bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Study On Water Injection Effect of New Reservoir For Petroleum Energy Development
Authors: Wang Chunrui
Published: May 2021

Oilfield has gone through the stages of self injection production, water injection development and three times of chemical agent injection development. At present, it has entered the late development stage of high water cut, and the production and new exploration reserves have decreased significantly. As a potential resource of high water cut later development, SA0 formation reservoir has a certain oil and gas abundance. However, because of its poor physical properties and strong water sensitivity, SA0 formation reservoir in Oilfield has great difficulties in water injection development. This set of reservoir was not developed in the early development of Oilfield. With the improvement of development technology and the increasing demand of recoverable reserves, the development of SA0 formation reservoir becomes more and more important. However, there is no in-depth study on the specific characteristic parameters of the reservoir and the feasibility of water injection development, which restricts the development of this set of reservoir. Therefore, this paper explores the feasibility of waterflooding development of lithologic and physical properties of SA0 formation reservoir in Development Zone. Laboratory experiments and field practice show that SA0 formation reservoir is a low permeability and highly sensitive reservoir. 3% concentration of anti swelling agent can effectively inhibit the expansion and migration of clay minerals, and play the purpose of protecting the reservoir. In the field test, through adding clay stabilizer to perforate and complete the well with flow limiting method, a high liquid production capacity has been achieved. At the initial stage, the average daily oil production of a single well is more than 1.50t. The production performance of oil wells is quite different, the liquid production layers are concentrated, and most of them are dry layers. A certain understanding has been obtained in the waterflooding development of SA0 formation in development zone of Oilfield.
Research on simulation of energy consumption of ground water-source heat pump air conditioning system in plant factory
Authors: Yang Gukun , Shi Huixian , Xu DeTian , Shen Zheng , Zhang Zhonghua , Shen Haowen , Wang Zijing
Published: May 2021

The study of low-cost energy supply methods for large plant factories in China is of great significance to promote the healthy and steady development of large greenhouses. Aiming at the problems of high cost, poor stability, chaotic production management, and no indicator of long-term operation energy consumption in the operation of large plant factories, this paper analyzes long-term operation data by studying the heating situation of Chongming plant factory to improve plant factory regulation methods for the purpose of energy saving and cost reduction. A plant factory model was constructed using TRNSYS to simulate typical annual energy supply throughout the year to obtain cooling and heating energy consumption. The simulation results show that the annual peak heat load of the plant factory is 1502.6 kW and the peak cooling load is 913.8 kW. The annual energy consumption of the whole plant factory is 3799.12 GJ for cooling and 4468.34 GJ for heating, and the annual energy consumption of the whole plant factory is 8267.46 GJ. A8 and its three surrounding greenhouses A6, A7, and A10 can be used as a single zone for energy supply. This zone takes advantage of the structural characteristics of the building to reduce energy consumption. The simulation shows that the ground source heat pump system is sufficient to supply the energy consumption of these four greenhouses and even to achieve the optimal temperature conditions for growing vegetables inside them.
Design of simulation platform for chassis engine driven generating system
Authors: An Shu , Wu Jie , Yin Zhiyong , Ren Xiaokun
Published: May 2021

With the development of equipment on-vehicles, the chassis engine driven generating technique is paid more and more attention in the mobile operation vehicles. Based on the analysis of engine driven power generating working principle, this paper designs a simulation platform for chassis engine driven generating system, mainly including the following four parts, such as engine chassis simulation mechanism, engine driven generator, electric energy transducer and testing and displaying system. With this platform, power generating experiments under different working conditions can be performed such as parking power generation, traveling power generation, section speed regulation power generation and load increase and decrease. The result of the experiment proves that the power output from this simulation platform can meet the demand for electric requirement from the equipment, and has good static and dynamic characteristics, which can provide certain reference value for the design of vehicle chassis engine driven generating system.
Study on “Utilization Efficiency of Oil and Gas” in Oilfield Production Affected Zone
Authors: Dai Jinyou , Lin Lixin , Wang Rui , Wang Yang , Yu Zhanxuan
Published: May 2021

Not all reserves in the production affected zone are utilized during the development of oil fields. It is of great significance for the efficient development of oil fields to clarify the utilization degree of oil and gas in the production affected zone. A quantitative characterization parameter of the utilization degree of oil and gas in production affected zone is proposed, which is the utilization efficiency of oil and gas. Mathematical and physical models were established, and combined with the example of the X well area of Xifeng Oilfield, Ordos Basin, China, a systematic study was conducted on the physical meaning, influencing factors, determination methods, and production significance of utilization efficiency of oil and gas. Studies have shown that the utilization efficiency of oil and gas is the ratio of the volume of oil and gas utilized to the volume of oil and gas in the production affected zone. For a particular reservoir, it is mainly affected by two factors: driving pressure and accumulation force. Among them, the driving pressure affects the volume of oil and gas utilized, and the accumulation force affects the volume of oil and gas accumulated. The relative size of the two determines the utilization efficiency of oil and gas. When the driving pressure is less than the accumulation force, oil and gas are partially utilized. When the driving pressure is equal to the accumulation force, all oil and gas are utilized. When the driving pressure is greater than the accumulation force, all the oil and gas are utilized and the formation water is produced. This study shows that optimizing the driving pressure (or production pressure difference) with accumulation force can improve the utilization efficiency of oil and gas and avoid or reduce formation water production. This research provides a new basis for the optimal adjustment of production pressure difference, and has important reference significance for water control and oil stabilization and efficient development in oil fields.
Effect of Initial Temperature and Pressure on Laminar Combustion Velocity of ABE Mixtures with Different Component Contents
Authors: Xiong Jinying , Hou Yingzhe , Yan Xiaozhe , Cui Qiguan , Liu Yiwen
Published: May 2021

