Previous Campaigns Research Articles

Influence of the convective coefficient on the determination of thermal transmittance through outdoor infrared thermography

Several studies and correlations for the convective heat transfer coefficient (CHTC) are available in literature and in handbooks, depending on type of convection, wind speed range or on the test rigs from which they are derived.The importance of accurate evaluation of CHTC, especially at the building façades, has been highlighted in the recent years, due to the need for reliable measurement of buildings’ heat transfer capability. This study aims at underlining the importance of proper CHTC values for the determination of the building envelope thermal transmittance (U-value) via infrared thermography (IRT). To this scope, firstly an overview on convective heat transfer coefficient is given; then, some CHTC models, chosen from literature, are analyzed at different wind speed classes. Subsequently, such models are employed in two formulas proposed in literature for the U-value measurement via IRT, by using data from previous experimental campaign carried out in controlled environment. Results were compared, and significant deviations were found: one of the employed approaches and formulation is less sensitive to the correlation adopted for the convection expression, amongst those considered and in the wind speed range analyzed. This constitutes an advantage, since one of the weak points of the IRT method is the convection expression itself.

Choosing Wisely Africa: Ten Low-Value or Harmful Practices That Should Be Avoided in Cancer Care.

PURPOSEChoosing Wisely Africa (CWA) builds on Choosing Wisely (CW) in the United States, Canada, and India and aims to identify low-value, unnecessary, or harmful cancer practices that are frequently used on the African continent. The aim of this work was to use physicians and patient advocates to identify a short list of low-value practices that are frequently used in African low- and middle-income countries.METHODSThe CWA Task Force was convened by the African Organization for Research and Training in Cancer and included representatives from surgical, medical, and radiation oncology, the private and public sectors, and patient advocacy groups. Consensus was built through a modified Delphi process, shortening a long list of practices to a short list, and then to a final list. A voting threshold of ≥ 60% was used to include an individual practice on the short list. A consensus was reached after a series of teleconferences and voting processes.RESULTSOf the 10 practices on the final list, one is a new suggestion and 9 are revisions or adaptations of practices from previous CW campaign lists. One item relates to palliative care, 8 concern treatment, and one relates to surveillance.CONCLUSIONThe CWA initiative has identified 10 low-value, common interventions in Africa’s cancer practice. The success of this campaign will be measured by how the recommendations are implemented across sub-Saharan Africa and whether this improves the delivery of high-quality cancer care.

Supervised approaches for explicit search result diversification

Diversification of web search results aims to promote documents with diverse content (i.e., covering different aspects of a query) to the top-ranked positions, to satisfy more users, enhance fairness and reduce bias. In this work, we focus on the explicit diversification methods, which assume that the query aspects are known at the diversification time, and leverage supervised learning methods to improve their performance in three different frameworks with different features and goals. First, in the LTRDiv framework, we focus on applying typical learning to rank (LTR) algorithms to obtain a ranking where each top-ranked document covers as many aspects as possible. We argue that such rankings optimize various diversification metrics (under certain assumptions), and hence, are likely to achieve diversity in practice. Second, in the AspectRanker framework, we apply LTR for ranking the aspects of a query with the goal of more accurately setting the aspect importance values for diversification. As features, we exploit several pre- and post-retrieval query performance predictors (QPPs) to estimate how well a given aspect is covered among the candidate documents. Finally, in the LmDiv framework, we cast the diversification problem into an alternative fusion task, namely, the supervised merging of rankings per query aspect. We again use QPPs computed over the candidate set for each aspect, and optimize an objective function that is tailored for the diversification goal. We conduct thorough comparative experiments using both the basic systems (based on the well-known BM25 matching function) and the best-performing systems (with more sophisticated retrieval methods) from previous TREC campaigns. Our findings reveal that the proposed frameworks, especially AspectRanker and LmDiv, outperform both non-diversified rankings and two strong diversification baselines (i.e., xQuAD and its variant) in terms of various effectiveness metrics.

