State, Dep’t of Bus. & Indus. v. TitleMax, 135 Nev. Adv. Op. 44 (Sept. 26, 2019)

In an en banc opinion, the Nevada Supreme Court answered whether title lender TitleMax’s Grace Period Deferment Agreement (“GPPDA”), which applied to short-term, high-interest loans offered to Nevada consumers in 2014 and 2015, qualified as a true grace period under NRS 604A.210. The Court concluded that the GPPDA was not a true grace period, but was instead an impermissible extension of the 210-day loans. The Court reasoned that the GPPDA was an extension because TitleMax charged borrowers additional interest during the extended period and thus violated NRS 604A.445, a statute enacted by the Nevada Legislature in part to protect consumers from predatory lending, by explicitly forbidding the charging of additional interest during grace periods. Further, the Court concluded that TitleMax’s violation was not willful, but was instead a reasonable interpretation of the pertinent statutes, and thus sanctions were inappropriate

Iron Oxides Synthesized in Hypersaline Solutions

Iron oxides were synthesized in conditions similar to those that prevail in deeps of the Red Sea (2–5M NaCl, temperatures 60–80°C, and pH 6.5–10.4). The main phase that was crystallized was submicron magnetite. Additional phases of feroxyhyte, goethite, and akagenéite were also detected. Magnetite morphology observed through high-resolution scanning electron microscopy (HRSEM) varied between euhedral plates and octahedral or unhedral crystals. The euhedral plates were probably crystallized pseudomorphically after platy green rust or Fe(OH)2 due to its quick crystallization. Size of magnetite varied between 18 and 45 nm. The addition of Si retarded crystal growth, and at Si/Fe = 0.5, short-range ordered phases are formed and not magnetite. This finding is in line with earlier laboratory experiments in which Si was found to retard goethite and lepidocrocite crystallization

Equilibrium temperatures of mass transfer cooled walls in high-speed flow of an absorbing-emitting gas

Equilibrium temperatures of mass transfer cooled walls in high speed flow of absorbing-emitting ga

Minerals Observed by Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM), Transmission Electron Microscopy (TEM) and High Resolution Transmission Electron Microscopy (HRTEM)

Pictures from a scanning electron microscopy, transmission electron microscopy and high resolution microscopy are presented. Samples were collected from the marl layer in Judean Mountains in Israel, and the minerals observed were dolomite, calcite, goethite, and K-feldspar. In sands along the Mediterranean Seashore and the coastal plain in Israel, dark grains were rich in Ti, and quartz grains were covered by clays and hematite. Dust samples included clay minerals, Ti and Fe oxides. Iron oxides (goethite, akaganéite and lepidocrocite) were preserved within halite crystals at the Dead Sea area. In the Atlantis II and Thetis Deeps, in the central Red Sea, hot brines feel the deeps and minerals found in cores were magnetite, goethite, ferroxyhyte, manganite, todorokite, groutite and short range ordered ferrihydrite and singerite. Observation by electron microscopy enables us to see the size of euhedral or unhedral phases. Relations between the minerals are observed. Point analyses yield the chemical composition of the mineral with impurities, and Electron diffraction identifies the crystallography of the minerals

Nonlinear Model-Based Control of Unstable Wells

This paper illustrates the potential of nonlinear model-based control applied for stabilization of unstable flow in oil wells. A simple empirical model is developed that describes the qualitative behavior of the downhole pressure during severe riser slugging. A nonlinear controller is designed by an integrator backstepping approach, and stabilization for open-loop unstable pressure setpoints is demonstrated. The proposed backstepping controller is shown in simulations to perform better than PI and PD controllers for low pressure setpoints, and is in addition easier to tune. Operation at a low pressure setpoint is desirable since it corresponds to a high production flow rate. The simulation results are presented to illustrate the effectiveness of proposed control scheme