Book Received and Noted

Abstract

THE DAGUERREOTYPE. — The first experiments made in this country with the instrument and process of M. Daguerre were exhibited yersterday [sic] by M. St. Croix, who has just arrived from Paris, in the presence of a select number of scientific men and artists … The place of exhibition was No.7, Piccadilly, nearly opposite the southern crescent of Regent-street, and the picture produced was a beautiful miniature representation of the houses, pathway, sky, &;c, resembling a beautiful mezzo tint. The experiments were perfectly satisfactory.¹     

Managing Cold Temperature and Brittle Fracture Hazards in Pressure Vessels

Brittle fractures of pressure vessels can be both catastrophic and costly. The intent of this article is to provide guidance in avoiding such failures by identifying some of the causes for cold embrittlement hazards and brittle fracture in pressure vessels. Selected examples will help illustrate the main factors that contribute to brittle fracture, through identifying brittle fracture features, and demonstrating the importance of coordination of materials and potential operating condition. This article also discusses how to assess existing equipment pressure vessels subject to cold conditions and brittle fracture concerns using the guidelines of API 579-1/ASME FFS-1, Part 3.     

Molecular Mechanisms Underlying TDP-43 Pathology in Cellular and Animal Models of ALS and FTLD

Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) and frontotemporal lobar degeneration (FTLD) are neurodegenerative disorders that exist on a disease spectrum due to pathological, clinical and genetic overlap. In up to 97% of ALS cases and ~50% of FTLD cases, the primary pathological protein observed in affected tissues is TDP-43, which is hyperphosphorylated, ubiquitinated and cleaved. The TDP-43 is observed in aggregates that are abnormally located in the cytoplasm. The pathogenicity of TDP-43 cytoplasmic aggregates may be linked with both a loss of nuclear function and a gain of toxic functions. The cellular processes involved in ALS and FTLD disease pathogenesis include changes to RNA splicing, abnormal stress granules, mitochondrial dysfunction, impairments to axonal transport and autophagy, abnormal neuromuscular junctions, endoplasmic reticulum stress and the subsequent induction of the unfolded protein response. Here, we review and discuss the evidence for alterations to these processes that have been reported in cellular and animal models of TDP-43 proteinopathy.     

Synthetic Applications and Methodological Developments of Donor−Acceptor Cyclopropanes and Related Compounds

Donor−acceptor cyclopropanes are convenient precursors to reactive and versatile 1,3-dipoles, and have found application in the synthesis of a variety of carbo- and heterocyclic scaffolds. This perspective review details our laboratory's use of donor−acceptor cyclopropanes as intermediates toward the total synthesis of various natural products. We also discuss our work in the development of novel cycloadditions and rearrangements of donor−acceptor cyclopropanes and aziridines, as well as an example of an aryne insertion proceeding via fragmentation of a transient donor−acceptor cyclobutane.     

Professor Geoffrey Petts (1953–2018): An outstanding interdisciplinary river scientist

This paper provides an introduction and an editorial to this special issue of River Research and Applications by documenting the contributions made by Professor Geoffrey Petts to our interdisciplinary understanding of the functioning of rivers and their floodplains and their sustainable management. We outline Geoff's career, which framed not only his research but its communication through his inspirational teaching but also included very high level and innovative contributions to the management and development of several UK universities. We then explain how and why Geoff was an outstanding interdisciplinary river scientist and how he communicated his science through both integrative books and book chapters and also research papers that developed eight complementary research themes. Lastly, we introduce the papers in this special issue and show how they provide inputs to Geoff's areas of research interest.     

TESLA: an extended study of an energy-saving agent that leverages schedule flexibility

This paper presents transformative energy-saving schedule-leveraging agent (TESLA), an agent for optimizing energy usage in commercial buildings. TESLA’s key insight is that adding flexibility to event/meeting schedules can lead to significant energy savings. This paper provides four key contributions: (i) online scheduling algorithms, which are at the heart of TESLA, to solve a stochastic mixed integer linear program for energy-efficient scheduling of incrementally/dynamically arriving meetings and events; (ii) an algorithm to effectively identify key meetings that lead to significant energy savings by adjusting their flexibility; (iii) an extensive analysis on energy savings achieved by TESLA; and (iv) surveys of real users which indicate that TESLA’s assumptions of user flexibility hold in practice. TESLA was evaluated on data gathered from over 110,000 meetings held at nine campus buildings during an 8-month period in 2011–2012 at the University of Southern California and Singapore Management University. These results and analysis show that, compared to the current systems, TESLA can substantially reduce overall energy consumption.     

Aqueous‐Phase Reforming in a Microreactor: The Role of Surface Bubbles

In heterogeneous catalysis, the creation of gaseous products as bubbles in a liquid phase on the catalytic surface is associated with slip phenomena. In a microreactor, the slip length at the gas‐liquid interface is in the same order of magnitude as the reactor dimensions, which can affect fluid dynamics and transport phenomena. Here, the interplay of momentum, heat and mass transfer in a microreactor, when bubbles form on the catalytic surface, was investigated using two‐dimensional simulations. The effect of bubbles on the endothermic process of aqueous‐phase reforming of a glycerol solution was evaluated in terms of conversion and conversion and temperature in the reactor. Altogether, this study highlights the impact of bubbles, not only on the transport phenomena but also on the reactor performance.     

Assessment of extreme and metocean conditions in the Maldives for OTEC applications

The Maldives is a group of tropical atolls, considered globally to be one of the most desirable holiday destinations. There is an urgent requirement to decrease their dependency on fossil fuels that are currently the main source of energy, and a number of renewable energy alternatives are being evaluated. Among these, due to the favorable oceanographic and bathymetric conditions, ocean thermal energy conversion (OTEC) systems represent a viable opportunity for clean and reliable power. However, the stresses the OTEC platform will need to endure during adverse environmental conditions are not well defined. The magnitude of these stresses will then have a direct influence on the design of the OTEC device. In order to overcome this uncertainty, this paper uses hindcast data sets from global weather and ocean models to assess the metocean conditions of the Maldives, with particular reference to extreme conditions. After selecting a suitable location for the deployment of the devices, return values calculated using the peaks‐over‐threshold (POT) methodology are estimated for wind, waves, and currents. The 100‐year return value for the significant wave height is found to be 4.5 m, with a joint occurrence of energy periods between 7.5 and 8.5 seconds, whereas the 100‐year return wind has a velocity of 17.8 m/s and the 100‐year return current of 1.9 m/s. The directionality of these extreme events is also considered, showing the southern and western sub‐quadrants as the prevailing sources, which provides essential information for positioning of the platform. Additional evaluations of tropical revolving storms (TRS) and variations in temperature and salinity patterns are also provided over a 1500‐m water column; temperature varies by approximately 24°C, and salinity by around 2 ppt, showing the suitability of OTEC platforms in the Maldives. This work is therefore of interest to offshore renewable energy stakeholders interested in developing a project in the Maldives or those conducting an analogous analysis in other locations.