Front Runner Research Articles

Performance of counter-rotating tandem propellers at oblique flow conditions

Tidal currents are a potential source of reliable and renewable energy. Various power generation systems have been proposed. The authors developed a counter-rotating type tidal stream power unit in which the tandem runners make the inner and the outer armatures counter-rotate. The unit is composed of tandem propellers with 3 front and 5 rear blades and has a promising advantage that the rotational torque between the front runner and the rear propellers, namely the inner and the outer armatures, is balanced in the unit. That is, this tidal stream power unit can be moored with only one cable and then its nose and tail will naturally line up in response to the tidal stream by yawing. In this paper, the performance of the propellers in oblique flow conditions were investigated experimentally and numerically. When the coming flow obliquely to the propeller by 30 degrees, the performance deteriorates by 20%.

Cover Feature: Chasing BODIPY: Enhancement of Luminescence in Homoleptic Bis(dipyrrinato) ZnII Complexes Utilizing Symmetric and Unsymmetrical Dipyrrins (Chem. Eur. J. 15/2019)

Bis(dipyrrinato) ZnII complexes can have very high luminescent quantum yields upon judicious choice of the ligands. Although BODIPY (boron dipyrromethene) is still a front runner in the family of dipyrromethene compounds with their excellent photophysical properties, the authors show that zinc dipyrrins, exhibiting high fluorescence, are hot on its heels. The authors would like to thank the designer Vincenzo Pani for help in producing the graphical representation. More information can be found in the Full Paper by C. Bizzarri et al. on page 3816.

An Empirical Study on the Key Factors of Intelligent Upgrade of Small and Medium-sized Enterprises in China

Promoting the intelligent upgrades of small and medium-sized enterprises is one of the important tasks of implementing “Made in China 2025” in China. As a front runner of nation-level reform, Zhejiang Province has provided much room for innovation and development, along with the emergence of a new type of ecology, accelerated formation of two ecosystems and international cooperation, and a supportive policy environment. Therefore, this paper uses 173 Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs) from Zhejiang Province as the research objects, builds a binary selection model, and analyzes the dynamic and constraining mechanism of intelligent upgrades of SMEs with regard to employee qualification, technology, capital, policy environment, and so on. The study finds that: First, among three main industries, manufacturing is the major industry for the intelligent upgrades of SMEs and there are significant demonstration effects and industry heterogeneity. Secondly, the willingness to upgrade intelligently for SMEs is relatively strong. More than half of SMEs that have not intelligently upgraded show willingness to implement intelligent upgrades. Thirdly, factors such as corporate profitability, human capital quality, and industry intelligence level have significantly promoted the intelligent upgrades of SMEs, while the impact of labor cost, capital structure, government subsidies, and other variables are not significant. This conclusion still works after a number of robustness tests. Last but not least, based on the above conclusions, this paper proposes corresponding policy recommendations which are practically beneficial to the development of SMEs in China.

Combined second trimester maternal serum α-fetoprotein and uterine artery Doppler in the prediction of pre-eclampsia

Objective The objective was to evaluate the combination of second trimester maternal serum α-fetoprotein (MSAFP) and uterine artery Doppler (UAD) as a tool for the prediction of pre-eclampsia (PE). Background PE is a complex multisystem disease and the main cause of fetomaternal morbidity and mortality. The ultimate aim of antenatal care is to identify women at high risk and provide them with prophylactic treatment. No single test has emerged as a front runner and screening based on risk factors has low sensitivity. This has highlighted the need for an alternative. Patients and methods A prospective study on a total of 297 pregnant women had MSAFP measured between 15 and 19 weeks gestation and UAD measured between 19 and 21 weeks of gestation. Resistance index, pulsatility index (PI), and the presence of notches were measured. Receiver operator characteristic curves were created for MSAFP and UAD alone and in combination and then the outcomes were compared. The study was carried out at the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology of the Faculty of Medicine, Menoufia University and Nasr City Police Hospital during a period from June 2016 to June 2017. Result A total of 17 women developed PE. The sensitivity of using UAD (resistance index) was 70.59% and for MSAFP was 52.94%. The combined sensitivity of UAD and MSAFP was 64.7% Conclusion The combination of MSAFP with UAD did not improve the screening efficacy for the prediction of PE and UAD performed significantly better as a stand-alone test.