One-dimensional planar flame was numerically simulated to study the premixed laminar combustion characteristics of acetone-n-butanol-ethanol (ABE) mixtures under different component contents. The results showed that as the initial temperature was elevated, the laminar combustion velocity of ABE mixtures was gradually increased under different component contents, and the increase rate was not obviously changed. With the increase in the initial pressure, however, the laminar combustion velocity presented a declining trend, and the descent speed was gradually lowered.
Research on the Operation of Electric Vehicle Charging Stations
Authors: Jiang Yan , Zhang Yidan , Li Lu , Liu Hang , Wu Hansong , Xu Hanshen , Ding Ye , Jia Yunjie
Published: May 2021

As the number of electric vehicles continues to grow, the demand for charging infrastructure continues to expand, and the construction of charging facilities is significantly accelerated. However, after the completion of large-scale construction, problems such as low utilization, low operating profit, and extended investment payback period have emerged, which has become a bottleneck for the development of the electric vehicle industry. Based on the actual operating data of a charging station, this article analyses the operating characteristics of the charging station from the three aspects of charging power, charging time, and utilization. According to its characteristics, this article analyses the relationship with the local economic operation trend, the reasonable length of time for charging parking spaces, and the efficiency of manual maintenance. The article proposes corresponding improvement opinions for existing operational shortcomings.
Mechanics analysis of gears system for peeler device during live operation of 10kV distribution network overhead line
Authors: Yu Feng , Kai Wu , Shaolei Wu , Xun Shi , Qiangqiang Liu , Wei Wang
Published: May 2021

According to the market research, the existing gear transmission device of peeler has complex structure, processing and assembly process difficult, designed a more enclosed gear transmission mechanism. The new device to reduce the labor intensity of operators, improve the operation efficiency of practical significance. By using the SolidWorks 3d modeling, based on ANSYS Workbench to intensity check and optimize the design of the gear, the four gear simulation results show that the gear displacement decreases gradually from the outside to the inside and increases with prolonged time, the maximum displacement occurs in the gear contact area and the contact area is always changing. The maximum stress of a gear occurs where the top of the tooth and the root of the tooth contact.
Estimation of the specific heat capacity ratio of gasoline vapor based on the relationship between the maximum pressure rise rate and initial pressure of gas explosion
Authors: Zhang Peili , Xiao Jun , Liang Jianjun , Wu Jingsi , Liu Huishu
Published: May 2021

Gasoline is volatile and can form a flammable gas mixture with air easily. Researches on the gas explosions still need to be developed so that more effective explosion prevention techniques and measures can be proposed. The maximum overpressure rise rate and deflagration index are two important parameters for measuring gas explosion damage power. The relationship between these two parameters and the initial pressure is controversial. Razus et al. insisted that it was a linear relationship, however, Faghih et al. declared that it was an exponential relationship. In this paper, the relationship between the maximum pressure rise rate (the deflagration index) and the initial pressure is deduced and discussed. The results show that the relationship is still linear. On this basis, the deduced relationship formula is used to estimate the specific heat capacity of gasoline vapor. Results show that the estimated value is reasonable and acceptable.
Research on the Ability of Regional New Energy Consumption Based on the Coupling Coefficients of Time-series
Authors: Sun Wenjian , Tao Ye , Xiao Ling , Luo Xiaoming , Yue Yao
Published: May 2021

In this study, a method for the investigation of the available capacity of new energy based on the time-series coupling coefficients of the combination of regional wind power, photovoltaic and load was proposed, with the aim of getting an in depth understanding of the regional new energy consumption capacity, and a more accurate amount on the regional potential installation capacity. The typical scenario of new energy high output in the area was determined based on the historical measured power and load data, and the time-series coupling coefficients of the combination of wind power, photovoltaic and load in the area were summarized. The regional new energy consumption capacity and the potential installation capacity for the next three years were quantitatively calculated based on the time-series coupling coefficients. The accuracy and reliability of this method compared with traditional methods were analyzed.
In-situ polarization enhanced piezoelectric property of polyvinylidene fluoride-trifluoroethylene films
Authors: You Mengli , Hu Xiaoran , Xiang Yong
Published: May 2021