Accessing unexplored regions of sequence space in directed enzyme evolution via insertion/deletion mutagenesis

Insertions and deletions (InDels) are frequently observed in natural protein evolution, yet their potential remains untapped in laboratory evolution. Here we introduce a transposon-based mutagenesis approach (TRIAD) to generate libraries of random variants with short in-frame InDels, and screen TRIAD libraries to evolve a promiscuous arylesterase activity in a phosphotriesterase. The evolution exhibits features that differ from previous point mutagenesis campaigns: while the average activity of TRIAD variants is more compromised, a larger proportion has successfully adapted for the activity. Different functional profiles emerge: (i) both strong and weak trade-off between activities are observed; (ii) trade-off is more severe (20- to 35-fold increased kcat/KM in arylesterase with 60-400-fold decreases in phosphotriesterase activity) and (iii) improvements are present in kcat rather than just in KM, suggesting adaptive solutions. These distinct features make TRIAD an alternative to widely used point mutagenesis, accessing functional innovations and traversing unexplored fitness landscape regions.

Advancing Research on Gender and Gubernatorial Campaign Finance

ABSTRACT This research note argues for scholarly attention to campaign finance in order to better understand why more women have not achieved gubernatorial office. We present an exploratory analysis of newly available data with a focus on 2010 to 2018 open-seat primaries. Our findings of gender differences in the structure of campaign receipts demonstrate the need for additional investigation of gubernatorial elections – elections that previous gender and campaign finance studies have overlooked. We identify several areas for scholars to research in the future.

Using a Fragment-Based Approach to Identify Alternative Chemical Scaffolds Targeting Dihydrofolate Reductase from Mycobacterium tuberculosis.

Dihydrofolate reductase (DHFR), a key enzyme involved in folate metabolism, is a widely explored target in the treatment of cancer, immune diseases, bacteria, and protozoa infections. Although several antifolates have proved successful in the treatment of infectious diseases, they have been underexplored to combat tuberculosis, despite the essentiality of M.tuberculosis DHFR (MtDHFR). Herein, we describe an integrated fragment-based drug discovery approach to target MtDHFR that has identified hits with scaffolds not yet explored in any previous drug design campaign for this enzyme. The application of a SAR by catalog strategy of an in house library for one of the identified fragments has led to a series of molecules that bind to MtDHFR with low micromolar affinities. Crystal structures of MtDHFR in complex with compounds of this series demonstrated a novel binding mode that considerably differs from other DHFR antifolates, thus opening perspectives for the development of relevant MtDHFR inhibitors.

Reconstructing anti-capitalism as heterodoxa in Indonesia's youth-led urban environmentalism Twitter account

This article aims to critically discuss the use of Twitter accounts by the youth-based environmental organization Backsilmove in Bandung, West Java, to affirm their political position in maintaining and reclaiming the Babakan Siliwangi urban forest. The research used interviews with the key organizer of Backsilmove as well as a critical examination of posts on their Twitter accounts to reveal their possible anticipated experiences and subjectivities. It was found that a heterodoxic belief of anti-capitalism is embedded in the group through their continuous involvement in previous environmental activism, organizational training and campaigns with Greenpeace Indonesia. Through the application of Pierre Bourdieu’s idea of heterodoxa as a theoretical lens, this study also discovered that anti-capitalistic beliefs encouraged, strengthened, and continuously formed the activists’ spirit of protest. They framed anti-capitalism in their Twitter account as a destructive act against the urban forest and used the platform to publicize their activities, for example the ‘Save Babakan Siliwangi’ movement. The paper concludes that Twitter resonates with and amplifies power more than offline activism.

Effects of dynamics and trigger on energy absorption of composite tubes during axial crushing

The purpose of this study is to complete a previous quasi-static experimental campaign on the energy absorption performance of composite tubes with the influence of the dynamic effect. Various hybrid composite tubes, involving unidirectional and braided plies with various materials and stacking sequences, were tested both in quasi-static and in dynamic crushing in order to identify their behavior and determine their absorbing capabilities using the Specific Energy Absorption. In dynamic loading, 90°-oriented fibers stabilised by woven plies showed good performances, contrary to static loading, since the energy absorption of the unidirectional laminate oriented at 0° drops by 50% in dynamics.