E&P Notes (December 2018)

E&P Notes Company Fracturing First UK Horizontal Shale Wells Matt Zborowski, Technology Writer Hydraulic fracturing of the UK’s first two horizontal shale wells is under way. However, injection work has been paused on multiple occasions because of seismic activity. Cuadrilla Resources began fracturing the first well in mid-October at its Preston New Road site in Lancashire. Gas began flowing to the surface in early November. Both wells, which intersect the Bowland Shale, are slated to be completed over 3 months, with their flow rates tested over 6 months. An initial assessment on recoverable gas is expected in next year’s first quarter, at which point Cuadrilla will determine the site’s commerciality. BHGE To Buy Stake in ADNOC Drilling as Firms Form UAE Partnership Matt Zborowski, Technology Writer Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC) and Baker Hughes, a GE company (BHGE), will partner to turn ADNOC Drilling into “a fully-integrated drilling and well construction provider,” the companies said in a joint statement. The deal calls for BHGE to buy a 5% interest in ADNOC Drilling for $550 million, placing the subsidiary’s value at $11 billion including $1 billion of net debt. BHGE will join ADNOC Drilling’s board of directors, and the two firms will create an advisory board to jointly oversee the partnership’s implementation and ongoing operations. The deal is expected to close in the fourth quarter. Eni, BP To Team in Hopes of Boosting Libyan Oil and Gas Exploration Matt Zborowski, Technology Writer Eni, BP, and Libya’s National Oil Corporation (NOC) inked an agreement on 8 October that should enable Eni to buy a 42.5% stake and become operator of three of BP’s Libyan oil exploration contract areas, where the companies plan to resume exploration work next year. BP’s 54,000-sq-km exploration- and production-sharing agreement (EPSA) consists of two onshore contract areas, A and B, in the Ghadames Basin and one offshore area, C, in the Sirt Basin. BP currently holds an 85% interest in the EPSA, with the Libyan Investment Authority holding the remaining 15%. Eni and NOC jointly have other operations and infrastructure near the onshore areas. Petrobras, Murphy Oil Form 75,000-BOE/D US Gulf Partnership Matt Zborowski, Technology Writer Brazil’s state-owned Petrobras and El Dorado, Arkansas-based Murphy Oil have agreed to combine most of their US Gulf of Mexico assets to form a joint venture (JV) that will average 75,000 BOE/D in production during the fourth quarter. Murphy Exploration & Production will serve as the JV’s operator with an 80% stake, while Petrobras America will hold 20%. The combine will have the following assets: Operated deepwater fields: Cascade, Chinook, Clipper, Dalmatian, Front Runner, Medusa, and Thunder Hawk Nonoperated deepwater fields: St. Malo, Lucius and Hadrian North, Hadrian South, Cottonwood, Habanero, and Kodiak Shallow-water fields: South Marsh Island 280, Garden Banks 200/201, and Tahoe Merger of Ensco and Rowan Jacks Up Their Market Share Stephen Rassenfoss, JPT Emerging Technology Senior Editor Ensco has acquired Rowan, continuing the run of major acquisitions by the biggest offshore contract drillers at a time when the outlook for the business is starting to look up. The combined company will be the largest player in the jackup sector, according to Wood Mackenzie, with rigs working on six continents. More than 60% of the 82 rigs in the fleet will be jackups, and Rowan also adds a growing joint venture with the largest jackup customer in the world, Saudi Aramco, according to the announcement. Ensco will be offering 2.215 shares of its stock for every share of Rowan, or about $2.4 billion. This will create a new company in which Ensco shareholders will hold more than 60% of the shares, with Rowan’s shareholders holding the balance, and the top four executive positions evenly split.

Closed-Form Approximation of LoRa Modulation BER Performance

LoRa has been demonstrated as a front runner when it comes to evolving low-power wide area networks. At its core is LoRa modulation which depicts a patented chirp spread-spectrum modulation technique that supports energy-efficient and reliable long-range communication. The underlying bit error rate (BER) performance of LoRa modulation has not been yet rigorously analyzed in the literature. In this letter, closed-form approximations for LoRa BER performance are derived for both additive white Gaussian noise and Rayleigh fading channels. Accuracy of the derived approximations is confirmed by comparisons against numerical results.