The polyvinylidene fluoride-trifluoroethylene (PVDF-TrFE) piezoelectric film was obtained by the in-situ polarization, which 10x increased the piezoelectric coefficient d33. By using our polarizing system, the PVDF-TrFE film can be polarized in 5 minutes at room temperature. Compared with the traditional polarization method, the in-situ polarization was performed with low poling voltage, short poling time, and can ensure the obtained PVDF-TrFE film with enhanced piezoelectric performances and uniform distribution among large area. The results provide a new method for PVDF-TrFE films with large area and high piezoelectric coefficient, which improves the piezoelectric performance and broadens the application in energy harvesting.
Design of thermal protection system for Marine Motor
Authors: Wang Yan-Wu , Qian Chao , Yang Kun
Published: May 2021

The abnormal heat fault of marine motor frequently occurs for the bad working environment. And the navigation safety and reliability of the ship had been affected seriously. The heat transfer path of the motor is analyzed theoretically from the point of view of heat transfer in order to solve this problem. The relationship between the surface temperature and the internal temperature is established. The surface temperature of the motor is measured in real time by the temperature acquisition module. And the measurement results are transmitted to the host computer through RS485 communication interface. The inner and outer surface temperature quantitative relationship is used to judge whether the inner temperature of the motor is abnormal or not, and the real-time alarm is carried out to realize the thermal protection of the motor.
Topology Identification Method of Urban Power Grid Based on 5G Communication
Authors: Tu Qi , Li Xin , Gao Houlei
Published: May 2021

With the development of 5G communication technology and intelligent terminal technology of urban power grid, intelligent distributed control mode independent of master station will become the trend of intelligent distribution network in the future. The characteristics of flexible configuration and strong scalability make 5G communication technology provide a wireless solution, which greatly gets rid of the constraints of communication cables and promotes the popularization and application of intelligent distributed control technology. Based on 5G communication technology, this paper proposes a distributed topology identification method. In this solution, each Smart Terminal Unit (STU) only needs to configure its associated static network topology information, and each STU forms dynamic network topology information according to certain topology identification rules. The purpose of identifying topological information is to use the information to provide topological information support for advanced functions of the distribution network, such as reclosing, identification of distributed power islands, and restoration of non-faulty section power supply.
A Fluid-Structure Interaction Based Simulation Study Of Piezoelectric Micropump For Drug Delivery Application
Authors: Vante Abhijeet B. , Ramakrishnan R.
Published: May 2021

Micropump technology has garnered the attention of researchers because of its diversity in numerous applications. Fast response and low power consumption make the piezoelectric micropump an obvious choice for controlled drug delivery applications. It requires fluid flow with minimum flow pulsations and backpressure. Because of the complex structure of the valved micropump, an accurate analytical flow solution is difficult to attain. Hence, a numerical simulation was performed on the model of piezoelectric micropump with microvalve using a finite element solver. A 3D Two-way Fluid-Structure Interaction (FSI) study was carried out. This illustrates the pressure exerted by fluid onto the solid and the change in fluid flow as the resultant. The solution was obtained for the fluid flow in a continuously deforming geometry. The analysis of results gives stresses developed on the microvalve, change in flow discharge and actuator displacement with respect to input frequency and voltage. The experimental results are presented to validate the simulation. This study is useful to establish a precise and controlled drug delivery using micropump in biomedical applications.
Bio-Composites: A Study On Behavior Of Oil Palm Mesocarp Fiber Reinforced Kgg
Authors: Srikanth V. , Narender Reddy K.Raja , Rao D.K.Nageshwar
Published: May 2021

The use of petroleum based non-degradable polymers and the effect of petroleum products directly impacting lives. Therefore, eco-friendly biodegradable composites are attracting more and more researchers. Biodegradable composites are prepared by using hand layup process using Kondagogu gum(KGG) resin with oil palm mesocarp fiber(OPMF) as reinforcement. Mechanical properties such as tensile, flexural, impact and Thermogravimetric (TG/DTA) of the composites are evaluated. The effect of fiber loading on the mechanical and thermal properties of the composite is also studied.
Design, Development And Testing Of A Multifunctional Jar And Bottle Opener
Authors: Kuchhal Harshit , Rajkumar E
Published: May 2021

Many fields in Engineering Technology today are focused on encouraging and motivating students to implement their educational concepts in the real world to fight with the increasing demands of new technology in the global market. This paper explores how a project interwoven through the Engineering Technology curriculum can be used to create a product to be sold in the today’s market to do basic household jobs and make them easier. The main focus of the bottle opener product existing in the market is that they are used on specific type of bottles and if to be used for different needs different product and will reduce the feasibility and portability as a greater number of products will be used to carry out these operations. Therefore, to eliminate this problem the objective of the project is to develop a multifunction bottle opener which can be used to deal with all the types of bottles available in the market. This product will work on the basic principles of mechanism like rack and pinion mechanism, cork plug and stress bending. Many researchers compared the shapes and mechanism in their work. Though there are similar work, but in the present work casts a unique design and has a functionality difference which makes this project exclusive from other projects. The optimized form of a common product that is a multi-functional bottle and jar opener is obtained from this project which can be used to open different styles of cap of different bottles.
Finite Element Analysis Of Thermal Fatigue Loading Of Nano Materials Coated Turbine Blade For Critical Applications
Authors: Ashok Kiran , Aswin C K , Samuel Ben Abraham
Published: May 2021

