Dynamic modeling of multi stage flash (MSF) desalination plant

The world population is increasing at a very rapid rate while the natural water resources remain constant. During the past decades industrial desalination (reverse osmosis (RO) and multistage flash desalination (MSF)) became a viable, economical, and sustainable source of fresh water throughout the world. In the MSF units, the flashing of seawater involves formation of pure vapour, which flows through a wire mesh demister to remove the entrained brine droplets and then condenses into product water. The study presented in this thesis is motivated by the absence of detailed modelling and analysis of the dynamics of the MSF process and the demister. A detailed dynamic model can be used in design, control, startup/shutdown and troubleshooting. Most of the previous studies on MSF plant focused on model development and presented limited amount of performance data without any validation against plant data. Literature models of the MSF demister are either empirical or semi-empirical. This motivated use of a computational fluid dynamics (CFD) software to design a new demister that will reduce the pressure/temperature drop in the vapour stream without affecting the separation efficiency of brine droplets and allows the optimal design of complete MSF units. Lumped parameter dynamic models were developed for the once through (MSF-OT) and the brine circulation (MSF-BC) processes. The models were coded using the gPROMS modelling program. The model predictions for both MSF-OT and MSF-BC in steady state and dynamic conditions showed good agreement against data from existing MSF plants with an error less than 1.5%. Dynamic analysis was made to study plant performance upon making step variations in system manipulated variables and identify stable operating regimes. New stable operating regimes were reached upon changing the cooling water flow rate by + 15% and increasing the recycle brine flow rate by 15% and decreasing it by 7%. This was not the case for the steam temperature where its variation was limited to + 2-3 %. This behavior is consistent with the actual plant data. The FLUENT software was used to model the MSF demister using different combinations of Eulerian and Lagrangian approaches to model the vapour and the brine droplets. This provided the open literature with novel and new methodologies for design and simulation of the MSF demister using CFD. A new demister design was made upon varying the wire diameter. This led to an efficient design with low pressure drop and high separation efficiency. This design was used in the MSF/gPROMS model to predict its effect on the heat transfer area. The new design provided reductions of 3-39% in the condenser heat transfer area without affecting dynamic performance. Since the tubing system accounts for almost 70% of the capital cost, then this would reduce the plant capital cost and product unit cost. The modelling approach presented in this thesis enables design of thermal desalination units to determine optimal heat transfer area and optimized operating conditions

The GIP receptor displays higher basal activity than the GLP-1 receptor but does not recruit GRK2 or arrestin3 effectively.

Background and Objectives: Glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) and glucose-dependent insulinotropic polypeptide (GIP) are important regulators of insulin secretion, and their functional loss is an early characteristic of type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM). Pharmacological levels of GLP-1, but not GIP, can overcome this loss. GLP-1 and GIP exert their insulinotropic effects through their respective receptors expressed on pancreatic β-cells. Both the GLP-1 receptor (GLP-1R) and the GIP receptor (GIPR) are members of the secretin family of G protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs) and couple positively to adenylate cyclase. We compared the signalling properties of these two receptors to gain further insight into why GLP-1, but not GIP, remains insulinotropic in T2DM patients. Methods: GLP-1R and GIPR were transiently expressed in HEK-293 cells, and basal and ligand-induced cAMP production were investigated using a cAMP-responsive luciferase reporter gene assay. Arrestin3 (Arr3) recruitment to the two receptors was investigated using enzyme fragment complementation, confocal microscopy and fluorescence resonance energy transfer (FRET). Results: GIPR displayed significantly higher (P<0.05) ligand-independent activity than GLP-1R. Arr3 displayed a robust translocation to agonist-stimulated GLP-1R but not to GIPR. These observations were confirmed in FRET experiments, in which GLP-1 stimulated the recruitment of both GPCR kinase 2 (GRK2) and Arr3 to GLP-1R. These interactions were not reversed upon agonist washout. In contrast, GIP did not stimulate recruitment of either GRK2 or Arr3 to its receptor. Interestingly, arrestin remained at the plasma membrane even after prolonged (30 min) stimulation with GLP-1. Although the GLP-1R/arrestin interaction could not be reversed by agonist washout, GLP-1R and arrestin did not co-internalise, suggesting that GLP-1R is a class A receptor with regard to arrestin binding. Conclusions:: GIPR displays higher basal activity than GLP-1R but does not effectively recruit GRK2 or Arr3

Climate, landscape, habitat, and woodland management associations with hazel dormouse Muscardinus avellanarius population status

Although strictly protected, populations of the hazel dormouse Muscardinus avellanarius in the UK declined by 72% from 1993 to 2014. Using National Dormouse Monitoring Programme data from 300 sites throughout England and Wales, we investigated variation in hazel dormouse population status (expressed as Indices of Abundance, Breeding, and population Trend) in relation to climate, landscape, habitat, and woodland management. Dormice were more abundant and produced more litters on sites with warmer, sunnier springs, summers, and autumns. Dormouse abundance was also higher on sites with consistently cold local climate in winter. Habitat connectivity, woodland species composition, and active site management were all correlated with greater dormouse abundance and breeding. Abundances were also higher on sites with successional habitats, whereas the abundance of early successional bramble Rubus fruticosus habitat, woodland area, and landscape connectivity were important for population stability. Diversity in the structure of woodlands in Europe has decreased over the last 100 years, and the habitats we found to be associated with more favourable dormouse status have also been in decline. The conservation status of the hazel dormouse, and that of woodland birds and butterflies, may benefit from reinstatement or increased frequency of management practices, such as coppicing and glade management, that maintain successional and diverse habitats within woodland

Shifting baselines for species in chronic decline and assessment of conservation status. Are hazel dormice Muscardinus avellanarius endangered?