International Arenas and Domestic Institution Formation: The Impact of the UN Women’s Conferences in Denmark, 1975–1985

ABSTRACTDuring the United Nations (UN) International Women’s Decade 1975–1985, three UN women’s conferences were held in respectively Mexico (1975), Copenhagen (1980), and Nairobi (1985). All three women’s conferences adopted World Action Plans with (non-legally binding) guidelines for the advancement of women. Denmark was internationally perceived as a front runner in the field of gender equality and human rights. However, the Danish women’s movement and several female parliamentarians continuously advocated increased equality for women in Denmark. Hence, the UN women’s conferences were highly relevant also to Danish women. This article analyses the impact of the three UN women’s conferences on the development of equality for women in Denmark. It argues that the UN women’s conferences contributed in two ways to facilitate an increase in the so-called ‘opportunity structure’ for equality of women in Denmark. First, the conferences contributed to the formation of new institutions and action plans for gender equality that came to form part of an ‘opportunity structure’ in which equality for women could be advanced. Second, the UN conferences contributed to the formation of an informal network among female parliamentarians. This network was central to the adoption of the new institutions and action plans.

Pleiotropic Immune Functions of Chemokine Receptor 6 in Health and Disease.

C-C chemoattractant cytokine (chemokine) receptor 6 (CCR6) and its exclusive binding molecule CCL20 is an extremely important chemokine receptor-ligand pair which controls cell migration and immune induction during inflammatory disease. Not many scientific studies have been undertaken to study its immune mechanisms in detail, but its unique contribution to steady state cell chemotaxis in upholding immune tolerance and regulating immune homeostasis during inflammation is evident in multiple systems in the human body, including skin, liver, lung, kidney, brain, eye, joints, gonads and the gut. The role of CCR6 is constitutively expressed as a series of much debilitating severe inflammatory and autoimmune diseases, Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) and cancer metastasis. CD4+ T cells, the central organizers of adaptive immunity, are stringently mobilized by the CCR6/CCL20 axis also induced by cytokines and a host of other factors in a carefully executed immune modulation scenario, to bring about a delicate balance between inflammation inducing TH17 cells and regulatory Treg cells. Although the exact immune regulatory role is not elucidated as yet, the CCR6/CCL20 axis is implicated as a front runner which determines the polarization of TH17 and regulatory Treg cells, upon which depends the resolution or progression of many debilitating disorders. This review therefore aims at emphasizing the pleiotropic significance of the chemokines CCR6 and CCL20 in immunologic function in multiple organ systems, thereby hoping to accentuate its value in future therapeutic modalities.

Performance Enhancement of FinFET Devices with Gate-Stack (GS) High-K Dielectrics for Nanoscale Applications

The Fin shaped Field Effect Transistors (FinFETs), are the front runner of the current sub-nanometer technology node. The semiconductor industry adopts it in high-performance (HP) and low-power (LP) applications due to greater electrostatic control and better scalability. This paper explores the numerically simulation based comparison of bulk and silicon-on-insulator (SOI) technology double gate (DG), triple gate (TG) FinFETs. The essential processing steps required to create the GS high-k dielectric bulk and SOI FinFETs are demonstrated. The electrical performance parameters of the device such as Ion/Ioff ratio, subthreshold swing (SS), and drain induced barrier lowering (DIBL) are extracted. Based on the three-dimensional (3D) ATLASTM simulation results, TG FinFET shows an ameliorated performance over DG in bulk and SOI technology as well. In order to control the short channel effects (SCEs), gate-stack (GS) high-k dielectrics are introduced with fixed thickness interfacial-layer (IL) and high-k dielectric material in between the gate material and semiconductor. The GS high-k dielectrics suppress the SCEs to large extent in both devices and technologies. The GS SOI FinFETs demonstrates the improved performance over the bulk counterpart and TG FinFET is the best among them. Further, the similar kind of investigation has been carried out for Tfin variations. These devices reveal the excellent control of SCEs when the fin is narrow. The ratio of SOI and bulk TG FinFET Ion/Ioff ratio with Tfin variations provide evidence that, the SOI based devices are competent for HP and LP applications.

Measuring the cost of renewable energy in Germany

Electricity generation from renewable energy is increasing globally. However, in most electricity systems this growth comes at a price in the form of increased costs. This paper quantifies the costs for renewable energy installations built in Germany between 2000 and 2011. Our analysis sheds light on the ‘Energiewende’ in Germany, which is a front runner in the worldwide renewables rollout. To evaluate cost, benefits and policy instruments, the methodology can also be applied to other countries.