Thermal barrier coatings (TBC) have structures which are very complex and are employed in high temperature condition. The phenomenon of cracking is usually noticed at both the Top Coat (TC) and the interface between the bond coat and the thermally grown oxide layer under the Thermal Cyclic Fatigue (TCF) loading. In this study, the cracking behavior in Bond Coat (BC) and interface for TBC were thoroughly determined by using the commercially available ABAQUS/CAE 6.14-3 FEA software. This study also analyzed the key aspects causing the cracking behaviors in TBC. Various crack propagation path in the Bond Coat (BC) could be obtained on changing the thermal wave forms. The beginning location of TC (Top Coat) was independent of the roughness in the interface. The thermally grown oxide layer (TGO) which is thinner at the beginning could increase the service life of TBC. From the results it is evident that in order to characterize the service environment, the thermal fatigue load and the working temperatures have to be designed
Investigation On Smart Materials For Light Duty Goods Vehicle Chassis Frame Using Fea
Authors: Saravanan K.G. , Kumar S.Lakshmana , Vetrivel S.
Published: May 2021

Weight directly affects performance and emission parameters of vehicle. The main contributor of weight in heavy vehicle is chassis frame [1]. The reduction of weight of chassis improves fuel economy and reduces carbon dioxide emission. There are several conventional and non-conventional chassis materials available in the market [2]. Composite materials future looks promising because of their lesser weight and higher performance [3]. Proper usage of such product will help in fuel economy thus, saving the fuel and environment [4]. Also it helps to achieve higher performance readily than other conventional materials [5]. Hence, in this Project, we are going to reduce the weight of TATA ACE chassis using composites after the design and analysis of chassis frame [6]. Different materials are tested in ANSYS software are the material having the best desirable properties is recommended for further application in the automotive industry [7].
Speech Recognition based Industrial Cloud Robot for Service-Oriented Sustainable Manufacturing
Authors: Kalaiarassan G , Franklin Prashanth C , Prakash M , Phirke Shreya
Published: May 2021

Industrial Cloud Robotics is an amalgamation of cloud computing and an industrial robot to establish a service-oriented manufacturing system. Teleoperation of an industrial robot – the ability to control a robot from a remote location, is facilitated through this system. In this paper, a framework is proposed by utilizing speech recognition and industrial cloud robots for the applications of sustainable manufacturing. We have used Google’s speech recognition services to control the robot manipulator. We have employed Android Speech API in a custom android application that receives the speech signal, transcribes, and forwards it to a server. The application can be viewed or accessed by any host computer, which primarily serves as a user. The monitoring unit and the data is fetched by the Robot Speech Interface unit via the internet and web sockets. The interface triggers the required action of the robot through the relay board actuation of the digital input facility of the robot. Through this work, it is realized that, despite the disturbances and noise interferences, speed and reliability are not compromised.
Fuzzy Logic-based Digital Hydraulics Control of Blade Pitch Angle in Wind Turbines
Authors: Narayanan Lakshmi V , Ramakrishnan R
Published: May 2021

The pitch control system is generally employed in a wind turbine to mitigate load and maintain uniform power generation at above-rated wind speed regions. The hydraulic system has more power to weight ratio and so it is incorporated in the pitch system of large scale wind turbines. Some of the issues related to the usage of conventional valves in the Hydraulic Pitch System (HPS) are: internal leakage, throttling losses, high power loss, less fault-tolerant, requires high manufacturing tolerance, and more sensitive to contamination. To overcome these issues, digital hydraulics technology should be introduced as Digital Hydraulics Pitch System (DHPS). Commercially, Proportional Integral Derivative (PID) controller is used as a pitch controller but these controller performances don’t hold good when excessive disturbance or change in operating point occurs in the system. So, heuristic-based Fuzzy Logic Controller (FLC) is preferred which can surpass the PID problems. In this paper, a heuristic FLC based control strategy is proposed for a novel DHPS configuration to control the pitching action. The simulation model of DHPS is developed and system simulations are conducted. The comparative study on the effectiveness of FLC for DHPS and conventional valve controlled HPS is conducted.
Design of a Sub-Surface Drilling Mechanism through Solid Modelling and Analysis
Authors: Mohta Kaustubh , Yelvande Samarth , Venkatesan S
Published: May 2021