The effects of in situ stress uncertainties on the assessment of open stope stability: Case study at the Niobec Mine, Quebec (Canada)

In deep underground mines, a successful development plan to exploit deeper mining levels is highly dependent on adequate consideration of the magnitude and orientation of situ stress state. However, significant uncertainties are associated with the estimation of these parameters. The in-situ stress values that are used in the evaluation of the stability of underground structures in each mine strongly depends on the results of measurement of the stresses as function of the mine depth and the methodology used for the interpretation of the data as well as engineering judgment. These interpretations could produce several scenarios for estimating the stresses in a mine. Each scenario could yield different stability assessment results some of which were not normally used in the current mine stability study. Three different scenarios for estimating stress at the Niobec underground mine (Quebec, Canada) were determined based on the data available from previous stress measurement campaigns. Numerical modeling (FLAC3D) was used to evaluate the potential of brittle, tensile and compressive failure for the vertical transverse and rib pillars. The results demonstrate that in spite of the development of extensive brittle and tensile damage zones within the rock mass, no major brittle or tensile failure is expected to occur at the considered mining levels based on all three stress scenarios. Moreover, meaningful differences in the stability analysis results between the three stress scenarios highlight the importance of appropriate selection of stress estimation approaches in planning deeper mine levels.

Thermomechanical Solid Breeder Multiple-Effects Experiment (TESOMEX) with Volumetric Heating and FEM Benchmark Analysis

Available experimental efforts on ceramic pebble beds and their associated constitutive equations are necessarily derived from single-effect tests where one parameter is varied and its effects are isolated and studied separately (e.g., using constant temperatures and externally applied loads). These experiments are incapable of reproducing the true multiple/synergistic effects of the physics that occur in real blankets, and the phenomena arising from the interactions of single effects are yet to be discovered. It is unclear whether the combined effect of plasticity and creep under reactor-relevant loading conditions will either enable the altered pebble bed packing configuration to reach an acceptable self-regulating temperature state or significantly deteriorate its heat transfer efficiency and subsequent tritium release. Therefore, studying the isolated thermal and mechanical effects is not sufficient to predict pebble bed behavior. It is the coupling and interdependence between the dynamic thermal and mechanical fields, as well as the synergistic effects between the various modes of deformation, that are key to fully understanding and predicting pebble bed behavior in a realistic fusion environment. However, previous mock-up experimental campaigns thus far have suffered from critical shortfalls that have severely hamstrung their scientific impact. The lack of experimental data that incorporate multiple-effects interactions in addition to the complexity of building a full-scale breeder unit mock-up triggered the need for this experimental effort. The body of work presented in this paper serves to (1) establish and validate the practicality of various volumetric heating simulation techniques for representative thermomechanical study, (2) recreate a prototypical breeder unit’s thermal-hydraulic behavior using a scaled-down reduced-activation ferritic steel box with optimized manifold design, (3) evaluate the thermomechanical properties of the pebble bed using a novel nonintrusive in situ tactile-pressure-sensing technology capable of generating real-time contact pressure maps that reveal spatial and temporal stress evolution, and (4) develop and benchmark a thermomechanical finite element method code that is able to predict the pebble bed’s thermomechanical evolution under the effects of creep and thermal cycling. The results of this study not only present novel experimental techniques and data that enhance our understanding of synergistic thermomechanical interactions and effects, but they also provide valuable data to serve as a basis for validation of the most recent pebble bed numerical models. Finally, it is worth mentioning that this work is part of a compendium around the Thermomechanical Solid Breeder Multiple Effects Experiment experimental campaign, known as TESOMEX. While this paper primarily focuses on novel heating and instrumentation techniques along with their opportunities and limitations, the other two papers shed more light on the prototypical thermomechanical evolution, pebble sintering, and possible modes of failure.

