegian female youth national teams (U-20, U-18, U-16). Our hypothesis is that the RAE effect flattens over time. METHODS: Data from three different Norwegian female youth national teams (U-20 (n=22), U- 18 (n=19), U-16 (n=16)) were collected in cooperation with the Norwegian Handball Federation (NHF). Youth national teams are divided into categories made up by players born in two following years, where cut off dates are in even numbered birth years. Thus, a national team consists of players born in eight different quartiles. RESULTS: Significant correlations (p<0.05) between number of athletes and birth quartiles were found for U-16 (r2=.67) and U-18 (r2=.60), while no significant correlation was found for U-20 (r2=.02, p>0.05) CONCLUSION: This indicates that there is a RAE in the younger age groups (U-16 and U-18) while it is not visible in U-20. This may be explained by new players entering youth national teams over time, and less matured players catching up and then achieve key criteria for selection. Early maturation and physical capacity seem to favor players in selection at younger age. Future studies should compare the current findings with new youth national teams to see if this is a trend or a random result.

Innately robust yeast strains isolated from grape marc have a great potential for lignocellulosic ethanol production

Bioethanol from lignocellulose is an attractive alternative to fossil fuels, and Saccharomyces cerevisiae is the most important ethanol producer. However, yeast cells are challenged by various environmental stresses during ethanol production on an industrial scale, and robust strains with a high tolerance to inhibitors, temperature and osmolality are needed for the effective feasibility of lignocellulosic ethanol. To search for such innately more resistant yeast, we selected grape marc as an extreme environment due to limited nutrients, exposure to solar radiation, temperature fluctuations, weak acids and ethanol. Using a temperature of 40 °C as the key selection criterion, we isolated 120 novel S. cerevisiae strains from grape marc and found high ethanol yields (up to 92 % of the theoretical maximum) when inoculated at 40 °C in minimal media with a high sugar concentration. For the first time, this work assessed yeast tolerance to inhibitors at 40 °C, and the newly isolated yeast strains displayed interesting abilities to withstand increasing levels of single inhibitors or cocktails containing a mixture of inhibitory compounds. The newly isolated strains showed significantly higher fermentative abilities and tolerance to inhibitors than the industrial and commercial benchmark S. cerevisiae strains. The strong physiological robustness and fitness of a few of these S. cerevisiae yeast strains support their potential industrial application and encourage further studies in genetic engineering to enhance their ethanol performance in terms of rate and yield through the co-fermentation of all available carbon sources.

Optimal liquefaction process cycle considering simplicity and efficiency for LNG FPSO at FEED stage

In this paper, the offshore selection criteria for the optimal liquefaction process system are studied to contribute to the future FEED engineering for the liquefied natural gas (LNG) floating, production, storage, and offloading (LNG FPSO) liquefaction process system.From the foregoing, it is clear that offshore liquefaction plants have process requirements different from those of the traditional onshore liquefaction plants. While thermodynamic efficiency is the key technical process selection criterion for large onshore liquefaction plants, the high-efficiency pre-cooled mixed refrigerant and optimized cascade plants that dominate the onshore LNG installations are unlikely to meet the diverse technical and safety needs of offshore liquefaction facilities. Offshore liquefaction technology developers are rightly focusing on process simplicity, low weight, small footprint, and other criteria. The key criteria that influence process selection and plant optimization for the offshore liquefaction cycle lead to some trade-offs and compromises between efficiency and simplicity. In addition, other criteria for offshore liquefaction cycles should also be considered, such as flexibility, safety, vessel motion, refrigerant storage hazard, proven technology, simplicity of operation, ease of start-up/shutdown, and capital cost.First of all, this paper proposes a generic mixed refrigerant (MR) liquefaction cycle based on four configuration strategies. The 27 feasible MR liquefaction cycles from such generic MR liquefaction cycle are configured for optimal synthesis. From the 27 MR liquefaction cycles, the top 10 are selected based on the minimum amount of power required for the compressors. Then, one MR liquefaction cycle is selected based on simplicity among the 10 MR process cycles, and this is called a “potential MR liquefaction cycle.”Second, three additional offshore liquefaction cycles – DMR for SHELL LNG FPSO, C3MR for onshore projects, and the dual N2 expander for FLEX LNG FPSO – are considered for comparison with the potential MR liquefaction cycle for the selection of the optimal offshore liquefaction cycle.Such four cycles are compared based on simplicity, efficiency, and other criteria. Therefore, the optimal operating conditions for each cycle with four LNG capacities (4.0, 3.0, 2.0, and 1.0 MTPA) are calculated with the minimum amount of power required for the compressors. Then the preliminary equipment module layout for the four cycles are designed as multi-deck instead of single-deck, and this equipment module layout should be optimized to reduce the area occupied by the topside equipment at the FEED stage. In this paper, the connectivity cost, the construction cost proportional to the deck area, and the distance of the main cryogenic heat exchanger (MCHE) and separators from the centerline of the hull are considered objective functions to be minimized. Moreover, the constraints are proposed to ensure the safety and considering the deck penetration of the long equipment across several decks. Considering the above, mathematical models were formulated for them. For example, the potential MR liquefaction cycle has a mathematical model consisting of 257 unknowns, 193 equality constraints, and 330 inequality constraints. The preliminary optimal equipment module layouts with four LNG capacities (4.0, 3.0, 2.0, and 1.0 MTPA) are then obtained using mixed-integer nonlinear programming (MINLP).Based on the above optimal operating conditions and equipment module layouts for the four potential offshore liquefaction cycles, trade-offs between simplicity and efficiency are performed for actual offshore application, and finally, the potential MR liquefaction cycle is selected for the optimal liquefaction cycle for LNG FPSO.