Current mechanisms for drilling and milling fall short in creating holes beneath the surface without disrupting bulk portion of the material. Presently, the only way to drill underground is through tunnel boring machines - each of them weighing hundreds of tons and costing millions of dollars. Clearly, they can’t be used to drill small diameter holes. This paper produces a novel idea for making U-shaped holes and for drilling beneath the surface without any digging. This has wide range applications in fields of road and transport, wires and pipe installation, component manufacturing etc. and can be used for all the sub-surface drilling operations. The materials used for this purpose are HSS Steel, Carbide Steel, and Cobalt-alloy Steel. These materials are assigned to the body of the drill and FEM analysis is conducted to find the total deformation and the Von-Mises stresses induced in the drill body.
Modelling and Numerical Simulation of Fluid Flow and Heat Transfer through Open Celled Metal Foam
Authors: Gokul Kumar K , Naiju C D
Published: May 2021

The use of open-cell metal foam in numerous technologies is increasing rapidly. Heat transfer measurements inside rectangular blocks of commercially-available aluminium foam subjected to constant heat flux at metal foam surface are presented. Cases for different pore velocities, porosities and pore densities of the foam are given. Each foam block is cooled by a confined stream of ambient air and the inlet-outlet boundaries of the computational domain were assigned. Simulations were carried out using the commercial software Fluent with a specific mass flow rate at the periodic boundaries of the domain and heat flux at the structure of the metal foam thus enabling convection. Different meshing schemes and different grid sizes were used for mesh independent to get the results with different flow velocities. Different approaches for heat transfer analysis of metal foam is considered and the most suitable approach is proposed. The temperature and the pressure drop were determined with different velocities. The heat removal rate for one unit cell was extrapolated to calculate it for the whole bed. For flow and heat transfer analysis, two fluids: air and water are used and the various results obtained are compared. Thus the variation of flow and heat transfer properties was studied with varying flow and foam parameters.
Tunable coupling of two mechanical resonators by a graphene membrane
Authors: Verbiest G J , Goldsche M , Sonntag J , Khodkov T , von den Driesch N , Buca D , Stampfer C
Published: May 2021

Coupled nanomechanical resonators are interesting for both fundamental studies and practical applications as they offer rich and tunable oscillation dynamics. At present, the mechanical coupling in such systems is often mediated by a fixed geometry, such as a joint clamping point of the resonators or a displacement-dependent force. Here we show a graphene-integrated electromechanical system consisting of two physically separated mechanical resonators—a hybrid graphene comb-drive actuator system and a suspended silicon beam—that are tunably coupled by the integrated graphene membrane. The graphene membrane, moreover, provides a sensitive electrical read-out for the two resonating systems showing 16 different modes in the frequency range from 0.4 to 24 MHz. In addition, by pulling on the graphene membrane with an electrostatic potential applied to silicon beam resonator, we control the mechanical coupling, quantified by the g-factor, from 20 kHz to 100 kHz. Our results pave the way for coupled nanoelectromechanical systems requiring controllable mechanically coupled resonators.
Assistive devices for the people with disabilities enabled by triboelectric nanogenerators
Authors: Qu Xuecheng , Liu Ying , Liu Zhuo , Li Zhou
Published: May 2021

According to data released by the World Health Organization, more than one billion people in the world experience some form of disability, in which they face all kinds of inconveniences. As a practical tool to help people with disabilities participate in social life, assistive devices for the people with disabilities play an important role in their daily lives. As an effective electromechanical signal conversion technology, triboelectric nanogenerator (TENG) has been successfully applied to various types of biosensors. This review aims to provide an overview of the development of assistive devices for the people with disabilities based on TENG with five categories: hearing, vision, pronunciation, gustation and limb/joint, according to the classification method of the impaired part. Meanwhile, a human–computer interaction system for the people with disabilities is also investigated. Finally, the prospect and potential challenges of this new field are discussed.
Burst mode in a cooled packed-bed dielectric barrier discharge reactor for CO2 splitting
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Authors: Santoso Jesse , Zhu Mingming , Zhang Dongke
Published: May 2021

The so called ‘burst mode’, a rapidly pulsed power regime for dielectric barrier discharges (DBDs) has previously been reported to greatly improve the performance of an uncooled and unpacked DBD reactor for CO2 splitting. Here we explore the interaction between a DBD in burst mode and each of active cooling and a dielectric packing material (1.0–1.2 mm glass beads) in a coaxial, metal-dielectric DBD reactor for CO2 splitting. The effect of burst mode on CO2 conversion and energy efficiency under different combinations of cooling and packing were investigated and compared with those under continuous wave mode operation. The burst mode operation showed similar CO2 conversion and energy efficiency to continuous wave mode in the unpacked and uncooled configuration under the conditions investigated in this study. However, burst mode significantly outperformed continuous wave mode in the packed and uncooled configuration. When active cooling was employed, burst mode was found to provide only minor benefit or no benefit, depending on specific energy input (SEI), compared to continuous wave mode for each the packed and unpacked configurations. Maximum conversion and energy efficiency were achieved with both packing and active cooling across all SEI examined, and performance in this configuration was found to be relatively insensitive to the power delivery mode.
The global Kotake-Narasimhan theorem
Authors: Hoepfner G. , Rampazo P.
Published: May 2021