A process-based LCA for selection of low-impact DBPs control strategy for indoor swimming pool operation

Disinfection by-products (DBPs) in public indoor swimming pools (ISP) are a major human health risk concern. Various DBPs control strategies have been developed as an integral part of ISP management; however, these strategies are associated with different energy and resource consumption and environmental impacts. In this study, a process-based life cycle assessment (P-LCA) framework is developed for determining the environmental impacts of DBPs control strategies in ISP management. The developed framework requires ISP operation information such as energy, water, and chemical use, and concentration data under each DBPs control strategy as inputs. The ReCipe2016 midpoint method is used to process the inputs and quantify the lifecycle impacts in terms of three categories: energy, water and chemicals. Based on the outputs, the best strategy is selected using the TOPSIS method. The developed framework is applied to an ISP located in Vancouver (Canada) to evaluate seven DBPs control strategies associated with various air circulation rates. The DBPs concentration data were sourced from a previous sampling campaign. The results show that energy use is the main contributor (87–94%) to the total environmental impacts as compared to chemical and water use (6–13%). Among the tested strategies, reduction of fan speed can yield maximum environmental benefits without compromising the DBPs control performance. On the other hand, supply of 100% fresh air at normal fan speeds results in higher environmental impacts compared to a baseline case despite the lower DBPs releases. The proposed P-LCA framework can facilitate pool operators in selecting low impact DBPs control strategies for sustainable ISP management.

Choosing Wisely Africa: 10 low-value or harmful practices that should be avoided in cancer care.

e19213 Background: Choosing Wisely Africa, builds on Choosing Wisely (CW) in the USA, Canada and India, and aims to identify low-value, unnecessary, or harmful cancer practices that are frequently used on the African continent. Methods: The CWA Task Force was convened by African Organization for Research and Training in Cancer (AORTIC) and included representatives in surgical, medical and radiation oncology, the private and public sectors and patient advocacy group. Consensus was built through a modified Delphi process shortening a long list of practices to a short list then to a final list. Results: Of the 10 practices on the final list, one is a new suggestion, 9 are revisions or adaptations of practices from previous CW campaign lists. One item relates to palliative care, 8 concern treatment, and 1 relates to surveillance. Conclusions: The success of this campaign will be measured by how the list is implemented across sub-Saharan Africa and whether it improves the delivery of high-quality cancer care. [Table: see text]

The unusual behavior of the young X-ray pulsar SXP 1062 during the 2019 outburst

We present the results of the first dedicated observation of the young X-ray pulsar SXP 1062 in the broad X-ray energy band obtained during its 2019 outburst with the NuSTAR and XMM-Newton observatories. The analysis of the pulse-phase averaged and phase-resolved spectra in the energy band from 0.5 to 70 keV did not reveal any evidence for the presence of a cyclotron line. The spin period of the pulsar was found to have decreased to 979.48 ± 0.06 s implying a ∼10% reduction compared to the last measured period during the monitoring campaign conducted about five years ago, and is puzzling considering that the system apparently has not shown major outbursts ever since. The switch of the pulsar to the spin-up regime supports the common assumption that torques acting on the accreting neutron star are nearly balanced and thus SXP 1062 likely also spins with a period close to the equilibrium value for this system. The current monitoring of the source also revealed a sharp drop in its soft X-ray flux right after the outburst, which is in drastic contrast to the behavior during the previous outburst when the pulsar remained observable for years with only a minor flux decrease after the end of the outburst. This unexpected off state of the source lasted for at most 20 days after which SXP 1062 returned to the level observed during previous campaigns. We discuss this and other findings in context of the modern models of accretion onto strongly magnetized neutron stars.