Tunable Surface Modification of Mesoporous Carbon Nanoparticles for Polysulfide Trapping in Lithium-Sulfur Batteries

Lithium-Sulfur (LiS) batteries are a front runner for next-generation secondary battery systems. This is partially due to the low cost, relative abundance, and environmentally benign nature of their active materials, but arguably most important is the order of magnitude increase in theoretical specific capacity of LiS cells compared to current state of the art lithium-metal oxide systems (~1,600 mAhg-1 vs ~160mAhg-1, respectively). Despite these inherent benefits, the commercialization of LiS systems has been impeded by a rapid loss of capacity upon repeated cycling due to the complexities of lithiation and delithiation at the carbon/sulfur composite cathode. During discharge, elemental sulfur is sequentially reduced to lithium sulfide following the reaction S8 + 16Li+ + 16e-→ 8Li2S, where intermediates Li2S(8-2) are formed, their length depending on depth of discharge. Long-chain lithium polysulfides (LiPS), Li2S(8-4) are highly soluble in organic electrolytes and, once solvated, will migrate to the lithium metal anode. This leads to permanent capacity loss and internal shorting via lithium polysulfide redox shuttling. To combat this limitation, extensive efforts have been focused on trapping long-chain LiPS by both: 1. physically confining them in mesoporous carbons, and 2. chemically inducing electrostatic attractions with electron rich heteroatoms on the cathode. In this work we not only aim to find synergy between these two approaches, but also investigate the potential for doubling the binding energy of electrostatic interactions by covalent tethering of long chain LiPS to the cathode surface via reversible di-sulfide bonding. Through a highly tunable one-step reaction, we functionalize mesoporous carbon surfaces with aromatic small molecules using in-situ generation of diazonium radicals. The flexibility of our approach allows for the introduction of a wide variety of surface functionality, and thus a platform to broaden our understanding of cathode/electrolyte interactions. Our current progress focuses on the spectroscopic, physical, and electrochemical characterization of a thiophenol terminated carbon. Through this work we have demonstrated not only successful modification of carbon particles, but an ability to control the density of modifier groups on the surface. In conjunction with finding an optimal concentration of surface modifiers, we investigate the role of modifiers and carbon pore size in modulating the kinetics and capacity retention of LiS cells. By optimizing pore-size and modifier concentration, we have drastically increased the cycle life of our devices, which maintain >900 mAhg-1 over 150+ cycles at 0.1C. We hypothesize that the mechanism responsible for this improvement is a reversible covalent interaction based on electrochemical measurements, which indicate a concentration-dependent shift toward solid-phase reaction pathways.

‘I might be a bit of a front runner’: An analysis of men's uptake of flexible work arrangements and masculine identity

In most western countries, men's use of flexible work arrangements (FWA) is low. Intersections of gender and organizational culture are likely to contribute to this circumstance but have received little attention. This research aims to investigate men's experiences of FWA use and non‐use to understand contextual factors influencing men's decisions and how men construct their identities in relation to work, parenting and FWA. Based on semi‐structured interviews with 15 men, discourse analysis identified that workplace culture and the ideal worker norm strongly influence men's decision making regarding FWA use, and feature in identity construction. Most men adhered to traditional constructions of masculinity in their talk, even when utilizing FWA which was constructed as an individual choice and a privilege. Some men constructed themselves as ‘ground‐breakers’ but still used traditionally masculine attributes to achieve this. Overall, the results highlighted a need to encourage societal and organizational support for men's FWA use.

A Front Runner of Engineering Education

A Front Runner of Engineering Education

A Low Profile Antenna for Millimeter-Wave Body-Centric Applications

Millimeter-Wave (mm-Wave) frequencies are a front runner contender for the next generation body-centric wireless communications. In this paper, the design of a very low-profile antenna is presented for body-centric applications operating in the mm-Wave frequency band centered at 60 GHz. The antenna has an overall size of $14\times 10.5\times 1.15~\text {mm}^{3}$ and is printed on a flexible printed circuit board. The performance of the antenna is evaluated in off-body, on-body, and body-to-body communication scenarios using a realistic numerical phantom and verified through measurements. The antenna has a bandwidth of 9.8 GHz and offers a gain of 10.6 dBi in off-body (free space) configuration, while 12.1 dBi in on-body configuration. It also achieves an efficiency of 74% in off-body and 63% in on-body scenario. The small and flexible structure of the antenna along with excellent impedance matching, broad bandwidth, high gain, and good efficiency makes it a suitable candidate to attain simultaneous data transmission/reception at mm-Wave frequencies for the 5G body-centric applications.

Diabetes Mellitus and Alzheimer's Disease: The Protection of Epigallocatechin-3-gallate in Streptozotocin Injection-Induced Models.