In this paper we introduce the notion of global ultradifferentiable functions with respect to weight functions and include a discussion of its functional analytic theory and prove a characterization in terms of certain exponential decay of the Fourier-Broz-Iagolnitzer transform—a Paley-Wiener type theorem. As an application we investigate the regularity of global ultradifferentiable vectors proving a version of the Kotake-Narasimhan theorem in this setting.
José María Torres Caicedo and the Politics of International Law in Nineteenth-Century Latin America
Authors: Mantilla Blanco Sebastián
Published: May 2021

The mid-nineteenth century was the formative period of doctrines that dominated international law debates in Latin America until well into the twentieth century. José María Torres Caicedo (1830–89) is one of the least-known international law scholars from those years. Torres Caicedo’s vast experience as a diplomat provided him with a sharp political instinct, which nurtured his academic work about international legal affairs. A look into his writings exposes the politics behind present-day principles, such as sovereign equality and non-intervention. It also reveals the stance of Latin American intellectuals with regard to the Eurocentric notion of the ‘civilized State’. In the field of the law of aliens, Torres was a major influence in the development of the Calvo Doctrine. His contributions to international law are all the more relevant, as historians place Torres as one of the first authors designating Central and South America as ‘Latin America’. This term was closely intertwined with Torres Caicedo’s views on foreign policy and international law.
Internment of Enemy Aliens during the World Wars
Authors: Galvis Martínez Manuel
Published: May 2021

The article offers a historical approach to one of the most understudied areas of international humanitarian law by focusing on the successes and shortfalls of the two international armed conflicts with the highest numbers of civilians interned in global history. Through the study of State practice during Word War I and Word War II, the author addresses the causes and justifications that led to massive internment of enemy aliens, the practical determination of the need of those measures, and the role of ethnicity for internment. Lessons drawn from those experiences not only clarify and humanize abstract legal provisions of the 1949 Geneva Conventions but also warn about harmful deviations from the intended purpose of those norms for future cases.
Deep learning model reveals potential risk genes for ADHD, especially Ephrin receptor gene EPHA5
Authors: Liu Lu , Feng Xikang , Li Haimei , Cheng Li Shuai , Qian Qiujin , Wang Yufeng
Published: May 2021

Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is a common neurodevelopmental disorder. Although genome-wide association studies (GWAS) identify the risk ADHD-associated variants and genes with significant P-values, they may neglect the combined effect of multiple variants with insignificant P-values. Here, we proposed a convolutional neural network (CNN) to classify 1033 individuals diagnosed with ADHD from 950 healthy controls according to their genomic data. The model takes the single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) loci of P-values $\le{1\times 10^{-3}}$, i.e. 764 loci, as inputs, and achieved an accuracy of 0.9018, AUC of 0.9570, sensitivity of 0.8980 and specificity of 0.9055. By incorporating the saliency analysis for the deep learning network, a total of 96 candidate genes were found, of which 14 genes have been reported in previous ADHD-related studies. Furthermore, joint Gene Ontology enrichment and expression Quantitative Trait Loci analysis identified a potential risk gene for ADHD, EPHA5 with a variant of rs4860671. Overall, our CNN deep learning model exhibited a high accuracy for ADHD classification and demonstrated that the deep learning model could capture variants’ combining effect with insignificant P-value, while GWAS fails. To our best knowledge, our model is the first deep learning method for the classification of ADHD with SNPs data.
Bathometer: lightning fast depth-of-reads query
Authors: Stenzel U , Horn S
Published: May 2021

Motivation

The query for the number of reads overlapping a given region is a common step in the analysis of Illumina sequencing data. Sometimes, these queries are not conveniently precomputable. It seems beneficial to make this kind of arbitrary query as fast and convenient as possible.

Results

We present Bathometer, a tool that indexes BAM files in a space efficient way, which allows ad hoc queries for the number of reads overlapping any given genomic region to be answered much more quickly than by counting with common tools such as Samtools, while incurring much less disk I/O.

Availabilityand implementation

Bathometer is implemented in C, licensed under the GNU General Public License version 3+ and freely downloadable from Bitbucket (https://bitbucket.org/ustenzel/bathometer)

Supplementary information

Supplementary data are available at Bioinformatics online.
eCOMPASS: evaluative comparison of multiple protein alignments by statistical score
Authors: Neuwald Andrew F , Kolaczkowski Bryan D , Altschul Stephen F
Published: May 2021

Motivation

Detecting subtle biologically relevant patterns in protein sequences often requires the construction of a large and accurate multiple sequence alignment (MSA). Methods for constructing MSAs are usually evaluated using benchmark alignments, which, however, typically contain very few sequences and are therefore inappropriate when dealing with large numbers of proteins.