•1. Long-term data are beneficial for monitoring the conservation status of species. Assessments of population change over recent periods of fixed duration will, however, be subject to ‘shifting baselines’, where the accepted norm for the population at the start of the period already represents a reduction from historical levels. International Union for Conservation of Nature Red List criteria for categorizing conservation threat rely on assessing declines against quantitative thresholds, generally measured over 10 years, as indications of the likelihood of extinction in the near future. By contrast, legal frameworks such as the European Habitats Directive require states to achieve and sustain ‘Favourable Conservation Status’ for protected species, while domestic conservation legislation can have more diverse objectives and mechanisms, based on local contexts that extend beyond biological or quantitative criteria. •2. We explore the challenges associated with assessing the risk of extinction and the conservation status that arise from the availability of long-term monitoring data for hazel dormice Muscardinus avellanarius in the United Kingdom. •3. Numbers of adult dormice counted in the National Dormouse Monitoring Programme are in ongoing decline, amounting to an overall decline of 78% (95% confidence interval = 72%–84%) over 27 years, 1994–2020. If the observed annual rate of decline of 5.7% (95% CI = 4.7%–6.8%) were to continue unabated, dormouse counts would decline by >90% from 1994 to 2034. Despite this, the species would never be categorized as Endangered, under IUCN criteria, which specify a reduction of >50% within 10 years. •4. While such chronic decline may not indicate imminent risk of extinction, justifying a higher Red List category, it is a demonstration of unfavourable conservation status at a national scale. Prioritization based on demonstration of such chronic declines might direct more effective action towards species conservation at a point when their recovery is more attainable, rather than attempting later to reverse a journey to the brink of extinction when the species is finally ‘Endangered’

Synthesis and characterization of new 3,3`-bipyrazole-4,4`-dicarboxylic acid derivatives and some of their palladium(II) complexes as pre-catalyst for Suzuki coupling reaction in water

The 1,3-dipolar cycloaddition reaction of bis-hydrazonyl chlorides with methyl propiolate afforded dimethyl 1,1¢-aryl-3,3`-bipyrazole-4,4`-dicarboxylates (5a,b). Heating the later compound 5a with a mixture of HCl/AcOH gave 3,3`-bipyrazole-5,5`-dicarboxylic acid derivative 6. Treatment of the hydrazonoyl chloride (1a) and 3,3`-bipyrazole-5,5`-dicarboxylic acid (6) with palladium(II) chloride gave the corresponding Pd-complexes 7 and 8, respectively. The catalytic activity of the prepared Pd-complexes was examined in the Suzuki cross-coupling reaction of phenylboronic acid with activated and deactivated aryl(hetaryl) bromides. The catalyst system provides very good to excellent yields, 85-94%. The structures of the obtained products were established from their elemental analysis, spectral data, XPS, EDX, and single crystal X-ray crystallography. Crystal data for C10H7N2O2 (6): triclinic, space group P-1 (no. 2), a = 3.9956(10) Å, b = 9.8917(18) Å, c = 10.810(3) Å, α = 94.167(15)°, β = 94.979(19)°, γ = 98.953(15)°, V = 418.83(16) Å3, Z = 2, T = 296.(2) K, μ(Cu Kα) = 0.887 mm-1, Dcalc = 1.484 g/cm3, 5469 reflections measured (11.72° ≤ 2Θ ≤ 133.24°), 1420 unique (Rint = 0.0633, Rsigma = 7.24%) which were used in all calculations. The final R1 was 0.1055 (>2sigma(I)) and wR2 was 0.3620 (all data)

30 years of Dormouse Monitoring

The People's Trust for Endangered Species (PTES) owns a private woodland on the Isle of Wight (IoW) that is managed predominantly for woodland bats, Red Squirrels and Hazel Dormice. Dormice are considered to be widespread across the island in suitable habitat. The IoW is different from the mainland as it has no wild deer species. PTES has been monitoring dormice in its woodland since 1992, when nest boxes were first put up by Paul Bright. However, in spite of appropriate woodland management for dormice at the reserve, dormouse numbers there appear to be declining. This raised the question: “Is the apparent decline in dormice recorded in nest boxes, real or perceived?” If the decline was real, it may be necessary to reconsider management advice that we give for dormice. If the decline was perceived, then it may be necessary to reconsider advice that we give for monitoring dormice. The first challenge was to identify what the woodland may have looked like 30 years ago and identify why high numbers of dormice were recorded. We could then apply the known woodland management that was done in the intervening years, to determine why dormouse nest box occupancy changed by varying amounts in different parts of the wood. We were able to check some of our ideas using data from footprint tunnels and this work is ongoing in 2022. This talk will discuss woodland state, woodland management and dormouse next box occupancy in a dormouse hotspot in southern England

Studies on azide complexes of neodymium(III)-Part XII^†

70-71The spectrophotometric measurements carried out in aqueous solutions containing Nd3+ and N ions, show the formation of a weak Nd(N3)2+ complex ion in 1:1 molar ratio. The stability constant of the complex has been measured at 25 ± 1°C, pH =5.0 and at an ionic strength = 2.0 M (NaClO4), using both Scott and Dilution methods and the values are found to be (50.1 ±0.5) X 10-2 and (49.9± 1.6) X 10-2 respectively. The molar absorptivity values of the complex are (33.24 ± 0.31) and (36.3 ± 0.6) at 575 nm