Traditional methods of testing such valves in BP Amoco group companies conform to the recognised industry standard API 576, and the usual procedure requires that all PSVs are removed from the plant periodically so that their condition can be evaluated in a workshop. Prior tore-installation valves are then "pop" tested on a test bench. On steam boilers the bench set pressure must also be proven ...

Infralittoral soft-bottom macrofauna abundance data collected during four-year surveys after the Aegean Sea (Galicia, Spain) and the Amoco Cadiz oil spill (Brittany, France) at a total of seven sites were analysed at three different taxonomic levels (species, genus, and family). The effects of the spills on macrofauna populations were very similar in the two areas. The post-spill time-courses o...

We report on a study of the relationship between collaboration and knowledge management. Successful knowledge management projects encourage and enhance collaboration between employees. The presence of ‘collaborative’ technologies might help that process but does not automatically increase collaboration. Empirical evidence is taken from a broad range of organisations: Anglian Water plc, BG Techn...

Standard imaging techniques rely on the single scattering assumption. This requires that the recorded data do not include internal multiples, i.e., waves that have bounced multiple times between reflectors before reaching the receivers at the acquisition surface. When multiple reflections are present in the data, standard imaging algorithms incorrectly image them as ghost reflectors. These arti...

Production rule schemes have proven quite effective in concisely representing expert knowledge in several application areas. Yet, there are many problems for which one would like to take advantage of additional knowledge that may not be easily represented in these surface level models. One class of problems of particular practical interest are those in which we would like to have a computer-bas...

Foreign direct investment by western-based MNCs in developing countries is argued to be both a potential source of conflict and an instrument to promote development and peace. Yet there has been very little analysis of the micro-level factors that determine whether an MNC is likely to have a positive or negative impact on a conflict situation. A single case study provides the opportunity to inv...