Multilateral Offshore Well Completed With Multistage Proppant Fracturing

This article, written by JPT Technology Editor Judy Feder, contains highlights of paper SPE 194324, “The World’s First Offshore Multilateral Well Completed With Multistage Proppant Fracturing: A Case Study From Offshore Black Sea,” by Andrew Tomlins, OMV; Joel Conrad, SPE, Packers Plus; and Bogdan Bocaneala, OPECS, prepared for the 2019 SPE Hydraulic Fracturing Technology Conference and Exhibition, The Woodlands, Texas, 5–7 February. The paper has not been peer reviewed. The complete paper discusses the successful execution of the first offshore multilateral well completed for multistage high-pressure proppant stimulation, according to the authors, in the Black Sea offshore Romania. The authors discuss the drivers that led the operator to trial a multilateral well; the selection, planning, and final completion solution; and the lessons learned. Field Background Lebada Vest, located 95 km offshore northeast of the city of Constanţa, is the largest offshore Romanian oil field currently in production. It was discovered in 1984 and has been in production since 1993, and thus now faces the challenges and strong investment requirements associated with a mature field. Hydraulic fracturing has been used in the field’s low-permeability-formation wells since 1992, mainly in vertical or slanted wells. Completion Challenge With only one platform slot left and a significant undrained area of the reservoir, the operator had to maximize hydrocarbon recovery through a single well which, because of pressure to increase daily production, had to be finalized in 1 year. Building on field experience gained since 2008 in multistage proppant stimulation, a detailed screening and evaluation of multilateral completion technologies was performed. The focus was on developing a concept that would minimize risks during execution while meeting cost and lead-time objectives, which necessitated customizing the chosen Technology Advancement for Multilaterals (TAML) Level 3 completion design and installation methodology. To maximize rig-time efficiency, the well was executed in two phases: Drilling and lower completion installation of both branches with a drilling rig Stimulation and upper completion installation with the platform’s workover rig With six stages in each lateral, the high-pressure stimulation was executed by a converted supply vessel in four sailings, necessary to reload materials. To meet the delivery schedule, ensure simplicity, and leverage operator experience, the completion was undertaken with no dedicated multilateral hardware. Instead, the operator used standard, multistage, stimulation openhole completion equipment and appropriately engineered bent joints to exit the main bore. With initial production rates higher than anticipated, the well proved considerably more economical than drilling two horizontal wells with equivalent reservoir coverage. The success of this well serves as a proof of concept and provides increased confidence in delivering reliable, cost-effective, multilateral wells, even under tight time constraints and in areas or with operators with no history of multilateral completions. Identifying Multilateral Completion Requirements The operator’s field-development team investigated single, dual, and trilateral well-design feasibility against agreed design criteria. The principal objective was to maximize the chance of success through an appropriately risk-minimized design using standard, field-proven tools and techniques. Completion-design criteria were carried from the previous (single-lateral wells) field-development campaign in terms of production objectives, intervention capabilities, and logistics. The complete paper discusses the effect of general well design, junction, stimulation, intervention, rig strategy, and logistics and experience on the completion requirements.

How does climate variability affect water quality dynamics in Canada's oil sands region?

In Canada's oil sands region, classic boreal hydrology (i.e., winter low flow followed by peaks during spring freshet and then summer flow recession) combined with erosion of both natural and anthropogenically-exposed bitumen results in seasonal and inter-annual variability in stream water chemistry. Using data collected from all seasons over three years (2012–2015), we investigated the mechanisms driving spatial and temporal change in the concentration of 26 water quality parameters for six rivers draining Canada's oil sands region. Mantel tests showed a strong spatial aggregation of climatic drivers (average daily precipitation, accumulated precipitation, snow water equivalent) associated with west versus east discharge patterns. Wavelet analysis highlighted unique watershed attributes, in particular the importance of developed area in lowering responsiveness to seasonal precipitation. Concentrations of most chemical parameters (20 of 23) showed distinct temporal patterns that were correlated with seasonal changes in hydrology which, in turn, were related to changes in weather. Comparison of concentrations observed in this study with those reported in the scientific literature for the same watersheds showed 81% of comparisons differed significantly. This was likely due to the short duration of previous field campaigns and thus the sampling of a very narrow window of the annual streamflow regime.

The (surprisingly interesting) story of e-mail in the 2016 presidential election

ABSTRACT There was more discussion of e-mails and e-mail servers in the 2016 election than any previous campaign. Yet, practically no attention was paid to the actual e-mails distributed by campaigns themselves. This study explores how presidential campaigns used e-mail as a strategic tool during the 2016 election. We collected and analyzed e-mails from all major party candidates over 10 months leading up to election day. The campaigns were organized into three categories based on how successful they were and how seriously they were run. Comparing the use of e-mail within each category and between them illuminates variation in how campaigns used e-mail, including during the primaries and the general election between Clinton and Trump. Notably, the Trump campaign e-mails were more participatory, fitting the populist theme of the campaign, and the Clinton campaign made the surprising strategic decision to stop direct e-mail communication to passive e-mail subscribers over two months before election day. Overall this study demonstrates how some strategies, such as the frequency of emailing, focus on fundraising, and consistent forms of interactions have become widely accepted norms. Further, it is clear that e-mail remains valuable for campaigns and an important subject for scholarship, despite its mundane nature.