Results

eCOMPASS addresses this problem using a statistical measure of relative alignment quality based on direct coupling analysis (DCA): to maintain protein structural integrity over evolutionary time, substitutions at one residue position typically result in compensating substitutions at other positions. eCOMPASS computes the statistical significance of the congruence between high scoring directly coupled pairs and 3D contacts in corresponding structures, which depends upon properly aligned homologous residues. We illustrate eCOMPASS using both simulated and real MSAs.

Availability and implementation

The eCOMPASS executable, C++ open source code and input data sets are available at https://www.igs.umaryland.edu/labs/neuwald/software/compass

Supplementary information

Supplementary data are available at Bioinformatics online.
Comparison of the dento-skeletal effects produced by Leaf expander versus rapid maxillary expander in prepubertal patients: a two-center randomized controlled trial
Authors: Paoloni Valeria , Giuntini Veronica , Lione Roberta , Nieri Michele , Barone Valeria , Merlo Matilde Marino , Mazza Francesca , Passaleva Stefano , Cozza Paola , Franchi Lorenzo
Published: May 2021

Objective

This study aimed to compare the skeletal and dentoalveolar effects produced by slow maxillary expansion (SME) with the Leaf expander versus the conventional rapid maxillary expansion (RME) on digital dental casts, lateral and postero-anterior cephalometric radiographs.

Trial design

This is a superiority, two-center, two arms parallel balanced randomization trial.

Methods

Patients in the mixed dentition were included with a transverse interarch discrepancy of at least 3 mm. An expansion screw using moderate continuous forces (Leaf group) was compared to a conventional RME screw (RME group). The primary response variable was the difference in maxillary intermolar width (U6-U6) measured at baseline (T0) and one-year follow-up (T1) on the digital dental casts. Other dento-skeletal variables were also measured on digital dental casts and cephalograms. Computer-generated block randomization was used with allocation concealed in sequentially numbered opaque sealed envelopes. The examiner was blinded on the type of expander used. Linear models were used for statistical analysis.

Results

Twenty-eight patients in the Leaf group and 28 patients in the RME group were randomized and included in the study. There were no dropouts. U6-U6 did not show a statistically significant difference between the two groups (−0.4 mm in favor of the RME group, 95% CI from −1.2 to 0.5, P = 0.365). As for the other secondary variables no statistically significant differences were found between the two groups except maxillary intercanine width (U3-U3, −0.9 mm in favor of the RME group, 95%CI from −1.5 to −0.3, P = 0.005) and maxillary skeletal width (Mx-Mx, −1.4 mm in favor of the RME group, 95%CI from −2.4 to −0.3, P = 0.013).

Conclusions

No significant differences between the RME and Leaf groups were detected for any of the analyzed dento-skeletal variables except the T1-T0 differences in U3-U3 and Mx-Mx that were significantly greater in the RME group.

Registration

The study was registered in the ISRCTN register on 08/11/2016 with the number ISRCTN18263886.

Funding

No funding or conflict of interest to be declared.
Hölder Continuity of the Minimizer of an Obstacle Problem with Generalized Orlicz Growth
Authors: Karppinen Arttu , Lee Mikyoung
Published: May 2021

We prove local $C^{0,\alpha }$- and $C^{1,\alpha }$-regularity for the local solution to an obstacle problem with nonstandard growth. These results cover as special cases standard, variable exponent, double phase, and Orlicz growth.
The unintended consequences of increasing returns to scale in geographical economics
Authors: Bond-Smith Steven
Published: May 2021

Increasing returns to scale is the basis for many powerful results in economics and economic geography. But the limitations of assumptions about returns to scale in economic growth theories are often ignored when applied to geography. This leads to an unintentional bias favoring scale and mistaken conclusions about geography, scale and growth. Alternatively, this bias is used as a convenient modeling trick by urban economists to describe agglomeration economies for innovation without examining the spatial mechanisms that actually create agglomeration economies. I discuss techniques to focus on the distinctly geographic mechanisms that define returns to scale at appropriate spatial scales.
Subclausal Local Contexts
Authors: Anvari Amir , Blumberg Kyle
Published: May 2021

One of the central topics in semantic theory over the last few decades concerns the nature of local contexts. Recently, theorists have tried to develop general, non-stipulative accounts of local contexts (Ingason, 2016; Mandelkern & Romoli, 2017a; Schlenker, 2009). In this paper, we contribute to this literature by drawing attention to the local contexts of subclausal expressions. More specifically, we focus on the local contexts of quantificational determiners, e.g. ‘all’, ‘both’, etc. Our central tool for probing the local contexts of subclausal elements is the principle Maximize Presupposition! (Percus, 2006; Singh, 2011). The empirical basis of our investigation concerns some data discussed by Anvari (2018b), e.g. the fact that sentences such as ‘All of the two presidential candidates are crooked’ are unacceptable. In order to explain this, we suggest that the local context of determiners needs to contain the information carried by their restrictor. However, no existing non-stipulative account predicts this. Consequently, we think that the local contexts of subclausal expressions will likely have to be stipulated. This result has important consequences for debates in semantics and pragmatics, e.g. those around the so-called “explanatory problem” for dynamic semantics (Heim, 1990; Schlenker, 2009; Soames, 1982).
Malakoplakia mimicking a locally advanced colorectal neoplasm
Authors: Irarrázaval-Mainguyague María J , Cabreras Manuel , Oksenberg Sebastián , Pulgar María A , Rojas Francisco , Álvarez Manuel , Quezada-Diaz Felipe F
Published: May 2021

Malakoplakia is a rare disease. Clinical presentation is non-specific, making its diagnosis an incidental finding on histopathological analysis. The aim of this case report is to describe a patient diagnosed with colon, renal and soft tissue malacoplakia mimicking a locally advanced colorectal cancer.