Diabetes mellitus is considered as a risk factor of Alzheimer’s disease (AD), the front runner of neurodegenerative disorders. Streptozotocin (STZ) is a toxin for pancreatic β-cell, which can construct a model of insulin deficient diabetes through intraperitoneal or intravenous injection. A model generated by intracerebroventricular STZ (icv-STZ) also shows numerous aspects of sporadic AD. The protective roles of tea polyphenols epigallocatechin-3-gallate (EGCG) on both two diseases were researched by some scientists. This review highlights the link between diabetes and AD and recent studies on STZ injection-induced models, and also discusses the protection of EGCG to clarify its treatment in STZ-induced diabetes and AD.

Blood May Hold Secret to Biomarkers for Depression

Blood May Hold Secret to Biomarkers for Depression

Performance Assessment of Black Box Capacity Forecasting for Multi-Market Trade Application

With the growth of renewable generated electricity in the energy mix, large energy storage and flexible demand, particularly aggregated demand response is becoming a front runner as a new participant in the wholesale energy markets. One of the biggest barriers for the integration of aggregator services into market participation is knowledge of the current and future flexible capacity. To calculate the available flexibility, the current aggregator pilot and simulation implementations use lower level measurements and device specifications. This type of implementation is not scalable due to computational constraints, as well as it could conflict with end user privacy rights. Black box machine learning approaches have been proven to accurately estimate the available capacity of a cluster of heating devices using only aggregated data. This study will investigate the accuracy of this approach when applied to a heterogeneous virtual power plant (VPP). Firstly, a sensitivity analysis of the machine learning model is performed when varying the underlying device makeup of the VPP. Further, the forecasted flexible capacity of a heterogeneous residential VPP was applied to a trade strategy, which maintains a day ahead schedule, as well as offers flexibility to the imbalance market. This performance is then compared when using the same strategy with no capacity forecasting, as well as perfect knowledge. It was shown that at most, the highest average error, regardless of the VPP makeup, was still less than 9%. Further, when applying the forecasted capacity to a trading strategy, 89% of the optimal performance can be met. This resulted in a reduction of monthly costs by approximately 20%.

Unveiling the Influence of pH on the Crystallization of Hybrid Perovskites, Delivering Low Voltage Loss Photovoltaics

Summary Impressive power conversion efficiencies coupled with the relative ease of fabrication have made perovskite solar cells a front runner for next-generation photovoltaics. Although perovskite films and optoelectronic devices have been widely studied, relatively little is known about the chemistry of the precursor solutions. Here, we present a study on the hydrolysis of N , N -dimethylformamide, correlating how pH changes related to its degradation affect the crystallization of MAPbI 3−x Cl x perovskite films. By careful manipulation of the pH, and the resulting colloid distribution in precursor solutions, we fabricate perovskite films with greatly improved crystallinity, which when incorporated into photovoltaic devices reproducibly yield efficiencies of over 18%. Extending this method to the mixed cation, mixed halide perovskite FA 0.83 MA 0.17 Pb(I 0.83 Br 0.17 ) 3 , we obtain power conversion efficiencies of up to 19.9% and open-circuit voltages of 1.21 V for a material with a bandgap of 1.57 eV, achieving the lowest yet reported loss in potential from bandgap to a V OC of only 360 mV.

Queering a Queer Novel: Is There Something Queer about Running?

This investigation examined Patricia Nell Warren's gay classic Front Runner as a queer text. Queer theory has been traditionally applied to heterosexual contexts and texts to demonstrate similarities between gay behavior and heteronormative behavior. This investigation applied queer theory to Front Runner to determine what, if anything is queer about being a gay Olympic-level runner. While there is much in Front Runner that relates to American gay culture in the 1970s, this investigation focused on the running passages in Front Runner to assess the effect of applying queer theory to a queer novel. The investigation found that some passages were consistent with heteronormative athletic portrayals, while other passages emphasized the gay protagonist as tough and competitive, as if to establish a hetero-normative machismo for the protagonist. Other passages were simply typical of hetero-normative sport literature.

Isophthalic Acid-Based HDAC Inhibitors as Potent Inhibitors of HDAC8 from Schistosoma mansoni.

Schistosoma mansoni histone deacetylase 8 (SmHDAC8) has been recently identified as a new potential target for the treatment of schistosomiasis. A series of newly designed and synthesized alkoxyamide-based and hydrazide-based HDAC inhibitors were tested for inhibitory activity against SmHDAC8 and human HDACs 1, 6, and 8. The front runner compounds showed submicromolar activity against SmHDAC8 and modest preference for SmHDAC8 over its human orthologue hHDAC8. Docking studies provided insights into the putative binding mode in SmHDAC8 and allowed rationalization of the observed selectivity profile.