ЭЛЕКТРОННЫЕ НАУЧНЫЕ ЖУРНАЛЫ ПО СОЦИОЛОГИИ: ПАЦИЕНТ СКОРЕЕ ЖИВ?

The article encompasses the role and the meaning of the electronic social science journals in Russian periodical publications. To consider thee scientometric indicators of the electronic science publications the author uses the database of the Scientific electronic library eLibrary.ru. The key selection criterion is having the full-text open source articles, their timely updates according to the declared periodicity and the positioning of the journal as an electronic issue. A total of six electronic social science journals were selected; a comparative analysis of their scientometric features was carried out. According to the author`s conclusions based on the analysis, all electronic social science periodicals play an important role in Russian scientific periodicals (both for authors, and for readers). At the same time, most of them are developing towards increasing the bibliometric parameters. However, the interpretation of the data acquired reveals a serious problem which is low intensity scientific discussions that can be seen through law quotation of the articles of other authors.

A Study on Awareness of ASHA Workers of Delhi State on MCH Care &amp; Services

The impact of NRHM and the ASHA would be meaningful when the individual ASHAs who are chosen and trained perform as an effective link worker for better use of health facilities, and basic health services. The key selection criteria such as education level, representativeness of the local community, adequate knowledge and preparedness to perform effectively are also found (1) to be extremely critical for sustainability and retention. Large number of urban areas have been completely left out or poorly targeted due to lack of sensitization among service providers and a sense of apathy towards urban poor by considering them as an unnecessary intrusion into the city. ASHA being a local women selected by the community is considered suitable for serving the urban population also. However not much studies were done to explore the performance, and knowledge of ASHA workers in an urban setting. Therefore the present study aimed to assess awareness of ASHAs on MCH care & Services in Delhi state and to find the association of knowledge with specific demographic variables.

A multi-criteria decision approach to decommissioning of offshore oil and gas infrastructure

Thousands of the world's offshore oil and gas structures are approaching obsolescence and will require decommissioning within the next decade. Many nations have blanket regulations requiring obsolete structures to be removed, yet this option is unlikely to yield optimal environmental, societal and economic outcomes in all situations. We propose that nations adopt a flexible approach that allows decommissioning options to be selected from the full range of alternatives (including ‘rigs-to-reefs’ options) on a case-by-case basis. We outline a method of multi-criteria decision analysis (Multi-criteria Approval, MA) for evaluating and comparing alternative decommissioning options across key selection criteria, including environmental, financial, socioeconomic, and health and safety considerations. The MA approach structures the decision problem, forces explicit consideration of trade-offs and directly involves stakeholder groups in the decision process. We identify major decommissioning options and provide a generic list of selection criteria for inclusion in the MA decision process. To deal with knowledge gaps concerning environmental impacts of decommissioning, we suggest that expert opinion feed into the MA approach until sufficient data become available. We conducted a limited trial of the MA decision approach to demonstrate its application to a complex and controversial decommissioning scenario; Platform Grace in southern California. The approach indicated, for this example, that the option ‘leave in place intact’ would likely provide best environmental outcomes in the event of future decommissioning. In summary, the MA approach will allow the environmental, social, and economic impacts of decommissioning decisions to be assessed simultaneously in a transparent manner.

Technology Focus: Health, Safety, Environment, and Social Responsibility (August 2013)

