Convenient Synthesis of Structurally Novel 1,3‐Disubstituted Azetidine Derivatives

A convenient synthesis of structurally novel 1,3‐disubstituted azetidine derivatives is described. The approach involves condensation of an azetidine building block with sulfonylated carbamic acid methyl ester, subsequently followed by quenching the imidoyl chloride with amines. Different derivatives were prepared by substituting benzhydrol as well as benzenesulfonamide as part of the core structure.     

Interactions Between the Cationic Surfactants Bearing Different Polar Head Groups: Interfacial,Conductivity, NMR,and Fluorescence Studies

Interfacial tension (γ), conductivity (κ), nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR), and fluorescence measurements have been carried out to study the mixed interfacial and micellar behavior of cationic surfactants cetyltributylphosphonium bromide (CTBB) and the cetyltrimethylammonium bromide (CTAB). From the γ versus log C _s plots, the values of critical micellar concentration (cmc) and various interfacial parameters were computed. From κ measurements, the equivalent conductivities of the monomers (Λ _mon), the micelles (Λ _mic) states and the degree of counterion dissociation (δ) have been evaluated. The cmc values have been analyzed in the context of the pseudophase separation model and regular solution theory. The interaction parameters, β^m and β^σ, in the mixed micelle as well as in the mixed monolayer, respectively, also have been computed. The self‐diffusion coefficients for the micelles have been evaluated by using NMR spectroscopy. From the fluorescence quenching method, the mean micellar aggregation number (N _agg) of the pure and mixed micelles has been obtained from the slope of the ratio of fluorescence intensities in the absence and in the presence of quencher (ln (I _1,0/I ₁) versus [Q] plots. It was found that the incorporation of CTBB into the mixed micelle decreases the N _agg. The microviscosity of the fluorescence probe Rhodamine (RB) was monitored by using fluorescence polarization measurements. The values of fluorescence anisotropies (r) indicate that the penetration of CTBB monomer into CTAB micelles produced less rigid mixed micelles.     

Large Magnetocaloric Effect,Moment, and Coercivity Enhancement after Coating Ni Nanoparticles with Ag

We observe a large magnetocaloric effect in monodisperse Ni and Ni_coreAg_shell nanoparticles in the superparamagnetic region. The organically passivated Ni nanospheres show a large magnetic entropy change of 0.9 J kg^?1 K for a 3 T magnetic field change. In comparison to the surfactant‐coated Ni nanoparticles, the Ni_coreAg_shell nanoparticles show an enhanced coercivity, magnetization, and magnetocaloric effect (1.3 kg K for a 3 T magnetic field change). The coercivity at 10 K increases from 360 Oe for Ni nanoparticles to nearly 610 Oe for Ni_coreAg_shell particles. This large enhancement is attributed to the enhanced inter‐particle interaction, which is mediated by the metallic shell, over the relatively weaker dipolar interaction in the surfactant‐coated Ni nanoparticles, and to modification of the surface spin structure.     

Organocatalytic Asymmetric Friedel–Crafts Reaction of Sesamol with Isatins: Access to Biologically Relevant 3‐Aryl‐3‐hydroxy‐2‐oxindoles

The Friedel–Crafts reaction of electron‐rich phenols with isatins was developed by employing bifunctional thiourea–tertiary amine organocatalysts. Cinchona alkaloid derived thiourea epiCDT‐ 3 a efficiently catalyzed the Friedel–Crafts‐type addition of phenols to isatin derivatives to provide 3‐aryl‐3‐hydroxy‐2‐oxindoles 7 and 9 in good yield (80–95 %) with good enantiomeric excess (83–94 %). Friedel–Crafts adduct 7 t was subjected to a copper(I)‐catalyzed azide–alkyne cycloaddition to obtain biologically important 3‐aryl‐3‐hydroxy‐2‐oxindole 11 in good enantiomeric excess and having a 1,2,3‐triazole moiety.     

Performance studies of electrolyte-supported solid oxide fuel cell with Ni–YSZ and Ni–TiO2–YSZ as anodes

Redox cycling of Ni-based anode induces cell degradation which limits the cell's lifetime during solid oxide fuel cell operation. In the present study, the redox testing of electrolyte-supported cells has been investigated with TiO₂-added NiO–YSZ anode matrix. Button cells were fabricated by die-pressing YSZ powder as electrolyte, and onto which NiO–YSZ or NiO–TiO₂–YSZ anode and LSM–YSZ composite cathode were painted. The electrochemical performance and stability have been evaluated by measuring current–voltage characteristics followed by impedance spectroscopy after each redox cycling. Anode matrices before and after cell operation have been characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), elemental dispersive X-ray (EDX), and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). During cell operation the peak power density decreases from 111 mW cm^?2 (239 mA cm^?2) to 84 mW cm^?2 (188 mA cm^?2) between 23 and 128 h with five redox cycles for cell having NiO–YSZ (40:60) anode. But for cell with NiO–TiO₂–YSZ (30:10:60), the anode peak power density was constant and stable around 85 mW cm^?2 (194 mA cm^?2) throughout the cell run of 130 h and five redox cycles. No loss in the open circuit voltage was observed. SEM and XRD studies of NiO–TiO₂–YSZ (30:10:60) anodes revealed formation of ZrTiO₄, which may be responsible for inhibition of Ni coarsening leading to stable cell performance.     

Optimal normative policies for marketing of products with limited availability

We develop optimal normative policies for pricing and advertising of products with limited availability by including the traditional product diffusion parameters (Bass, 1969)–innovation and imitation, and the scarcity effects generated due to limited product availability (Swami and Khairnar, 2003). Using optimal control methodology, our pricing policy results suggest that a profit-maximizing firm gradually increases the price as the sales approach the product availability. The optimal normative advertising policy recommends gradually decreasing the expenditure on the awareness advertising and increasing the expenditure on the availability advertising as the product diffusion progresses. These results are illustrated with suitable numerical examples.     

HPTLC Densitometric Quantification of Glycyrrhizin,Glycyrrhetinic Acid,Apigenin, Kaempferol and Quercetin from Glycyrrhiza glabra

Glycyrrhiza glabra Linn., commonly known as liquorice, is a reputed drug of Ayurveda. In the present work we developed and validated densitometric methods for quantification of glycyrrhizin, glycyrrhetinic acid, apigenin, kaempferol and quercetin using HPTLC. The developed methods were found to be precise and accurate. The amount of glycyrrhizin, glycyrrhetinic acid, and quercetin was found to be 1.070, 0.84 and 0.271% w/w, respectively. Apigenin and kaempferol were quantified in free (0.007 and 0.033% w/w) as well as bound (0.021 and 0.074% w/w) forms. This is the first report of simultaneous quantification of glycyrrhetinic acid and apigenin as well as kaempferol and quercetin from G. glabra. Furthermore, no TLC densitometric methods have been reported for the quantification of apigenin, kaempferol and quercetin from G. glabra.

     

Ray Shooting Amidst Convex Polygons in 2D

We consider the problem of ray shooting in a two-dimensional scene consisting ofmconvex polygons with a total ofnedges. We present a data structure that requiresO(mn log m) space and preprocessing time and that answers a ray shooting query inO(log² m log² n) time. If the polygons are pairwise disjoint, the space and preprocessing time can be improved toO((m²+n)log m) andO((m²+n log n)log m), respectively. Our algorithm also works for a collection of disjoint simple polygons. We also show that if we allow onlyO(n) space, a ray shooting query among a collection of disjoint simple polygons can be answered in timeO(m/[formula]¹⁺ log² n) time, for any >0.