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Awaiting the SEC’s decision on transparency in the extractive industries
Stefanie HeerwigWhatever will happen in the next months will probably be a turning point in the history on transparency in the extractive industries. What I am talking about is Section 1504 of the Dodd Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act which will require U.S.-listed oil, gas and mining companies to publish revenue payments to governments such as taxes, royalties and license fees on a country-by-country and project-by-project basis.
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Using Quora for business
Mayur KisaniIf you are an entrepreneur or small business owner, you should know about Quora. Founded by two former Facebook employees, Adam D'Angelo and Charlie Cheever, this easy-to-navigate Q&A site has been growing considerably and generating a lot of buzz.
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Preventing a BLEVE: 5 beliefs that are commonly misunderstood
Sasha ViasashaCorrosion is relentless. Thanks to the second law of thermodynamics, things fall apart and the existence of oxygen in the air is enough cause for corrosion to set in. One of the biggest reasons for aboveground storage tank owners to get a handle on corrosion is that the weakened state of the tank builds uneven pressure, leading to a worst case scenario – the BLEVE.
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Getting green and energy independent: Nice try?
Stefanie Heerwig"We'll continue our march towards energy independence and address the threat of climate change," President Barack Obama announced ambitiously April 10, 2013. According to his proposal, the U.S. should half its oil imports by 2020 and double its energy productivity by 2030. A high aim, but possible as some experts like Christine McEntee, executive director and CEO of the American Geophysical Union, suggest, especially because the plan is carefully tailored and radically wide-ranging.
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Can Egypt have a serious impact on the international oil market?
Stefanie HeerwigWithout doubt Egypt is one of the strategic hotspots when it comes to transporting fuel between the Middle East and the Mediterranean. But are fears about possible supply disruptions justified? And if they are, would these disruptions have a major long-term impact on the international oil market?
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US as leading subsidizer of fossil fuels? Do estimates matter?
Stefanie HeerwigIf you want to know the true costs of fossil fuel subsidies in the US, you might think you can just have a look at the U.S. budget and that's it. No, sorry, it's not that easy, because major organizations like the IMF, OECD or the IEA have not agreed upon a uniform methodology to measure subsidies yet, nor on a definition of subsidies.
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US Department of Energy pessimistic about energy independence?
Stefanie HeerwigVery pessimistic, the EIA foresees in its main prediction (or reference case) that U.S. net imports will decline only till 2020 making up 34 percent of petrol consumption by 2019, and then increase again to a share of 37 percent by 2040.
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Iran’s influence on the oil market and the fate of the US oil industry
Stefanie HeerwigThe first question, of course, is whether Iran would throw a 1 million barrels a day on the market in the short-term future. This depends mostly on whether sanctions by the U.S. and EU will be lifted.
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The role of aquaporin-4 in cerebral edema and neuroinflammation
Dr. Afsaneh Motamed-KhorasaniAquaporin-4 plays a significant role in potassium homeostasis and facilitates the water diffusion through potassium gradient for brain activity. AQP4 might also be involved in cell adhesion, migration and neuroinflammation. The neuroinflammation is an acute phase after brain injury, along with edema, and brain diseases like multiple sclerosis.
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Big Pharma replaces innovation with acquisition
Mike WokaschBig Pharma (including Big Biotech) has executed about 130 mergers or acquisitions in each of the past couple of years. The overwhelming majority of deals designed to fill depleted Big Pharma pipelines with more novel and innovative technologies in later stages (closer to market) than their own R&D had been able to produce.
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