Technology Focus If there is a field where human thought is necessarily joined to action, it is health, safety, security, environment, and social responsibility (HSSE-SR). It is critical to develop the technology, the skills, and the culture needed to achieve no harm to people, no damage to the environment or the assets, and an overall benefit to society, in particular to the local people—in other words, to find and produce hydrocarbons in a safe manner, preserving the ecosystems and the environment at large. Everyone—not only the HSSE-SR professionals—must realize that they have a role to play to achieve these goals. Prevent and anticipate, but also prepare for the unthinkable: It all relates to what is our most precious treasure, our physical and mental integrity, today and tomorrow. The link with health is immediate, and it is why there are close connections with what the pharmaceutical industry does, or should do: find new products that meet the needs of the people, identify the hazards, and check by clinical assays—all measures to ensure that the technical solutions that are implemented have a net benefit to society and will not cause detrimental side effects in the long term. We are all concerned, whatever our position in the company is, whether we work for an operator or for a service company, whether we work in an office or on an installation, as an HSSE-SR professional or in another capacity. In addition, when an incident occurs (blowout, air pollution, or social problem), wherever it happens, it is at the whole industry that the finger of shame is pointed. One may think that HSSE-SR can provide a competitive advantage to companies. And that is probably true in a few cases. But, in most cases, it is the whole industry that benefits from progress and the whole industry that suffers from highly publicized incidents. What is the relation with JPT? Well, SPE is committed to disseminate best practices by sharing case studies, and—especially in HSSE-SR—to disseminate best thoughts on how to address the complex issues raised. The following pages will hope-fully demonstrate that progress is being made and, more importantly and a key criterion for paper selection, that progress made somewhere can be widespread (i.e., reused in another location by other companies). Let me remind you that additional stories and information worth reading are available on HSE Now, the recently launched SPE online publication specially dedicated to HSSE–SR. HSE Now can be found at www.spe.org/hsenow. I wish you enlightening reading, and I hope to see you at the next international SPE HSE conference, 17–19 March 2014, in Long Beach, California. That will be the place to improve your skills and network with your peers, regardless of whether you are an HSE professional. Remember, HSSE-SR is everyone’s business. Have a safe journey until then. Recommended additional reading at OnePetro: www.onepetro.org. SPE 163771 Why Culture Matters by Howard Duhon, Gibson Applied Technology &amp; Engineering SPE 157402 Five Reasons We Are Not Getting to Zero by Norman W. Ritchie, vPSI Group SPE 156765 Care and Concern for People We Will Never Meet—Process Safety in the Design of the Wheatstone Platform by Kevin Stevenson, Chevron SPE 156133 Health Performance in the Oil and Gas Industry—The Results by Alison Martin, Tillies Consultancy SPE 164947 Identification and Management of Environmentally Critical Elements (First Technical Guidance on ECEs) by Cameron Stewart, Energy Institute, et al. SPE 164938 Monitoring the Environmental Impact of Offshore E&amp;P Discharges Through Innovative Techniques by Marie-Charlotte Alboussière, Total, et al. SPE 157573 Development and Maintenance of a Sediment-Toxicity Test for Monitoring Synthetic-Based Drilling Fluids by John Candler, M-I Swaco, et al.

Use of beach galleries as an intake for future seawater desalination facilities in Florida and globally similar areas

Desalination of seawater using the reverse osmosis process can be made less costly by the use of subsurface intake systems. Use of conventional open-ocean intakes requires the addition of a number of pretreatment processes to protect the primary RO process. Despite using the best designs possible for the pretreatment, seawater RO membranes tend to biofoul because of the naturally-occurring organic material and small bacteria present in seawater. These materials are not completely removed by the pretreatment system and they pass through the cartridge filters into the membranes, thereby causing frequent and expensive cleaning of the membranes. Quality of the raw water can be greatly improved by the use of subsurface intakes which can substantially reduce the overall treatment cost. There are a number of possible subsurface designs that can be used including conventional vertical wells, horizontal wells, collector wells, beach galleries, and seabed filters. The key selection criteria for the type of subsurface intake most suited and most cost-effective for a site are based on the required volume of raw water and the local geology. The active shorelines of Florida are very well-suited for the development of beach gallery intake systems. These systems are installed beneath the active beach between the high and low tide zones of the beach. Since they are constructed with a depth to the screens between 3 and 5 m, they cannot be observed at surface and persons using the beach would be unaware of their existence. These galleries are simple to construct and they tend not to clog because the active wave action within the intertidal zone provides mechanical energy that continuously cleans the filter face. They also have other advantages, including: the water quality is seawater unaffected by substances present in freshwater aquifers occurring landward of the shoreline, the salinity of the water is generally constant, and there are no impacts on water users located inland from the shoreline. A comprehensive study of the grain size characteristics of Florida beaches has allowed an assessment to be made of the hydraulic conductivities of the Florida beach sands. Hydraulic conductivity values generally range from 1.8 to 24 m/day, which is more than sufficient to allow the design and construction of high-capacity galleries at a reasonable cost. This type of intake is particularly relevant to the northeast Florida shoreline adjacent to an area being considered for development of a large-capacity seawater desalination system.

FRI0002 Inhibition of chemokine receptors ccr1 and ccr6 as promising therapies for rheumatoid arthritis

BackgroundChemokines are key regulators of leukocyte activation and recruitment to sites of inflammation. Of particular relevance in rheumatoid arthritis (RA), the chemokine receptors CCR1 and CCR6 are thought to drive...