Three months of bed rest induce a residual transcriptomic signature resilient to resistance exercise countermeasures.

This study explored the muscle genome-wide response to long-term unloading (84-day bed rest) in 21 men. We hypothesized that a part of the bed rest-induced gene expression signature would be resilient to a concurrent flywheel resistance exercise (RE) countermeasure. Using DNA microarray technology analyzing 35345 gene-level probe-sets, we identified 335 annotated probe-sets that were downregulated, and 315 that were upregulated after bed rest (P<.01). Besides a predictable differential expression of genes and pathways related to mitochondria (downregulation; false-discovery rates (FDR) <1E-04), ubiquitin system (upregulation; FDR=3E-02), and skeletal muscle energy metabolism and structure (downregulation; FDR≤3E-03), 84-day bed rest also altered circadian rhythm regulation (upregulation; FDR=3E-02). While most of the bed rest-induced changes were counteracted by RE, 209 transcripts were resilient to the exercise countermeasure. Genes upregulated after bed rest were particularly resistant to training (P<.001 vs downregulated, non-reversed genes). Specifically, "Translation Factors," "Proteasome Degradation," "Cell Cycle," and "Nucleotide Metabolism" pathways were not normalized by RE. This study provides an unbiased high-throughput transcriptomic signature of one of the longest unloading periods in humans to date. Classical disuse-related changes in structural and metabolic genes/pathways were identified, together with a novel upregulation of circadian rhythm transcripts. In the context of previous bed rest campaigns, the latter seemed to be related to the duration of unloading, suggesting the transcriptomic machinery continues to adapt throughout extended disuse periods. Despite that the RE training offset most of the bed rest-induced muscle-phenotypic and transcriptomic alterations, we contend that the human skeletal muscle also displays a residual transcriptomic signature of unloading that is resistant to an established exercise countermeasure.

Experimental investigation of strength, stiffness and drift capacity of rubble stone masonry walls

There is limited available research on rubble stone masonry walls, which are vulnerable under seismic loading. This paper presents an experimental campaign of cyclic shear compression tests on six large-scale walls of this topology. The effect of the axial load and shear span ratio on the wall behaviour, notably on the wall stiffness, strength, and drift capacity, was investigated. It was found that the drift at crack onset is only half of that in previous campaigns on stone masonry walls, likely because one face of each wall was plastered, making the damage more visible. Additionally, splitting cracks opening between the wall leaves appear to play a key role in the collapse mechanism. Finally, testing the walls up to the loss of their axial-load-bearing capacity provides new input for the collapse risk analysis of stone masonry buildings.

Increasing the energy cognizance of electricity consumers in Mexico: Results from a field experiment

We report on the results of a field experiment in Puebla, Mexico that informed randomly-selected households facing a nonlinear price schedule about how different electricity-consuming actions might change their electricity bills. Households that received this 20-minute, in-person intervention reduced their electricity use, with much of this reduction driven by those that paid the highest marginal price for electricity. The estimated impacts were durable with no observed rebound for at least a year. Households with less educational attainment reduced use the most, consistent with the conclusion that the intervention imparted new knowledge to consumers that led to this observed behavior change. The high rate at which customers accepted the intervention, the resulting consumption decrease, and low implementation costs make this intervention cost-effective relative to several previous energy conservation campaigns in Mexico.

Promoting Energy Efficiency in Emerging Economies Through Consumer Education: Results From a Field Experiment in Mexico

We report on the results of a field experiment in Puebla, Mexico that informed randomly-selected households facing a nonlinear price schedule about how different electricity-consuming actions might change their electricity bills. Households that received this 20-minute, in-person intervention reduced their electricity use, with much of this reduction driven by those that paid the highest marginal price for electricity. The estimated impacts were durable with no observed rebound for at least a year. Households with less educational attainment reduced use the most, consistent with the conclusion that the intervention imparted new knowledge to consumers that led to this observed behavior change. The high rate at which customers accepted the intervention, the resulting consumption decrease, and low implementation costs make this intervention cost-effective relative to several previous energy conservation campaigns in Mexico.