A 75-year-old man was admitted due to intense abdominal pain. No relevant findings at the physical examination. Computed tomography showed parietal thickening of the descending colon with left kidney, iliopsoas muscle and retroperitoneum involvement. An elevated blood serum creatinine, elevated glycated hemoglobin and urinary infection were detected. Surgery was decided for suspicious symptomatic colonic neoplasm. Left segmental colectomy with left partial nephrectomy and retroperitoneal soft tissue resection was performed. Pathology report was compatible with malakoplakia.

Malakoplakia is a rare disease and may affect multiple organs. Because there are no clinical-specific findings, diagnosis is usually made with histopathological study of the surgical specimen.
Identifying Glucocorticoid Insufficiency in Silent Corticotroph Adenoma with Elevated Adrenocorticotropic Hormone
Authors: Schlegel Amnon
Published: May 2021

Silent corticotroph adenoma (SCA) is as an aggressive pituitary tumor. A 48 year old man developed hypogonadotrophic hypogonadism. The basal morning adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH) was elevated, but the basal morning and peak after ACTH (1–24) stimulation cortisol were normal. A 3.7 cm sellar mass with evidence of internal hemorrhage, encasement of the right internal carotid artery, and invasion of the right cavernous sinus were identified, resected, and stained positive for ACTH. Over the next 5 years, the basal morning ACTH and cortisol were normal, and imaging revealed the presence of a small residual tumor. One year later, the patient became fatigued and nauseated, with elevated ACTH. An overnight metyrapone stimulation test (OMST) revealed glucocorticoid insufficiency, without further increase in ACTH. Symptoms resolved with hydrocortisone treatment. This case study suggests that SCA can secrete an ACTH precursor that is detected by clinical assays but is not active biologically. Postoperative OMST reveals glucocorticoid insufficiency in this context.
Kepler K2 Campaign 9 – I. Candidate short-duration events from the first space-based survey for planetary microlensing
Authors: McDonald I , Kerins E , Poleski R , Penny M T , Specht D , Mao S , Fouqué P , Zhu W , Zang W
Published: May 2021

We present the first short-duration candidate microlensing events from the Kepler K2 mission. From late April to early July 2016, Campaign 9 of K2 obtained high temporal cadence observations over a 3.7 deg2 region of the Galactic bulge. Its primary objectives were to look for evidence of a free-floating planet (FFP) population using microlensing, and demonstrate the feasibility of space-based planetary microlensing surveys. Though Kepler K2 is far from optimal for microlensing, the recently developed mcpm photometric pipeline enables us to identify and model microlensing events. We describe our blind event-selection pipeline in detail and use it to recover 22 short-duration events with effective time-scales teff < 10 d previously announced by the OGLE and KMTNet ground-based surveys. We also announce five new candidate events. One of these is a caustic-crossing binary event, modelled in a companion study. The other four have very short durations (teff < 0.1 d) typical of an Earth-mass FFP population. Whilst Kepler was not designed for crowded-field photometry, the K2C9 data set clearly demonstrates the feasibility of conducting blind space-based microlensing surveys towards the Galactic bulge.
A Novel Dosing Strategy of Ceftolozane/Tazobactam in a Patient Receiving Intermittent Hemodialysis
Authors: Shah Sunish , Nicolau David P , McManus Dayna , Topal Jeffrey E
Published: May 2021

We describe the case of a 54-year-old male receiving intermittent hemodialysis (iHD) who was found to have Pseudomonas aeruginosa bacteremia secondary to osteomyelitis of the calcaneus bone. The patient was clinically cured without recurrence using a ceftolozane/tazobactam (CTZ) dosing strategy of 100/50 mg every 8 hours (standard dosing) and 1000/500 mg thrice weekly following iHD. Utilizing a susceptibility breakpoint of ≤4 µg/mL for P. aeruginosa, the T > MIC for standard dosing and the 1000/500-mg thrice-weekly following iHD regimen were calculated to be 92.7% and 94.1%, respectively. Ceftolozane total body clearance for the standard q 8 h dosing and the 1000/500-mg thrice-weekly following iHD regimen were calculated to be 0.196 L/h and 0.199 L/h, respectively. To our knowledge, this is the first report to illustrate the administration of CTZ at a dose of 1000/500 mg thrice weekly following iHD.